Closing Costs in Louisiana 2026: Buyer & Seller Guide
Louisiana levies no state tax on a home sale or a mortgage, and its constitution bars any new tax on transfers of immovable property levied after November 30, 2011. Every parish clerk charges $100 to record a one-to-five-page act (R.S. 13:844) plus surcharges. Inside Orleans Parish, the city of New Orleans adds a flat documentary transaction tax.
deed-tax">Louisiana’s constitutional lock on new transfer taxes
No Louisiana statute levies a state tax on a deed, an act of sale or a mortgage. Article VII, Section 2.3 of the constitution says no new tax or fee “upon the sale or transfer of immovable property, including documentary transaction taxes or fees,” may be levied by the state or a political subdivision “after November 30, 2011.” Recording and filing fees, impact fees, annual parcel fees and ad valorem taxes “shall not be considered” transfer taxes.
New Orleans’ tax (below) is a city ordinance first imposed in 1986 (Ordinance 11338, per the Notarial Archives’ ordinance list), long before the amendment. State law names one other: R.S. 33:2740.63 (2005) authorizes Livingston Parish to levy up to $300 per transfer, payable by “the buyer or transferee,” only if a majority of parish voters approve. The parish code published on Municode contains no such tax.
New Orleans documentary transaction tax: flat, and paid at recording
Chapter 150, Article V of the New Orleans Code taxes recorded acts “affecting any right in or to immovable property located in the parish.” The ordinance and the office that collects it state different amounts:
- Code § 150-391(1): $300 for a sale or mortgage involving only one single-family residence or residential double (a condo unit or single townhouse counts; a timeshare does not). § 150-391(2): $325 for any other instrument up to 25 pages, plus $100 a page after that, capped at $2,500.
- Clerk of Civil District Court, Notarial Archives: sales, donations, transfers, mortgages and commercial leases “are assessed a flat tax of $325.00 except mortgages whose loan amount is under $9,000.00.”
Acts affecting the same property, signed the same day by overlapping parties, count as one transaction (§ 150-392(a)), so an act of sale and the buyer’s mortgage signed together are taxed once. The tax is paid at recording or, on a billing form, within 30 days.
Who pays is written two ways. Section 150-366(b) says the tax “shall be paid” by the seller in a cash sale with no vendor’s lien or mortgage and “in a sale or resale through a savings and loan association or sale and concurrent mortgage,” and by the mortgagor when a mortgage does not involve a transfer of title. Section 150-391(7) says that where one party is a seller and another is a borrower in a single transaction, “the tax shall be prorated,” and § 150-392(d) makes every person obligated for the tax liable for all of it. For a financed sale the ordinance does not say which rule controls; settle it in your purchase agreement.
Section 150-369 lists 35 exemptions, among them acts of correction, quitclaims, partitions of community property between spouses or former spouses, judgments of possession, and sheriff’s deeds in foreclosure.
What a Louisiana clerk charges to record your act
Under Civil Code article 1839, an instrument involving immovable property has effect against third persons “only from the time it is filed for registry in the parish where the property is located.” R.S. 13:844(A)(1) sets the clerk’s base fee per document:
| Pages in the document | Fee under R.S. 13:844 |
|---|---|
| 1 to 5 | $100 |
| 6 to 25 | $200 |
| 26 to 50 | $300 |
| Over 50 | $300 for the first 50, plus $5 per page |
The fee covers up to ten indexed names and one certified copy. A document recorded in both the mortgage and conveyance records pays the fee in each.
Surcharges ride on top. R.S. 13:754(F)(1) directs members of the clerks’ Remote Access Authority to collect $5 per recording, and every district clerk had to join by July 1, 2020; the Orleans clerk’s schedule has charged it since April 1, 2021. Act 446 of 2026 adds a second $5 per recording (§ 754(F)(3)) from January 1, 2027, which expires August 1, 2029 unless extended by legislative act. R.S. 13:996.67 lets Orleans charge up to $30 per recordation, and the Orleans clerk has charged a uniform $30 since August 28, 2017.
Worked example from the Orleans schedule: a five-page act of sale covering one square, one address and no more than two lots costs $100 + $5 + $30 = $135 to record in 2026; Act 446 makes it $140 from January 1, 2027. Orleans adds $13 for each extra square or address.
A Louisiana lawyer’s title opinion behind every title policy
R.S. 37:212(B) says “every title insurance contract relating to immovable property must be based upon the certification or opinion of a licensed Louisiana attorney.” Done for pay, rendering that opinion and “the preparation of acts of sale, mortgages, credit sales” fall within the statutory definition of the practice of law (§ 212(A)(2)(d)). Subsection (B) also says nothing in the section prohibits a person from performing, as a notary public, “any act necessary or incidental to” the notary’s office under Title 35.
Title rates can be set collectively. R.S. 22:1467 lets the Louisiana Title Statistical Services Organization file rates for its members, and the Commissioner of Insurance reviews the rates it promulgates. Membership is voluntary. A member must adhere to those rates unless the commissioner allows it to file a deviation (§ 1468(A)(1)).
Louisiana Housing Corporation’s HomeStart assistance
LHC’s pages, read September 24, 2026, describe these HomeStart programs:
- HomeStart Assist: a 30-year fixed mortgage and 4% of its original principal as a 0% forgivable second mortgage, “fully forgiven after 60 months” if program requirements are met. For buyers who have not owned a principal residence in the past 3 years; income up to 115% of area median, or 140% in targeted areas; 640 minimum credit score; homebuyer education for at least one occupying borrower.
- HomeStart Plus: disaster-recovery money for first-time buyers in designated parishes hit by Hurricanes Laura, Delta or Ida, income at or below 80% of AMI: up to 20% of the price (at most $55,000) as a second mortgage forgiven monthly over 120 months, plus up to $5,000 for closing costs. Certain properties in flood zones A, AE and V are ineligible.
Start with mortgage pre-approval through an LHC participating lender, then size your cash with the down payment calculator and what can I afford calculator. More: the Louisiana real estate guide, the homeowner insurance guide for Louisiana, the mortgage payment calculator, closing costs by state, and neighbors Texas, Mississippi and Arkansas.
Louisiana closing questions
Who pays the New Orleans documentary transaction tax on a purchase?
Section 150-366(b) names the seller as payer in a cash sale with no vendor’s lien or mortgage and in a sale through a savings and loan association or a sale with a concurrent mortgage; § 150-391(7) prorates it between a seller and a borrower in one transaction; for a financed sale nothing ranks those two rules, so settle it in your contract.
Does refinancing a New Orleans house trigger the tax?
Yes: a mortgage recorded without a transfer of title is taxed, and the mortgagor pays (§ 150-366(b)). An amendment that only readjusts the rate or term is exempt (§ 150-369(23)). See the refinance guide.
Can a notary who is not a lawyer pass my act of sale?
Civil Code article 2440 requires a sale of an immovable to be made “by authentic act or by act under private signature, except as provided in Article 1839,” and an authentic act is executed before a notary public and two witnesses (art. 1833). R.S. 35:2 gives notaries power to receive conveyances, and R.S. 37:212(B) says the practice-of-law section does not prohibit acts necessary or incidental to a notary’s office. Any title policy must still rest on a licensed Louisiana attorney’s opinion.
Is there a transfer tax outside New Orleans?
The state levies none. R.S. 33:2740.63 authorizes a voter-approved tax in Livingston Parish, but the parish’s published code contains none, and Article VII, § 2.3 bars new transfer taxes levied after November 30, 2011.