Q: After purchasing a property at tax sale with no clear owner, would they be able to redeem it within three years?
It is an empty lot of land, 0.5 acres, entirely wooded and overgrown with no servitudes, buildings, or other property besides the land itself. Any attempt to check who the original owner might be comes up short, since it is in the name of an estate rather than a person. The last record for the property before I bought it shows it having the tax sale title transferred to the city in 2020, before being sold to me via tax certificate by the parish in 2023 at another tax sale. The relevant parish document taking posession of the property says 'certificate of land adjudicated for taxes.'
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A:
When you purchase a property at a tax sale in Louisiana, the previous owner has up to three years from the date of the filing of the tax sale certificate to redeem the property. This is true even if the property appears to have no clear owner or is listed under an estate. The redemption period allows the original owner or their heirs to reclaim the property by paying the owed taxes, penalties, and interest.
In your case, since the property was sold to you via tax certificate in 2023, the redemption period would extend until 2026. This means that if anyone with a legal claim to the estate decides to redeem the property, they can do so within this three-year window. It's important to keep this in mind as it affects your full ownership rights during this period.
To protect your investment, consider monitoring any redemption activity closely and maintaining records of all your communications and transactions related to the property. If you need more detailed guidance, consulting with a real estate attorney in Louisiana could be beneficial.
A: The adjudiciated property process is similar not not completelyt identical throughout the state---I would recommend that you contact a property lawyer in your area-----or contact the parish attorney's office in the parish you purchased the adjudicated property----ask to sit down and discuss your property and get a better idea of what you actually own and/or what you have to do, if anything, to ontain clear title. Good luck.
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