Allen County, LA tax sales

County offices

County notes

• •The Sheriff is the ex-officio tax collector for Allen Parish. Bills go out by November, are due by December 31, and become delinquent on January 1, which sets up the following May auction.
• •The Civil Division of the Sheriff's Office collects property taxes and runs the tax auction. Reach it at 337-639-3082 or [email protected]; the main Sheriff's Office line is 337-639-4353 and the office is open Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
• •The auction is held at the Allen Parish Courthouse on West Sixth Avenue in Oberlin. Plan to attend in person or send an agent, because no online bidding platform is confirmed for this parish.
• •Parcels that draw no bid are adjudicated to Allen Parish, and the Police Jury, not the Sheriff, sells them afterward. The Police Jury's policy is to wait more than five years from adjudication before allowing a bid, which protects both buyer and tax debtor.
• •To buy an adjudicated parcel, ask the Police Jury to place a resolution advertising the parcel on its agenda, then submit a sealed bid by 6:00 p.m. on the day of the second regularly scheduled Police Jury meeting after the meeting that approved the advertisement. Under R.S. 47:2202 the opening bid must be at least the total back taxes owed. Confirm the hearing date with the Police Jury at 337-639-4328, since hearings can be continued without notice.
• •After a bid is accepted the buyer serves written notice on every party with a potential interest, publishes notice in the parish official journal, waits 60 days for redemption, then requests a quit claim deed from the District Attorney's office and records it with the Clerk of Court. The parish conveys surface rights only and reserves all oil, gas and other mineral rights, and the act of sale carries no warranty of title.
• •Adjudicated parcels are mapped on the assessor's parcel viewer at actdatascout.com under the Allen Parish overlays. The Assessor's Office answers questions about the map at 337-639-4391.
• •Before bidding, ask the Sheriff's Civil Division for the total back taxes owed and check the Clerk of Court recording department at 337-639-4351 for liens. Parcels inside Oakdale, Kinder, Elton, Elizabeth and the parish's other municipalities can also owe separate town taxes, which those towns sell at their own auctions.
• •Property tax bills and parcel searches for the parish run through the online payment and search portal at snstaxpayments.com/allen.

Louisiana rules

Max interest rate

12% per year, bid down in 1.2% steps to an 8.4% floorLouisiana Revised Statutes 47:2154 - Tax lien auctions; time of auction; priceLa. R.S. 47:2154Verified Aug 24, 2026

Minimum return

5% floor at redemptionLouisiana Revised Statutes 47:2127 - Time for payment; interest and penalty; notificationLa. R.S. 47:2127Verified Aug 24, 2026

Redemption

Louisiana replaced redemption with extinguishment of the lien, and the shape is different from a redemption clock. There is no date on which the owner's right lapses by itself. Any person may pay the termination price to the tax collector at any time. The holder cannot even start the enforcement suit until the later of three years from recordation of the certificate or six months after the R.S. 47:2156 notices went out, and once suit is filed the right to pay survives until the close of business on the thirtieth day after the last party was served. After that the tax collector stops accepting payment, and the lien can be extinguished only by the holder's own act or by court order: a party holding an interest may still file a contradictory motion before the judicial sale and ask the court to set the termination price, which the court fixes within 30 days and which must then be paid within 30 days more. The pressure on the holder comes from the other end. R.S. 47:2155(C) makes the right to sue peremptive at seven years from recordation, suspended while a political subdivision holds the certificate or a recorded bankruptcy stay is pending, after which the lien is extinguished and the inscription cancelled. Redemption periods that the constitution used to provide remain peremptive under R.S. 47:2241, but the amended constitution no longer provides any.Louisiana Revised Statutes 47:2266.1 - Procedure to recognize amounts due under tax lien certificateLa. R.S. 47:2266.1Verified Aug 24, 2026

Surplus proceeds

R.S. 47:2267(B)(1) ranks the proceeds. The sheriff deducts the costs of the sale and any commission, then pays the plaintiff certificate holder the judgment plus judicial interest through the date of sale and reasonable costs and attorney fees, then any other tax lien certificate holders whose rights have not perempted, then holders of recorded mortgages, liens and privileges, and finally each owner according to their interest. The certificate holder is paid immediately even if the remaining parties are still arguing, and a dispute over the surplus cannot delay the sheriff's deed. Proceeds that cannot be delivered go into the registry of the court, and surplus left unclaimed for one year falls under the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act of 1997, R.S. 9:151 and following. The constitution now requires this: La. Const. art. VII, sec. 25(A)(1)(d) makes a procedure for claiming excess proceeds a minimum feature of the scheme.Louisiana Revised Statutes 47:2267 - Procedure to enforce tax lien; proceeds of judicial saleLa. R.S. 47:2267Verified Aug 24, 2026

Governing statute

La. Const. art. VII, sec. 25Louisiana Constitution article VII, section 25 - Tax Administration (as amended by Acts 2024, No. 409, effective January 1, 2026)La. Const. art. VII, sec. 25Verified Aug 24, 2026

A tax deed does not convey marketable title. Most buyers file a quiet title action before they can resell or insure the property. See the due diligence guide.

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