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Regular Session, 2013 ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 40
BY SENATOR ALLAIN
A RESOLUTION
To urge and request the Louisiana State Law Institute to study the feasibility of authorizing
tax lien sales as a replacement or alternative to tax sale certificates.
WHEREAS, the failure to pay taxes due upon real estate may result in certain legal
actions being taken by a taxing authority to collect real property taxes owed; and
WHEREAS, in most states such actions include: (1) the taxing authority may sell a
tax lien to a person for the amount of taxes owed, with the delinquent taxpayer having a
specified time period in which to pay their tax bill and extinguish the lien; or (2) the taxing
authority may sell a tax deed to a person which makes such person the owner of the property,
and the delinquent taxpayer has no redemptive period in which to reacquire the property; or
(3) as a "hybrid" of the first two actions, the taxing authority may sell a tax deed to a person,
with the delinquent taxpayer having a statutory time period of redemption in which to pay
the tax bill and reacquire the property; and
WHEREAS, along with states such as Connecticut, Georgia, Texas, and Rhode
Island, Louisiana is considered to be within the third category above as a "hybrid" state, as
Article 7, Section 25, of the Louisiana Constitution and related laws authorize the sale of real
estate for nonpayment of real property taxes with a right of redemption, generally for three
years after the date of recordation of the tax sale; and
WHEREAS, the majority of other states appear to utilize either tax lien sales or tax
deed sales without right of redemption to recover tax amounts owed upon real estate; and
WHEREAS, Louisiana's current system of selling tax deeds with a right of
redemption, now known as tax sale certificates, has resulted through the years in costly and
protracted litigation over rights and procedures involved in such sales, including but not
limited to: constitutional questions of due process in notice, advertising and sale processes;
issues involving annulment, quiet title, and foreclosures and effects upon mortgages, seizing
creditors and subrogation; tax sales by municipalities and adjudications to political
subdivisions and post-adjudication sales; issues involving blighted, abandoned, and vacant
property; liability issues; and redemption processes and effects, including effects of SR NO. 40 ENROLLED
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adjudication upon redemption; and
WHEREAS, the complex legal questions and litigation arising from these issues have
necessitated numerous revisions to laws concerning tax sale certificates, and have increased
public and private uncertainty regarding the efficacy and fairness of such system as
providing a practical and reasonable way of collecting tax amounts owed; and
WHEREAS, to reduce litigation and promote fair and efficient means of collecting
tax amounts owed, the Louisiana State Law Institute should study the present "hybrid"
system in Louisiana and the feasibility of tax lien sales as a replacement or alternative to the
current "hybrid" system of relying upon tax sale certificates; and
WHEREAS, such study should include any recommended revisions to the state
constitution and laws as may be necessary in the form of specific proposed legislation.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby urge and request the Louisiana State Law Institute to study the feasibility of
authorizing tax lien sales as a replacement or alternative to tax sale certificates.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Louisiana State Law Institute shall report
to the Senate regarding the study no later than February 1, 2014, and provide its findings to
date, including any recommendations regarding specific proposed legislation.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
director of the Louisiana State Law Institute.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE