Los Angeles County Property Tax | Bill Search & Payments

Key Property Tax Resources in Los Angeles County, California

Los Angeles County property tax bills are produced jointly by the Assessor, Auditor-Controller, Treasurer and Tax Collector, and the Assessment Appeals Board, and cover both secured taxes on real property and unsecured taxes on items such as business equipment, boats, and aircraft; for a broader look at statewide resources you can also visit California Public Records.

To look up or pay a bill, you will usually need your Assessor's Identification Number (AIN), any bill or installment numbers printed on your notices, and in many cases the Personal Identification Number (PIN) from your Secured Property Tax Bill; online balances and histories are drawn from official county systems but mailed or very recent payments may take time to appear, so always confirm critical details directly with the appropriate county office.

  • Have your AIN and the exact tax year handy before using online tools.
  • Keep your latest Secured or Unsecured Property Tax Bill within reach for bill and PIN details.
  • Gather your bank routing and account numbers or card details before starting an online payment.
  • Double-check your current mailing address with the Assessor so future bills reach you.

Who Handles Property Tax in Los Angeles County

Property taxation in Los Angeles County is a shared system. The Los Angeles County Assessor, Auditor-Controller, Treasurer and Tax Collector, and the Assessment Appeals Board each have defined roles that affect how your bill is calculated, issued, and collected.

The Los Angeles County Assessor is responsible for establishing the assessed value of real and personal property under California law and for applying exemptions that reduce taxable value, such as homeowner and other qualifying exemptions. The Assessor maintains the Assessment Roll, processes changes in ownership, new construction, and mailing address changes, and offers tools such as property searches and a supplemental tax estimator to help owners understand how value changes affect future tax bills.

Once the Assessor has enrolled values and exemptions, the Los Angeles County Auditor-Controller applies the countywide 1 percent general tax levy and any voter-approved or special district rates, and adds direct assessments for services like lighting, landscaping, or other local programs. Questions about specific direct charges or changes to tax amounts that result from adjusted assessments are typically routed to the Auditor-Controller.

The Los Angeles County Treasurer and Tax Collector bills, collects, and enforces both secured and unsecured property taxes. This office issues Annual Secured Property Tax Bills and various adjusted or supplemental bills, receives online, mail, telephone, and in-person payments, maintains payment histories, administers installment plans for eligible defaulted taxes, and manages tax-defaulted property auctions and excess proceeds. For questions about how much you owe, whether a payment has posted, penalties, installment plans, or defaulted property, the Treasurer and Tax Collector is the primary contact.

The Assessment Appeals Board is an independent body that hears disputes between taxpayers and the Assessor about property values. If you believe your assessed value is too high, you start with the Assessment Appeals Board process described in the county’s property tax portal, while continuing to work with the Treasurer and Tax Collector on payments and any penalties or defaulted balances.

Finding Your Los Angeles County Property Tax Bill Online

The county offers electronic access to many property tax records. For secured property taxes, you can use your Assessor's Identification Number (AIN) to view an electronic version of your bill through the Treasurer and Tax Collector’s “View Property Tax Bill” tools or by starting at the county’s portal and selecting options such as “How Much Do I Owe?” or “Request Duplicate Bill”; from there you can look up your bill in the online Property Tax Portal using your AIN.

An AIN is a ten-digit number assigned by the Office of the Assessor to each parcel of real property in Los Angeles County, and the county explains that it appears in multiple locations on your Secured Property Tax Bill. If you no longer have the bill, the county also provides a separate AIN lookup tool described on the bill-view page.

When you open an electronic property tax bill, you will typically see the fiscal tax year, property description, type of bill (for example, annual secured or supplemental), the amounts for each installment, and their corresponding due and delinquency dates, along with any direct assessments and basic status information showing whether each installment is still due or has been paid. Linked tools such as “Property Tax Management System” and “Property Tax Payment History” allow you to review multiple parcels or see how prior payments were applied.

For unsecured property tax bills, such as those issued on business personal property, boats, or aircraft, the county uses a bill number printed on the Unsecured Property Tax Bill. The Treasurer and Tax Collector notes that this bill number is an eight-digit number beginning with the digit 4 and that numbers are reused each year, so you must match the correct bill number to the correct roll year when you search or communicate with the county about unsecured taxes.

If you need documentation for your records, mortgage escrow, or income-tax preparer, the county’s payment history and duplicate bill tools can be used to print or save confirmations that show the original billed amounts and the dates and amounts of payments the Treasurer and Tax Collector has posted. These documents reflect the county’s accounting for your account, but they do not replace professional tax advice.

Los Angeles County Property Tax Payment Offices and Methods

Los Angeles County encourages property owners to pay online whenever possible. Through the Treasurer and Tax Collector’s payment site you can pay your Los Angeles County property taxes online using an electronic check (eCheck) or major credit or debit card. Online payments are generally available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, up to 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on the delinquency date, and you will need your AIN and information from your Secured Property Tax Bill to complete the process; the system allows a limited number of “shopping cart” items per transaction and imposes maximum amounts per eCheck or card transaction.

