City
to Make Over 185 New Adjudicated
Properties Available for Auction
Continues aggressive blight reduction
strategy by bringing
properties back into commerce
NEW ORLEANS – Tomorrow, August 1, 2017, the City will make over 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 over 15,000 addresses. 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 over
$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 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. To RSVP for any of the following information sessions,
please visit events.CivicSource.com.
- Tuesday, August 1 at 6:30 p.m.
Propeller Incubator – 4035 Washington Ave.,
New Orleans, LA 70125
- Wednesday, August 2 at 6:30 p.m.
New Orleans Public Library – 219 Loyola Ave.,
New Orleans, LA 70112
- Tuesday, August 22 at 6:30 p.m.
This session will be in both English
and Spanish
Mid-City Library – 4140 Canal St., New
Orleans, LA 70119
All property details will be available to the public
on CivicSource.com at noon on Tuesday August 1, 2017. A
preliminary map of the properties can be found online at https://www.easymapmaker.com/map/CNO_Adjudicated_Properties.
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 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 &
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 & 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.
Before and After Results of Adjudicated
Properties Sold by the City
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