Nearly 1,500 EBR properties sold at tax auction

A total of 1,476 tax delinquent properties in East Baton Rouge Parish were sold during an online auction held June 12-14, down from about 4,845 sold last year. That’s according to CivicSource, which was hired by the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office to collect property taxes this year and bring the tax delinquent property sale online for the first time. CivicSource says it has now collected 99.96% of all property taxes owed in the parish. The property auctions firm says it was able to collect on 16,212 property tax accounts prior to online auction sale, leaving only 1,476 for auction, down from 4,845 auctioned off last year. The number of properties adjudicated this year was also down, at 350, compared to 2,200 last year. A tax title sale is held annually for properties with delinquent taxes. The tax titles for these properties are sold to the public for the amount of the taxes owed, plus any accrued interest, penalties, costs and other statutory impositions. The tax title sale is a low-bid-wins type of auction, in which a property is sold to the purchaser willing to bid on the least percent ownership interest in it.