The county explains that there is no charge for paying by eCheck, provided your bank account is enabled for Automated Clearing House (ACH) transactions and any debit blocks are configured to allow debits from Los Angeles County using the company identification specified on the Treasurer and Tax Collector website. By contrast, card payments incur a service fee of 2.22 percent of the transaction amount, with a stated minimum fee per transaction, and each card payment is limited to a maximum transaction amount. The Treasurer and Tax Collector also partners with Easy Smart Pay, an independent platform that lets taxpayers schedule monthly automatic property tax payments; when you use this option you leave the county’s website, pay any fees charged by that provider, and must supply your AIN so the service can submit payments on your behalf.

For those who prefer or need to pay by phone, the county accepts major credit and debit cards through its telephone payment system at 1.888.473.0835. You will be asked for your AIN, the tax year, and sequence information from your Secured Property Tax Bill, and the same service fee and per-transaction limit that apply to online card payments also apply to telephone transactions.

The Treasurer and Tax Collector continues to accept payments by mail. Checks or money orders must be made payable to the Los Angeles County Tax Collector, include your AIN on the lower left corner, and include the original payment stub or stubs from your bill when available. The county provides a dedicated post office box in Los Angeles for mailed payments and warns that payments sent to other county addresses, including Assessor offices, that arrive after the delinquency date will be considered late. Official guidance on “Avoid Penalties by Understanding Postmarks” explains how USPS postmarks are treated and cautions that some forms of postage, such as metered mail or certain private-vendor stamps, are not postmarked by the Postal Service.

If you must use an independent delivery service instead of the Postal Service, the Treasurer and Tax Collector requires you to use a provider that has been approved by the Internal Revenue Service or by the county itself, and the package must be sealed, properly addressed with all fees prepaid, sent on or before the delinquency date, and delivered to the Treasurer and Tax Collector no later than 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time on the next business day after that date. The county publishes a list of approved companies and illustrates how the timing works when a delinquency date falls on a Monday or Friday.

For in-person payments, the Treasurer and Tax Collector accepts cash, check, money order, cashier’s check, and major credit and debit cards at 225 North Hill Street, First Floor Lobby, Los Angeles, CA 90012, generally from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time, Monday through Friday, excluding Los Angeles County holidays. Card payments made in person are subject to the same 2.22 percent service fee and a per-transaction maximum that is somewhat lower than the online limit. On the delinquency date for annual secured property tax installments, the county also accepts in-person payments at 335A East Avenue K-6, Lancaster, CA 93535, but only by check, money order, cashier’s check, or major credit and debit cards, and expressly not in cash, with the same service fee and card limit.

For in-person questions or payments at county tax offices, the following locations described by the Treasurer and Tax Collector handle common property-tax transactions:

Facility Name Physical Address Phone Number
Secured Property Tax Office 225 North Hill Street, First Floor Lobby, Los Angeles, CA 90012 (View on Google Maps) 213.974.2111
Unsecured Property Tax Office 225 North Hill Street, Room 109, Los Angeles, CA 90012 (View on Google Maps) 213.893.7935
Tax Defaulted Property – Tax Collections Branch 225 North Hill Street, First Floor Lobby, Los Angeles, CA 90012 (View on Google Maps) 213.974.2045

Due Dates, Installments, and Bill Status in Los Angeles County

Annual Secured Property Tax Bills in Los Angeles County contain two installments and, according to county definitions, are mailed each fiscal year by November 1. The first installment becomes due on November 1 and is considered delinquent if it is not paid by the close of business on December 10, while the second installment is due on February 1 and becomes delinquent after the close of business on April 10, unless those dates fall on a weekend or county holiday, in which case the delinquency date is extended to the next business day.

The county uses a fiscal tax year that runs from July 1 through June 30, and unpaid taxes at the end of that fiscal year become defaulted taxes. In the online systems and on printed bills, installments that have not yet reached their delinquency dates are treated as amounts currently due, while installments that are unpaid after that date are treated as delinquent, and totals that carry past the end of the fiscal year contribute to a defaulted balance.

Supplemental and adjusted property tax bills are also defined in county materials. Adjusted Annual and Adjusted Supplemental bills are issued when the Assessor changes a property’s value, corrects a direct assessment, or processes exemptions that were not previously applied. Supplemental Secured Property Tax Bills are created when there is a taxable event such as a change of ownership or completion of new construction, and the Assessor’s tools include a supplemental tax estimator to help owners anticipate these amounts.

Los Angeles County also references installment plans in its property tax terminology. A Five-Pay Plan allows eligible owners to pay defaulted secured property taxes over a five-year period in approximately equal annual installments while also keeping current-year taxes paid on time, and a Four-Pay Plan allows prior-year escaped assessments to be paid over four years, typically without penalties or interest if the plan conditions are met. These plans have specific enrollment rules and are administered through the Treasurer and Tax Collector’s office.

