When the sale is held
No statute fixes an auction date. R.S. 47:2127(D) requires the lien to be offered once the taxes have gone 90 days past delinquency, which falls around April 1, and R.S. 47:2154(A)(1) requires the tax collector to advertise the auction on or before May 1 of the year following the year of assessment, or as soon after that as possible. R.S. 47:2153(A) starts the chain earlier, with a certified mail notice of delinquency to every tax notice party no later than the first Monday of February. The auction runs on a weekday with bidding opening no earlier than 8:00 a.m. and closing no later than 8:00 p.m.; an online auction may run over several days so long as all bidding closes inside those hours on a weekday. Confirm the date with the tax collector, because none of these dates is the auction date.
When taxes go delinquent
Louisiana statutory impositions, meaning ad valorem taxes plus anything else billed on the same tax notice, are payable as soon as the tax roll reaches the tax collector and are due no later than December 31. Anything unpaid is delinquent the next day and draws interest of 1 percent per month, or any part of a month, on a noncompounding basis. A 5 percent penalty on the statutory impositions is assessed once the lien is offered at auction, and no interest ever runs on that penalty. The delinquent obligation is secured by a lien and privilege that ranks ahead of every other mortgage, lien, privilege and encumbrance on the property, and all tax liens rank concurrently with one another regardless of when they arose or were recorded. If taxes, interest and costs on immovable property are still unpaid 90 days after becoming delinquent, which lands around April 1, the tax lien is offered at a tax lien auction.
What happens after the sale
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.
Leftover parcels between sales
When a lien draws no bidder, R.S. 47:2154(E)(1) has the tax collector record the tax lien certificate in favor of the political subdivision, and that certificate earns the full 1 percent per month. R.S. 47:2246 then lets any person buy that lien from the political subdivision on the terms and conditions the political subdivision sets, and the buyer takes exactly the same rights as any other certificate holder. R.S. 47:2201(A)(3) is the enabling half: a political subdivision may adopt an ordinance governing the public sale of the tax liens it holds, and R.S. 47:2207.1 has it execute the sale and file the act of sale in the mortgage records. A political subdivision may sell for less than the full delinquent obligation without that counting as a donation of public property. There is no statewide list, no statewide price and no fixed discount. Ask the tax collector and the parish or municipal governing authority which certificates are held and what their ordinance requires.
These dates are the statewide statutory schedule. The exact auction date, registration deadline, and platform are set county by county, so confirm them on the Louisiana county pages before you plan a bid. For the mechanics of the sale itself, see how to buy in Louisiana.
Verified Aug 24, 2026 against Louisiana statutes.
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.