The Calcasieu Parish Police
Jury has adopted the following procedure for purchasing
adjudicated property, in accordance with LSA-R.S.
33:4720.11 - 4720.19.
Procedure for the sale of
adjudicated property:
It is recommended that you first determine that the
property in which you are interested has in fact been
adjudicated to the Parish of Calcasieu for past due
property taxes. The Calcasieu Parish Police Jury has
recently compiled a list of the adjudicated properties
for Calcasieu Parish and attempted to locate these
properties on a parish wide map. This map will
enable you to determine, through an assessment number,
the name of the tax debtor(s), the date of the transfer,
the taxing ward, and the legal description of the
property. If you have only a municipal address of the
property, you may need to first determine the property’s
legal description by reviewing the Tax Assessor’s
records.
From the assessment records you shall find the
adjudication information in the “History” section of the
printout. At the very end, or near the end, of the
“History” section, you should find the phrase “Sold to
the State for 19xx or 200x taxes.” If this phrase is not
followed by the phrase “Redeemed for 19xx or 200x
taxes,” it is a very good indication that the property
is still available for sale as adjudicated property. To
make certain, you should always check with the Calcasieu
Parish Sheriff’s Tax Collector’s office for the status
of the property.
A tax debtor has an absolute right to redeem the
property for a period of three (3) years from the date
the property was adjudicated. Calcasieu Parish only
attempts to sell or donate adjudicated properties for
the years from January 01, 1975 through December 31,
2000.
Once you have the above information, submit a written
request to the Adjudicated Property Section of the
Division of Planning & Development of the Calcasieu
Parish Police Jury on the
provided form, which should contain all of
the following information:
1) The legal description of the property you wish to
purchase.
2) The municipal address of the property.
3) The name of the owner in whose name the property was
sold (adjudicated) and the year of the tax sale.
4) The Assessment Number.
A $75.00 certified check or money order for each
piece of property made payable to the Calcasieu
Parish Police Jury must be included with the form. This
fee is to cover the costs of verifying that the property
has been adjudicated to the Parish, determining the
amount of property taxes, penalties and interest due,
determining the amount of other property liens which
might be due the Parish, and determining whether the
property is surplus or needed for public purposes.
The Division of Planning & Development will not make any
determination as to whether the property is “vacant or
not lawfully occupied” and the Calcasieu Parish Police
Jury’s Attorney will not advise you as to this status.
If the Division of Planning & Development believes the
property is not needed for public purposes (only the
Calcasieu Parish Police Jury and Members of the Local
Services Agreement can declare the property surplus),
they will make an initial recommendation to appraise and
sell the property. You will be notified of the status of
the property and the cost of the appraisal, which must
be advanced by you, if you wish to proceed. We
anticipate the cost of an appraisal to be $ 150.00
for a vacant subdivision lot, $250.00 for
a subdivision lot with improvements, and $350.00
for acreage. Once a value for vacant lots in a
particular subdivision has been established, we will not
require appraisals for additional lots in that
subdivision.
Once this office receives the appraisal, it will inform
you of the appraised value, and forward to you a blank
offer letter to be signed and returned if you wish to
make an offer on the property. Offers do not have to
equal or exceed either the appraised value or the amount
of taxes and public liens, but these amounts will be
considered by the Division of Planning & Development and
the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury in deciding to
recommend and/or accept your offer. OFFERS MUST
DESIGNATE THE AMOUNT BEING OFFERED ON EACH PIECE OR
PARCEL OF PROPERTY, UNLESS A STRUCTURE IS LOCATED ON
MULTIPLE PARCELS WHICH WOULD REQUIRE THE PARCELS TO BE
SOLD AS A SINGLE UNIT. Once an offer is received,
this office will place an item on the agenda of the
Calcasieu Parish Police Jury requesting that the
property be sold in accordance with LSA-R.S. 33:4712
and will post a sign indicating that the property is
surplus and for sale. This statute requires that the
request to have the property declared surplus and the
amount of your offer be published in the Lake Charles
American Press. If there is no opposition or higher
offer, this office will recommend that your offer either
be accepted or rejected by the Calcasieu Parish Police
Jury.
Anyone wishing to oppose the sale or offer a higher
price on any of the property being offered is required
to file a written offer or opposition with the Calcasieu
Parish Police Jury Division of Planning & Development
prior to the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury hearing on the
ordinance. Offers must be made on the form provided
by this office and must have a cashier’s check or
money order payable to the Calcasieu Parish Police
Jury attached to the offer as a deposit. This deposit
will be reimbursed by the Parish if you are not the
highest bidder. Only those parties who have
submitted a higher offer with the required deposit will
be allowed to make additional verbal bids on the
property. The results of the bidding process and the
recommendation of this office will then be submitted to
the Jury for final action.
