Washington County, LA tax sales

County offices

County notes

• •The parish seat is Franklinton, and the Sheriff's Office collects property taxes at 1002 Main Street in Franklinton and at 302 Mississippi Avenue in Bogalusa. Sheriff Jason Smith holds the office.
• •The sheriff's sales advertised at wpso.live are judicial foreclosure auctions brought by seizing creditors, not tax sales, and the two are easy to confuse when searching. Those sales moved online on Bid4Assets beginning March 18, 2026, require a $1,000 deposit per auction date paid seven days in advance by certified check, money order or wire, and require the balance of the winning bid by 4:00 p.m. Central on the first business day after the auction. Property there sells as is, with no warranty of title, subject to any superior mortgage, lien or privilege, and the buyer can owe the full year's parish and city property taxes.
• •Parish-owned adjudicated property is sold separately from the annual tax sale. Washington Parish Council approved an adjudicated properties program agreement with CivicSource, and those parcels are listed and bid online through CivicSource rather than on a fixed annual date, so watch the CivicSource auction calendar for a Washington Parish date.
• •A parcel inside the Town of Franklinton or the City of Bogalusa can also be sold for municipal taxes. Both municipalities list their own tax sale parcels through CivicSource, which means one parcel can face a parish bill and a town or city bill collected by different offices.
• •Pull assessment, ownership and legal description records from the Washington Parish Assessor's Office at 908 Washington Street in Franklinton before bidding. The office is open Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., at 985-839-7815.
• •Parcels in this parish are spread across Franklinton, Bogalusa, Mount Hermon and the surrounding rural sections, so budget for a drive and for the acreage descriptions that come with section, township and range legal descriptions rather than street addresses.

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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