Note by Thomas J. Celles
“The taxpayer must render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, but no more.” In Tyler v. Hennepin County, the United States Supreme Court ruled that Hennepin County, Minnesota, violated the Takings Clause when it retained the surplus proceeds from the auction of a taxpayer's home for delinquent property taxes. But the Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal, citing Tyler, determined that as long as the taxpayer is rendering unto someone other than Caesar, there is no Fifth Amendment taking when a taxpayer is deprived of their property through statutory mechanisms. In so deciding, the appellate court affirmed a decision by the Civil District Court of Orleans Parish granting ownership of defendant James Thorrick's New Orleans home to Equity Trust Co. (Equity Trust) after Thorrick failed to pay approximately six thousand dollars in property taxes.
Pursuant to Louisiana law, the tax sale title to Thorrick's property was put up for auction after he became delinquent on his property taxes. At auction, Equity Trust purchased the tax sale title to the property for $6,883.12, a price equivalent to the amount of property taxes, interest, and penalties outstanding. Four years later, Equity Trust filed a lawsuit seeking ownership of the property and was granted summary judgment. As a result, Thorrick lost his home in New Orleans worth $369,0008 for failure to pay a small fraction of that in taxes. On appeal, Thorrick argued for the first time that the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, as recently interpreted by the Supreme Court in Tyler, required that Equity Trust compensate him for the excess value of his seized home. Ultimately, the court dismissed Thorrick's appeal because it determined that he had ample opportunity to have brought his Tyler argument at the trial court level but failed to do so.
The noted case is significant because it is the first time a Louisiana court has interacted with the recent Supreme Court decision in Tyler. The Louisiana Fourth Circuit correctly affirmed the lower court's grant of summary judgment to Equity Trust based on the record at trial. In its opinion, however, the court analyzed the decision in Tyler despite the fact that the defendant brought a constitutional claim for the first time on appeal, which is precluded under Louisiana jurisprudence. The court's analysis led to an erroneous determination that Tyler was not relevant to the constitutionality of Louisiana tax sale procedures. Part II provides the context that informed the court by examining Louisiana property tax sale law and relevant Supreme Court jurisprudence. Part III discusses the Louisiana Fourth Circuit's dismissal of Thorrick's constitutional claim. Part IV addresses the court's analysis of Thorrick's constitutional argument and argues that it led the court to incorrectly distinguish Louisiana's tax sale scheme from the one at issue in Tyler. Part V briefly concludes.
About the Author
Thomas J. Celles, CPA., J.D. Candidate 2026, Tulane University Law School; M.S. Accounting 2022, University of Louisiana at Lafayette; B.S. Accounting 2020, Northwestern State University.
Citation
99 Tul. L. Rev. 1091