Ouachita County, LA tax sales

County offices

County notes

• •Louisiana has parishes rather than counties, and in Ouachita the Sheriff serves as ex-officio tax collector. There is no parish treasurer collecting property tax; the Sheriff's Civil and Tax Division bills, collects and runs the annual auction.
• •The parish sells a tax lien, not tax sale title. The Sheriff records a tax lien certificate in the parish mortgage records in favor of the winning bidder, and the lien is extinguished by payment rather than ripening into ownership.
• •Bidders compete on the interest rate. It is established at the auction and capped at one percent per month, noncompounding, on the amount paid, and it sits on top of a flat five percent penalty plus costs reimbursable under La. R.S. 47:2156. Bidding down an undivided ownership share, the older Louisiana method, is not how this auction is advertised.
• •The auction is online at Zeus Auction and opens at 9:00 a.m., then continues on each succeeding legal day until every lien has been offered, so plan on more than a single session.
• •The weekly Wednesday 10:00 a.m. auction on Bid4Assets is the Sheriff's judicial foreclosure sale under writs of seizure and sale. It is a separate program from the tax lien auction and sells no tax liens.
• •Property that no one bids on is adjudicated to the parish. The Police Jury keeps a standing parcel list and sells individual parcels in person after a buyer files a request to purchase, with a minimum bid set per parcel and all mineral rights reserved to the parish.
• •The City of Monroe keeps its own adjudicated property list, separate from the parish list. Its Legal Department handles those sales at 318-329-2240.
• •Redemption payments in the parish's published notices are directed to the Ouachita Parish Tax Collector at 300 Saint John Street, Room 102, Monroe, LA 71201, 318-329-1280. The Sheriff's main line is (318) 329-1200 and the tax counter is (318) 324-2536.

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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