HLS 10RS-2869 ORIGINAL
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are additions.
Regular Session, 2010
HOUSE BILL NO. 1401
BY REPRESENTATIVE NOWLIN
TAX/AD VALOREM TAX: Provides relative to the notice of delinquent property taxes
AN ACT1
To amend and reenact R.S. 47:2153(A), relative to the notice of delinquent property taxes;2
to require certain actions by the tax collector prior to the scheduling of a tax sale; to3
provide for the time within which to send notice; and to provide for related matters.4
Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:5
Section 1. R.S. 47:2153(A) is hereby amended and reenacted to read as follows: 6
ยง2153. Notice of delinquency and tax sale7
A. On the second day after the deadline for payment of taxes each year (1)8
No later than the first Monday of February of each year, or as soon thereafter as9
possible, the tax collector shall send a written notice by United States mail postage10
prepaid certified mail, return receipt requested, to each tax notice party when the tax11
debtor has not paid all the statutory impositions which have been assessed on12
immovable property, notifying the person that the statutory impositions on the13
immovable property shall be paid within twenty days after the sending of the notice14
or as soon thereafter before the tax sale is scheduled, or that tax sale title to the15
property will be sold according to law. The notice shall be sufficient if it is in the16
following form:17 HLS 10RS-2869 ORIGINAL
HB NO. 1401
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are additions.
"Year1 Ward Sect. Ass. # Property # Notice #
********PLEASE NOTE********2 [NAME OF POLITICAL
SUBDIVISION]
*By law your taxes are delinquent after3
December thirty-first. The law requires4
interest be charged as follows: A flat5
rate of one percent (1%) per month on6
delinquent ad valorem taxes.7
*If monies for payment of taxes are in8
escrow, please forward tax notice to your9
mortgage company.10
*If a receipt is requested, enclose a self-11
addressed stamped envelope along with12
your payment.13
*Please notify the sheriff's office or the14
assessor's office with all address15
changes.16
*For questions about assessed value or17
millages contact:18
Assessor's Office:19
Property Tax Dept:20
*Payment may be made online at21 HLS 10RS-2869 ORIGINAL
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*[DATE OF NOTICE]. If taxes are not1
paid within twenty days after this date,2
the political subdivision will proceed to3
sell tax sale title to the property at [list4
location of the tax sale] beginning on5
[list first day of sale]. You will have the6
right to pay the amounts due until the7
day before the actual sale. If tax sale8
title to the property is sold, you will have9
three years [or other applicable10
redemptive period] from the date of the11
filing of the tax sale certificate in which12
to redeem the property according to law,13
but in order to redeem, you will be14
required to pay a 5% penalty and 1% per15
month on the amounts past due together16
with other costs in accordance with law.17 HLS 10RS-2869 ORIGINAL
HB NO. 1401
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are additions.
Total Assessed1
Value Tax2
Distributions3
MillagesHomestead
Exemption
Taxes and
other
Statutory
Impositions
Due
Assessment
Information
[add taxing4
districts]5
[add amount
of tax due
each district]
Total Assessed Value
Property Description
Total Statutory6
Impositions7
Due8
Interest9
Costs10
Total11
[Name of Tax Collector and Address]12
Total Statutory Impositions Due13
Interest14
Cost15
Total16
[Tax Collector Name]17
YEAR18 WARD SECT ASS.# PROPERTY NOTICE #
Name of Tax Debtor19
[address]_______________________20
Make checks payable to: ________________________ [Tax Collector Name]21
Mail this portion of tax bill and payment to: ____________________[address]"22 HLS 10RS-2869 ORIGINAL
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(2)(a) If a tax notice is returned to the tax collector as "undeliverable", or1
the tax collector has received no response from the tax debtor, he shall attempt to2
determine the physical address of the tax notice party by contacting public utility or3
telecommunications service providers which serve the area in which the property is4
located. Public utility and telecommunications service providers shall provide to the5
tax collector, upon his written request, the physical address of the person responsible6
for paying for their services at the respective property. No other customer7
information shall be provided to the tax collector.8
(b) In the event the tax collector obtains a new physical address for the tax9
notice party from a public utility or telecommunication company, a second notice of10
the taxes due and the impending tax sale shall be sent to the new physical address by11
certified mail, return receipt requested.12
(c) The effort by the tax collector to determine a tax notice party's physical13
address or to issue a second notice of the taxes due, as provided in this Paragraph,14
shall not delay or otherwise alter the publishing of the tax notice or the sale of the15
property as provided in Subsection B of this Section.16
* * *17
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
Nowlin HB No. 1401
Abstract: Regarding the mailing of delinquent tax notices by a tax collector, changes the
deadline for mailing the notice from the second day after the tax due date to Feb. 1,
and requires the tax collector to attempt to find a correct address for the tax notice
party if the tax notice is returned as "undeliverable" or the tax debtor fails to respond.
Present law provides that on the second day after the deadline for payment of ad valorem
taxes each year, or as soon thereafter as possible, the tax collector shall send a written notice
by U.S. mail postage prepaid to each tax notice party when the tax debtor has not paid all the
statutory impositions which have been assessed on the immovable property.
Proposed law retains present law, but changes the deadline for sending notice from the
second day after the taxes are due to the first Monday in February and requires that the
notice be sent by certified mail rather than U.S. postage prepaid. HLS 10RS-2869 ORIGINAL
HB NO. 1401
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are additions.
Proposed law requires a tax collector, in the event a tax notice is returned as "undeliverable"
or the tax debtor does not respond, to attempt to determine the physical address of the tax
notice party by contacting the local public utility or telecommunications service providers.
These service providers shall provide to the tax collector, upon his written request, the
physical address of the person responsible for paying for their services at the respective
property. No other customer information shall be provided to the tax collector. If the tax
collector obtains a new physical address for the tax notice party from either of these service
provides, a second notice of the taxes due and the impending tax sale shall be sent to the new
address by certified mail, return receipt requested.
Proposed law specifies that the efforts by the tax collector to determine a tax notice party's
physical address or to issue a second notice of the taxes due, as provided in proposed law,
shall not delay or otherwise alter the publishing of the tax notice or the sale of the property
as provided in present law.
(Amends R.S. 47:2153(A))