2018 Louisiana Laws
Revised Statutes
TITLE 33 - Municipalities and Parishes
RS 33:1236.20 - Liens for removal and securing dangerous structures; maintenance of property; interest; assistance of national guard; Iberia Parish

§1236.20. Liens for removal and securing dangerous structures; maintenance of property; interest; assistance of national guard; Iberia Parish

A.(1) The governing authority of the parish of Iberia may:

(a) Adopt ordinances, rules, and regulations in order to secure or cause to be secured any building or other structure situated within the parish, which, by reason of its nature or condition, endangers the public welfare or safety.

(b) Adopt ordinances, rules, and regulations in order to condemn and cause to be demolished, removed, or both, any building or other structure situated within the parish, which by reason of its nature or condition, endangers the public welfare or safety.

(c) By ordinance provide a method for securing, or demolishing or removing, or both, buildings or structures, as well as a method of maintaining property in a sanitary condition including grass cutting, weed abatement, or trash and garbage removal, at the expense of the property owner.

(d) Adopt ordinances providing for fines for the failure of any property owner to comply with ordinances adopted pursuant to this Section.

(2) Ordinances adopted pursuant to this Section shall include a provision for notification of the owner or any other party in interest and an opportunity to be heard.

B.(1) Upon failure of the property owner to pay any fine levied as provided by ordinance or any costs incurred by the parish for securing, or demolition or removal, or both, of such structures, and for maintenance of property in a sanitary condition, the governing authority may file a certified copy of the order levying a fine or fines or a copy of an invoice reflecting the amount of such costs with the recorder of mortgages, and the same, when so filed and recorded, shall operate as a lien and privilege in favor of the parish against the property.

(2) In addition, the ordinances of the parish may provide for interest on costs incurred by the parish, which shall be paid prior to cancellation of the lien. The rate of interest shall not exceed the rate of legal interest, as provided in Civil Code Article 2924, and shall be computed from the date of recordation of the lien until paid or enforced.

(3) The lien obtained by the parish pursuant to this Section shall include not only the costs provided for in Subsection A of this Section but shall include all attorney's fees and all costs incurred in the locating of the owner, the notification of the owner, and the enforcement and collection of the amount secured by the lien.

(4) The parish's privilege and lien shall prime all other liens or privileges against the property filed after the notice to the owner is filed with the recorder of mortgages pursuant to this Section, regardless of the date on which the parish's lien and privilege is perfected, except that the parish's lien and privilege will not prime other tax liens against the property.

C.(1) After the parish has levied such fine or fines or incurred such costs as constitute the lien and privilege on the property, the tax assessor of the parish may add said amounts to the next ad valorem tax bill of the owner, and said amount shall be subject to the same interest and penalties as delinquent ad valorem taxes.

(2) If within six months after the filing of the lien provided for in Subsection B of this Section, the property owner fails to pay such lien and any interest thereon, the tax assessor of the parish shall have the authority to offer for sale and subsequently sell or otherwise convey such property. The procedure for notice, advertisement, and sale of the property shall be governed by the law applicable to the sale of real property for delinquent parish taxes. However, such notice shall be given at least one hundred twenty days prior to such sale by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, by personal service, or by other means provided by law, to any person having legally protected property interests in such property, whose name and address can be reasonably ascertained, and to any person who has filed a request for notice as provided by Paragraph (3) of this Subsection.

(3)(a) Any person desiring to be notified in the event a specific, immovable property will be subject to post-adjudication sale may file a request for such notice in the mortgage records of the parish.

(b) The request for notice shall state the legal description of the immovable property and the name and address of the person desiring notice.

(c) The person desiring notice shall pay the sum of five dollars to the sheriff, for deposit to the sheriff's general fund, to defray the cost of providing the notice. However, in the event the request for notice established herein is combined with a request for notice of seizure governed by R.S. 13:3886, the person requesting notice shall pay the sheriff the simple fee established by law for the request for notice of seizure.

(4) Alternatively, the privilege and lien may be enforced in the district court pursuant to the Code of Civil Procedure, and may be enforced either against the subject property or against the owner personally by ordinary process and subsequent seizure and sale or garnishment of other movable or immovable property of the owner pursuant to the Code of Civil Procedure.

(5) The amount of any parish lien operating against the property and any interest accruing thereon may be canceled in whole or in part by the governing authority in order to facilitate the sale or disposition of the property for the unpaid lien.

D. For the purposes of this Section, the term "secured" shall mean the closing of the building or structure by means of placing or attaching boards or other materials over doors, windows, and other means of entrance in order to prohibit persons from entering the building or structure and in order to maintain it in its present condition without further damage to such building or structure or danger to the public welfare and safety.

E.(1) The governing authority may request and the adjutant general may assign, subject to the approval of the governor, national guard personnel and equipment to assist in the removal and demolition of condemned buildings, structures, or public nuisances. The provisions of this Subsection shall be applicable when the budget for the demolition and removal of condemned structures has been expended by the governing authority of the parish. However, the request must be accompanied by documentation that all procedural projections and substantive restraints have been adhered to by the governing authority.

(2) In the event all procedural projections and substantive restraints have been adhered to by the governing authority, the parish and its personnel and the national guard and its personnel shall not be liable to the owner of the building, structure, or public nuisance for any damages sustained resulting from the demolition of the building, structure, or public nuisance.

Acts 1994, 3rd Ex. Sess., No. 66, §2, eff. July 7, 1994; Acts 2011, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 20, §1, eff. June 12, 2011.