§2206. Notice; sale or donation of adjudicated property

A.(1) Either the political subdivision or the acquiring person shall send a written notice notifying any tax sale party whose interest the successful bidder or donee intends to be terminated that the party has until the later of the following to redeem the property or otherwise challenge in a court of competent jurisdiction the potential sale or donation:

(a) Sixty days from the date of the notice provided in this Subsection, if five years have elapsed from the filing of the tax sale certificate, or six months after the date of the notice provided for in this Subsection, if five years have not elapsed since the filing of the tax sale certificate.

(b) The filing of the sale or donation transferring the property.

(2) If this notice is given after the expiration of the applicable redemptive period, this notice shall constitute a notice of sale. The sending of this notice shall constitute service of the notice of sale under Article VII, Section 25 of the Louisiana Constitution. The notice required by this Section shall be sufficient, and it shall not be necessary to determine whether notice of the tax sale or any other notice was given. The written notice shall be sufficient if it is in the following form:

"This is an important legal notice.

Please read it carefully. You will receive no further notice.

[Date]

[Name]

[Address]

[City], [ST] [Zip]

RE:

Property:

[Property Address]

[Description of Property Abbr]

Parish of _____________________ , State of Louisiana

Tax sale title to the above described property has been sold for failure to pay taxes. You have been identified as a person who may have an interest in this property.

Your interest in the property will be terminated if you do not redeem the property by making all required payments to the tax collector listed below or file a lawsuit in accordance with law within [60 days] [6 months] of the date of this notice, or the recording of an act transferring ownership, if later.

[Tax collector name, address, telephone number]"

B.(1) Either the political subdivision or the acquiring person shall cause to be published in the official journal of the political subdivision a notice that any tax sale party whose interest the successful bidder or donee intends to be terminated has, to redeem the property, until the later of:

(a) Sixty days, for property on which a tax sale certificate was filed over five years previous of the first publication, or six months if the tax sale certificate was filed less than five years before the first publication of the notice provided for in this Subsection.

(b) The filing of the sale or donation transferring the property.

(2) The publication shall be sufficient if it is in the following form:

"NOTICE

[Names of Tax Sale Parties]

THIS NOTICE BY PUBLICATION IS NOTIFICATION THAT YOUR RIGHTS OR INTEREST IN THE FOLLOWING DESCRIBED PROPERTY LOCATED IN _____________________, LOUISIANA MAY BE TERMINATED BY OPERATION OF LAW IF YOU DO NOT TAKE FURTHER ACTION IN ACCORDANCE WITH LAW:

[Brief legal description of property]

Improvements thereon bear Municipal No.________________________.

Tax sale title to the above described property has been sold for failure to pay taxes. You have been identified as a person who may have an interest in this property.

Your interest in the property will be terminated if you do not redeem the property by making all required payments to the tax collector listed below or file a lawsuit in accordance with law within [60 days] [6 months] of the date of the first publication of this notice, or the recording of an act transferring ownership, if later.

[Tax collector name, address, telephone number]"

C. The political subdivision or acquiring person may file with the recorder of mortgages of the parish in which the property is located a copy of one of the notices that was sent to the tax debtor or the current owner. A transfer, mortgage, lien, privilege, or other encumbrance filed after the filing of the notice shall not affect the property. The recorder of mortgages or recorder of conveyances shall cancel, erase, terminate, or release the acts upon the request of the acquiring person.

Acts 2008, No. 819, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2009.