The LA County property tax deadline comes in two parts each fiscal year: the first installment is due November 1 and becomes delinquent after December 10, and the second is due February 1 and becomes delinquent after April 10.1Treasurer and Tax Collector. Secured Property Taxes General Information Miss either cutoff and a 10% penalty is added to the unpaid amount automatically. The County does not send a warning first, and it does not offer a grace period.
The Two Installment Dates
Secured property tax bills, which cover real property like houses, condos, and commercial buildings, go out every October. Each bill has two stubs, one for each installment.2Treasurer and Tax Collector. Secured Property Taxes Frequently Asked Questions
- First installment: Due November 1, delinquent after December 10.
- Second installment: Due February 1, delinquent after April 10.
You can pay both at once by submitting both stubs or selecting both installments online. There’s no separate deadline for combined payment; each installment simply has to be paid before its own delinquency date.3Los Angeles County Property Tax Portal. Frequently Asked Questions
When December 10 or April 10 lands on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the delinquency date rolls forward to the next business day.3Los Angeles County Property Tax Portal. Frequently Asked Questions That’s the only built-in flexibility in the calendar.
What Counts as On Time
Whether you’re on time depends on how you pay, and the rules are stricter than most people assume.
Mailed Payments
For payments sent by mail, the USPS postmark date controls, not the date the County opens the envelope. Your payment needs a USPS postmark dated on or before the delinquency date.4Treasurer and Tax Collector. Avoid Penalties by Understanding Postmarks
A postage meter stamp is not a USPS postmark. If you drop a metered or permit-imprint envelope in the mail on December 10, the County will treat it as received on whatever date it physically arrives, and if that’s December 11, you owe the penalty. The County will deny a cancellation request based on a meter date.5Treasurer and Tax Collector. Penalty Cancellation Request Certified mail is the safest option because it locks in a USPS postmark and gives you a receipt.
Online Payments
Online payments must be completed by 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on the delinquency date.6Treasurer and Tax Collector. Payment Options The electronic timestamp is what the County uses. Traffic on the payment site spikes on deadline day, and a transaction that fails at 11:58 p.m. is not forgiven, so leave yourself real margin.
What the Penalty Actually Costs
The penalty schedule is fixed by statute and applied automatically once the deadline passes:
- First installment late: 10% of the unpaid amount.7Los Angeles County Property Tax Portal. Notice of Delinquency
- Second installment late: 10% of the unpaid amount, plus a $10 cost.7Los Angeles County Property Tax Portal. Notice of Delinquency
On a $5,000 installment, that’s an extra $500 for being one day late. Partial payments are accepted and will reduce your balance, but the 10% penalty still applies to whatever was unpaid at the delinquency date.6Treasurer and Tax Collector. Payment Options
When Penalties Can Be Cancelled
The County will cancel a penalty only under narrow circumstances set by the California Revenue and Taxation Code:5Treasurer and Tax Collector. Penalty Cancellation Request
- You can prove the USPS took custody of your payment on or before the delinquency date.
- Your payment was credited to the wrong property by mistake.
- The Assessor, Auditor, or Tax Collector caused the delinquency through an error.
- Circumstances beyond your control, such as unexpected hospitalization on the delinquency date, a natural disaster like a wildfire, the death of the property owner on or before the deadline, or a government-declared state of emergency.
The County has published a list of arguments it explicitly rejects: a good payment history, problems with an online bill-pay service, mailing “early enough” for USPS delivery, financial hardship, not receiving the bill, and being a new homeowner unfamiliar with the process.5Treasurer and Tax Collector. Penalty Cancellation Request To ask for a cancellation, complete the Penalty Cancellation Request Form on the Treasurer and Tax Collector’s site and email your supporting documentation to the address in your confirmation.
What Happens If You Miss Both Installments
If both installments remain unpaid on June 30, the property goes into tax default on July 1. The County adds a $15 redemption fee and starts charging 1.5% of the defaulted tax amount per month until the balance is paid in full.2Treasurer and Tax Collector. Secured Property Taxes Frequently Asked Questions On a $10,000 defaulted balance, that’s an extra $150 every month on top of the original 10% penalties.
Default doesn’t mean immediate loss of the property. Owners get a redemption period before the County can sell at public auction. For homes and agricultural property, that period is five years from the date of default. For nonresidential commercial property and vacant residential lots, it’s three years, though a county ordinance can extend that to five.8Justia Law. California Revenue and Taxation Code 3691-3731.1
If you can’t clear a defaulted balance in one payment, the Installment Plan of Redemption, known as the Five-Pay Plan, spreads it across five annual payments and blocks the auction while the plan stays current. You qualify as long as the property is still within its redemption period.9Treasurer and Tax Collector. Property Tax Installment Plans Current-year taxes are not eligible; the plan applies only to taxes that have already defaulted.
If You Have a Mortgage Escrow Account
Lenders with impound accounts send the County a list of their properties each July. When bills go out in October, the County mails the actual bill to your lender and sends you an information-only statement.2Treasurer and Tax Collector. Secured Property Taxes Frequently Asked Questions If your statement is marked “information only,” your lender is handling it.
Two situations still put the deadline on you. Supplemental bills, which are issued when property changes hands or new construction is completed, are generally not paid by lenders even when the annual bill is escrowed.2Treasurer and Tax Collector. Secured Property Taxes Frequently Asked Questions If you bought a home recently, expect a supplemental bill in your name. And if you paid off your mortgage or refinanced after the July lender list was compiled, your bill may still be routing to your former lender; confirm you’re receiving it directly before the December 10 deadline arrives.