NEW ORLEANS – Today, Tuesday, Aug. 1, the city will make more than 185 new adjudicated properties available to nominate for auction in its continued effort to reduce blight and bring vacant properties back into commerce. The city’s blight reduction strategy, launched in 2010, has reduced blight citywide by more than 15,000 addresses, city reps said.
When property taxes are not paid and become delinquent, the city holds tax sales for these properties. Unsold properties at a tax sale are adjudicated to the City of New Orleans. After three years, the city can offer the full title of these properties for sale at auction.
These properties were previously offered in tax sales with no bidders and have reached the three year threshold. This is the first time the properties will be offered with full titles. Since 2015, the city has returned 770 properties to commerce and brought in more than $14.5 million through its adjudicated property auction program. Additionally, 89 adjudicated properties were redeemed by homeowners returning $2.8 million in delinquent taxes to the city. Adjudicated properties that have failed to sell at a previous tax sale are now being offered to investors at a starting bid of the property’s closing costs. All properties come with full ownership and title insurance.
Investors can nominate these properties for auction, along with any of the 900 properties currently listed, by placing an $850 deposit at www.CivicSource.com. Once legal compliance work is completed, nominated properties will be scheduled for the next available auction, which takes place online the first Wednesday of each month. Current owners of adjudicated properties will be notified as the auction draws near so they can choose to pay taxes and fees owed on a property to cancel the sale.
Community Information Sessions
The city and CivicSource will host a series of community information sessions during the month of August to provide comprehensive training on all aspects of purchasing adjudicated property with title insurance. The events are free and open to the public. Click here to RSVP for any of the following information sessions.
• Tuesday, Aug. 1, 6:30 p.m.
Propeller Incubator
4035 Washington Ave.
New Orleans, LA 70125
Wednesday, Aug. 2, 6:30 p.m.
New Orleans Public Library
219 Loyola Ave.
New Orleans, LA 70112
Tuesday, Aug. 22, 6:30 p.m.
Mid-City Library
4140 Canal St.
New Orleans, LA 70119
This session will be in both English and Spanish
All property details will be available to the public on www.CivicSource.com at 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday Aug. 1. A preliminary map of the properties can be found here.
Adjudicated Auction FAQ
• What is adjudicated property?
When property taxes are not paid and become delinquent, the city holds tax sales for these properties. Unsold properties at a tax sale are adjudicated to the City of New Orleans. After three years, the city can offer the full title of these properties for sale at auction.
• How will the auction work?
Available properties are listed by the City of New Orleans online at www.CivicSource.com where anyone can view the properties plotted on a map, as well as see a detailed set of information on each property.
A key goal of the adjudicated property auction is to provide title insurance to the winning bidder. In order to undertake the legal research to provide the insurance, there will be a two-step process for each property.
STEP ONE: THE PRE-SALE RESEARCH & NOTICE PROCESS.
Instead of selecting a few properties to auction at a time, the city will display the entire catalogue of eligible properties at once. This way, investors can identify individual properties or groups of properties of interest and personally initiate the auction process.
When an investor chooses to initiate the auction process on one or more properties, they place a deposit of $850 on the property, which starts the prerequisite legal research and notification process necessary before the auction takes place. The pre-sale process takes approximately 120 days to complete.
If during that pre-sale process period the property owner pays all delinquent taxes and fees, the depositor is refunded their deposit.
STEP TWO: THE AUCTION
If the property is not redeemed by the conclusion of the research and notification period, the auction date is set, and the depositor is notified. At that time, the auction goes live, and the depositor can place their bid. The minimum-starting price will include the cost of the research and legal notifications, closing costs and the cost of the title insurance. Unlike online tax sales, the successful purchaser will own the property free and clear following the auction with title insurance.
If the depositor is not the winning bidder, they refunded their deposit, and the winning bidder is charged that amount.
Who needs to know about the adjudicated property auctions?
Owners of property with delinquent taxes, as well as people who have a recorded interest in a delinquent property, will forfeit all rights to the property unless outstanding taxes are paid before the auction occurs.
During the legally mandated notification process all owners and interested parties will receive first-class and certified notices of sale, as well as one general notice publication and two sale advertisements will appear in the newspaper.
A neighbor to an adjudicated property interested in owning the additional lot may utilize this process. Real estate investors may be interested in certain lots as an investment opportunity. Contractors or others looking to build homes may find some lots to fit their needs.