The county and state list several relief and assistance programs in their property tax resources, including senior citizen property tax assistance and a Property Tax Postponement program for qualifying seniors, blind, or disabled homeowners that can defer current-year property taxes on a principal residence. These programs are separate from the regular billing timeline, have their own eligibility criteria, and may appear as notations or adjustments in your property tax account rather than as standard installment lines.

Because installment timing, default rules, and relief programs are governed by California law and county policy, and may be subject to legislative or administrative changes, property owners should confirm applicable dates and program details directly with the official Los Angeles County and State of California resources before relying on them.

When Los Angeles County Property Taxes Become Delinquent

Los Angeles County provides detailed guidance on what happens when property tax payments are late. The Treasurer and Tax Collector explains that property tax payments must be received or United States Postal Service postmarked by the delinquency date to avoid penalties; otherwise, the payment is delinquent and penalties are added under state law.

For Annual Secured Property Tax Bills, the county’s examples show that when a first installment is delinquent, a penalty equal to 10 percent of the unpaid installment is imposed. When a second installment becomes delinquent, a 10 percent penalty plus a fixed cost amount is added; for instance, if a $2,000 second installment is late, the combined penalty and cost in the example totals $210. These percentages and costs apply per installment and are separate from any additional charges that may accrue on defaulted balances over time.

County guidance also clarifies how the delinquency date is applied. A payment is considered late if the Treasurer and Tax Collector does not receive it by the delinquency date or if the United States Postal Service does not apply a postmark dated on or before that date. If the delinquency date falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the law extends the deadline to the close of business on the next business day, but county examples show that the actual deadlines for receiving privately delivered packages are tied to a specific 5:00 p.m. cutoff on the next business day after the delinquency date.

When taxes remain unpaid after the end of the fiscal year, they become defaulted property taxes. The Treasurer and Tax Collector’s resources describe how defaulted taxes can eventually lead to properties being listed as “subject to the Tax Collector's power to sell” and then being offered at public auction, with separate lists published for upcoming auctions and any proceeds exceeding the tax and costs (“excess proceeds”) after a sale. If your property appears on a tax-defaulted or auction list, or you have questions about excess proceeds after a sale, you should contact the Tax Collections Branch as early as possible.

The county also highlights formal processes for requesting penalty cancellations, including specific provisions for payments lost in the mail and references to events such as wildfires and other emergencies where relief may be available. These penalty cancellation requests require documentation, are reviewed under state and county standards, and are not guaranteed; until a cancellation is approved, penalties and interest continue to apply according to the law.

Disputes about the assessed value that underlies your tax bill are handled separately through the Assessment Appeals Board. The county explains that the Assessment Appeals Board is independent of the Assessor and can increase, decrease, or leave unchanged the assessed value based on evidence presented at a hearing. Filing an assessment appeal does not by itself remove the obligation to pay property taxes on time, so taxpayers typically work with both the Assessment Appeals Board on value issues and the Treasurer and Tax Collector on payment, penalty, and default concerns.

How to Get Help with Los Angeles County Property Tax

For most questions about how much you owe, when an installment is due, whether a recent payment has posted, or how to set up or maintain an installment plan, the primary contact is the Los Angeles County Treasurer and Tax Collector. The Treasurer and Tax Collector provides public inquiry channels for both secured and unsecured property taxes, as well as dedicated lines for tax-defaulted property auction information, Chapter 8 sales, and excess proceeds inquiries.

Questions about how your property was valued, whether an exemption has been applied, or how to change the mailing address on the Assessment Roll are handled by the Los Angeles County Assessor. The Assessor maintains tools and forms for change of mailing address, change in ownership, contesting your assessed value, and the misfortune and calamity program referenced in connection with damage from wildfires or other disasters.

If you need documents or records rather than general tax help, the Treasurer and Tax Collector lists a Public Records Request contact, with a physical office at the County’s Temple Street complex and a dedicated email address. This contact can help direct requests for copies of property-tax-related public records held by the Treasurer and Tax Collector, including older bills, payment records, and other materials described in county public information resources.

  • Los Angeles County Treasurer and Tax Collector: 500 W Temple Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012 (View on Google Maps)
  • Phone: 213.974.2111
  • Email: publicrecords@ttc.lacounty.gov

How do I find my Los Angeles County Assessor's Identification Number (AIN)?
Your Assessor's Identification Number (AIN) is a ten-digit number assigned by the Los Angeles County Office of the Assessor to each piece of real property and is printed in several places on your Secured Property Tax Bill; if you no longer have the bill, you can use the county's lookup tools to retrieve the AIN.

When is a mailed Los Angeles County property tax payment considered on time?
A mailed property tax payment is considered on time when the Los Angeles County Tax Collector receives it by the delinquency date or the United States Postal Service applies a readable postmark dated on or before that deadline; if you use postage that does not generate a USPS postmark and the payment arrives after the due date, the county may treat it as late.