Incidentally, if you submit an offer on any property,
you are responsible for finding out the date and time
of the scheduled public hearing and must attend the
hearing to be sure that a higher offer has not been
received and to bid higher, if you so desire.
Hearings may be continued without prior notice. Notice
of the hearing will be published in the legal notice
section of the Lake Charles American Press three times
prior to the hearing.
If the ordinance is adopted, it will include:
1) Purchaser has certified in writing to the Adjudicated
Property Section of the Division of Planning &
Development that the purchaser has been provided a
Mortgage and Conveyance Certificate or an equivalent by
an abstract company doing business in Calcasieu Parish
certifying that an examination of the mortgage and
conveyance records of the Clerk of Court of Calcasieu
Parish was made to obtain the names and last known
addresses of all owners,
mortgagees, and any other persons who might have vested
or contingent interest in the property, or who has filed
a request for notice as provided in LSA-R.S. 47:2261 and
a list of those names and addresses is attached to the
certification. Said written certification shall
contain an indemnification and hold harmless clause by
the purchaser in favor of the Parish of Calcasieu, its
officers, agents and employees if the purchaser should
fail to request notification to an interested party or
should incorrectly identify or locate any interested
party.
2) A requirement that you make a written request to the
Adjudicated Property Section of the Division of Planning
& Development to notify those persons identified by you
in accordance with LSA-R.S. 33:4720.17 and LSA-R.S.
47:2261. (The sum of five dollars per notice by mail
requested and/or the sum of thirty dollars per notice by
publication shall accompany the written request to
defray the cost for providing the notice.)
3) Within thirty (30) days of the adopted ordinance, or
upon written request from the Adjudicated Property
Section of the Division of Planning & Development, the
Purchaser shall remit 25% of the purchase price as
earnest money to be held in escrow by the Calcasieu
Parish Police Jury for application of the purchase price
at closing, or to be retained by it in the event
the Purchaser fails to complete the purchase.
4) A requirement that once notice is given, you record
proof of notice in the conveyance records of Calcasieu
Parish and provide the Adjudicated Property Section of
the Division of Planning & Development with stamped
copies of the recorded proof of notice. (The Clerk of
Court will charge you to record the proof of notice.)
5) A requirement that at the time of closing, you
certify in writing to the Adjudicated Property Section
of the Division of Planning & Development, that the
number of days mandated by LSA-R.S. 33:4720.17 has
elapsed since the above required notice was made or
attempted and that the property has not been redeemed by
payment of the taxes owed.
6) An authorization for the President to execute a sale
of the property once the mandated number of days has
elapsed after notice as required above.
7) A requirement that the sale be on a form approved by
the Adjudicated Property Section of the Division of
Planning & Development and that the sales price be paid
by certified funds at the time of the sale. The sale
form shall include a reservation of all mineral rights
to the Parish, but shall convey all surface rights.
8) A requirement that the sale will be without any
warranty whatsoever, even as to the return of the
purchase price.
9) A provision that if purchaser should fail to complete
the requirements of Parts 1, 2, and 3 of this section
within sixty (60) days of the adoption of the ordinance,
the President is authorized to execute an act of cash
sale in which the Parish of Calcasieu conveys the above
described property to anyone who shall complete these
requirements; and that if all of the requirements are
not completed within six (6) months from the date of the
adoption of the ordinance, the President’s authority to
execute an act of cash sale for this property shall
cease and any and all rights of the purchaser to this
property shall terminate.
10) A provision that once a bid has been accepted by the
Calcasieu Parish Police Jury, no new bid of a lesser
amount will be accepted from the high bidder if the sale
is not completed.
YOUR INITIAL CHECK FOR $75.00 AND THE COST OF THE
APPRAISAL SHALL NOT BE APPLIED TO THE PURCHASE PRICE.
YOUR INITIAL CHECK FOR $75.00 AND THE COST OF THE
APPRAISAL SHALL NOT BE REFUNDABLE IF THE CALCASIEU
PARISH POLICE JURY REJECTS YOUR OFFER, OR IF THE SALE IS
NOT COMPLETED FOR WHATEVER REASON, BUT SHALL BE REFUNDED
TO YOU IF YOU ARE NOT THE HIGH BIDDER, OR IF THE TAX
DEBTOR REDEEMS THE PROPERTY BEFORE THE SALE OF THE
PROPERTY BY THE PARISH.
IT IS STRONGLY RECOMMENDED THAT ALL PROSPECTIVE
PURCHASERS CONSULT A PRIVATE ATTORNEY REGARDING THE
METHOD AND PROCEDURES OF THE SALE AND THE RELEVANT
STATUTES.
