St. Mary County, LA tax sales
How tax lien sales work in St. Mary County, seat of Franklin: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.
New to tax sales? Read how Louisiana tax sales work or look terms up in the glossary.
- Next sale
- Louisiana holds no tax deed sale and no parish publishes a tax deed calendar.
- Format
- GovEase
- County office
- 337-828-6979
On this page
How St. Mary County sells delinquent taxes
From lien to deed
Louisiana holds no tax deed sale. A certificate holder who has not been paid files an ordinary proceeding under R.S. 47:2266.1 asking the court to recognize the delinquent obligation and the lien, and can do so only after the later of three years from recordation of the tax lien certificate or six months after sending the post-auction notices required by R.S. 47:2156. Those notices cannot go out more than one year before the suit, which makes years three through four the natural filing window. The petition names every owner shown in the conveyance records, and a notice of pendency of action goes into the mortgage records to preserve the lien while the case runs. Judgment is in rem only. It is executed by writ of fieri facias under Code of Civil Procedure Article 2291 and following, and the property is sold at a sheriff's judicial sale.
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- St. Mary Parish Sheriff's Office, Tax Department
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- One tax sale a year, held online in June.
- Next expected
- advertised for auction by May 1, 2027 (window; exact date posts closer to the sale)
When it runs
Registration and deposit
Bidding requires a free GovEase account plus a separate registration for the St. Mary Parish auction, renewed every year. Register from the Register/Add Auctions screen, sign or upload every document the auction asks for, and read the notes on that registration page because some auctions require a deposit up front. Watch the My Registrations page until the parish shows you as approved, along with your approved dollar amount, before bidding opens.
Sale format and venue
St. Mary County tax sale list and auction calendar
For St. Mary County tax sale 2026 searches, use the county-run sources below rather than a copied parcel list, and confirm the parcel, registration cutoff, deposit, and payment deadline against the county before you bid.
Get the advertised list
Use Tax Sale Property Auctions and Parcel Lists, GovEase for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.Register to bid
Ask the county office how and when to register; many counties close registration days or weeks before the sale.Sale day
Louisiana holds no tax deed sale and no parish publishes a tax deed calendar. Bidding runs on GovEase; check posted sale dates, registration status, and bidding windows there.Confirm with the office
If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use Sheriff, executing a district court judgment obtained by the tax lien certificate holder as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in St. Mary County
4 checks
Start with the live sale list
Pull the current advertised parcels from Tax Sale Property Auctions and Parcel Lists, GovEase. Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.Confirm registration and deposit
Bidding requires a free GovEase account plus a separate registration for the St. Mary Parish auction, renewed every year. Register from the Register/Add Auctions screen, sign or upload every document the auction asks for, and read the notes on that registration page because some auctions require a deposit up front. Watch the My Registrations page until the parish shows you as approved, along with your approved dollar amount, before bidding opens.
Check the state rules that change the bid
Read the Louisiana due-diligence checklist before bidding. Redemption, liens that survive a tax deed, title cleanup, and payment deadlines can change what a parcel is worth.Set a walk-away number
Work out what the parcel is actually worth with the rural land value estimator, then turn it into a ceiling with the tax deed max-bid calculator.
Over-the-counter (leftover) purchases
unsold certificates
A lien nobody bids on has its certificate recorded in favor of the political subdivision, which then earns the full 1 percent per month. Any person may buy that lien from the political subdivision on the terms and conditions it sets, taking the same rights as any other certificate holder, and a political subdivision may adopt an ordinance for the public sale of the liens it holds and may sell for less than the full amount owed. There is no statewide list and no statewide price. Ask the tax collector and the parish or municipal governing authority which certificates are held and what their ordinance requires.
New to this path? Read how over-the-counter certificates work.
Use the arrow keys to switch between these sections.
County offices
Tax Collector (runs the certificate sale)
St. Mary Parish Sheriff's Office, Tax Department
St. Mary Parish Sheriff, P.O. Box 571, Franklin, LA 70538 (in person at the St. Mary Parish Courthouse, 500 Main Street, 4th Floor, Franklin, LA 70538)
Official websiteCounty notes
- The Sheriff's Office runs two different kinds of sales and only one of them is a tax sale. Sheriff's sales of seized property are held most Wednesdays at 10:00 am at the front door of the parish courthouse, 500 Main Street in Franklin, and collect court-ordered debts. The annual tax sale for unpaid property taxes is the online one on GovEase.
- Three municipalities inside the parish run their own June tax sales on the same platform in addition to the parish sale: Franklin, Morgan City and Baldwin. A parcel inside those town limits is worth checking on the municipal list as well as the parish list.
- No adjudicated property list is published by the parish government or the Sheriff's Office. For parcels that drew no bid at the tax sale, start with the Sheriff's Office Tax Department at 337-828-6979.
- Property tax payments are handled by the Sheriff's Office, not a treasurer. Payments go to St. Mary Parish Sheriff, P.O. Box 571, Franklin, LA 70538, or in person at the courthouse on the 4th floor, and assessment numbers should be written on the check.
- The parish assessor's office, at www.smpassessor.net, is the place to confirm ownership and assessed value on a parcel before bidding.
Louisiana rules
- 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.
- 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.
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.
Frequently asked questions
Does St. Mary County, Louisiana sell tax liens or tax deeds?
When is the St. Mary County tax certificate sale?
How often does St. Mary County hold tax deed sales?
I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?
Where can I find the St. Mary County tax sale list?
Verified Aug 25, 2026 against official county and state sources.
Tax Sale Atlas publishes educational information about public tax sale processes. This is not legal, financial, or investment advice. Rules, dates, and fees change; confirm with the county office before you bid.
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