Vermilion County, LA tax sales

County offices

County notes

• •Michael A. Couvillon is Sheriff and Ex-Officio Tax Collector for Vermilion Parish, and the annual delinquent tax sale advertisement is issued over his signature.
• •The Tax Department direct line is (337) 898-4419. The main office line is (337) 893-0871 and the office email is [email protected].
• •2026 was the first year the parish tax sale was conducted online. Before that it was a live auction in the conference room of the parish courthouse annex in Abbeville, opening at 10 a.m. within the legal hours for judicial sales.
• •The delinquent tax list and the full sale details are posted on the Sheriff's public notices page ahead of each sale, and the list is also advertised in the parish's official journal. The page carries no notice between sales, so watch it in May and early June.
• •Properties that draw no bidder at the tax sale are adjudicated to the parish. The Vermilion Parish Police Jury offers adjudicated parcels for purchase through CivicSource, where the starting bid is built from research, noticing, title work and closing costs rather than from the tax debt alone. Recent listings covered parcels in Abbeville, Erath, Kaplan and Gueydan with starting bids near $6,865.
• •Property taxes are due and payable by December 31. The Louisiana Tax Commission certifies the parish tax roll by November 15, and the Sheriff mails tax notices after certification, so the delinquency that feeds the June sale is set the preceding winter.
• •Property records and parcel research for the parish are available free through the Vermilion Parish Assessor's Office, which is in the courthouse at 100 N. State St., Suite 110, Abbeville, LA 70510, phone (337) 893-2837.
• •The Sheriff's Sales section of the office website lists judicial foreclosure sales held on Bid4Assets, not tax sales. Those require a $1,000 deposit at least seven days before the auction and are a separate process from the property tax sale.

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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