Louisiana Landlord-Tenant Laws

Security Deposits

Louisiana caps how long the landlord has to return a deposit and what they have to do if they keep any of it. The cap on deposit AMOUNT is set by the lease, not statute.

Louisiana law does not cap the amount a landlord can collect as a security deposit — the lease sets the number. Most operators use one month's rent as a baseline. There is no separate pet-deposit statute; pet deposits are subject to the same return rules below.

After the tenant vacates and returns the keys, the landlord has one month to return the deposit. If any portion is withheld, the landlord must deliver an itemized statement listing the deductions and a check for the balance to the tenant's forwarding address. The tenant must provide a forwarding address — failing to do so weakens (but does not eliminate) the landlord's deadline obligation.

Deductions allowed

• Unpaid rent.
• Damage beyond ordinary wear and tear (a worn carpet from years of normal use is not deductible; a hole punched in drywall is).
• Cleaning costs only when the unit was left in materially worse condition than reasonable use would produce.
• Other amounts the lease specifically authorizes the deposit to cover, provided those amounts are reasonable.

Penalty for failing to return or itemize

If the landlord fails to return the deposit or provide the itemized list within one month, and the failure is in bad faith, the tenant can recover up to $300 in statutory damages plus actual damages, plus court costs and attorney fees. The bad-faith standard means a simple delay due to an honest mistake doesn't automatically trigger the penalty — but the landlord bears the burden of showing good faith once the deadline passes.

Rent & Late Fees

Louisiana doesn't cap rent, late fees, or grace periods by statute. The lease controls — but the lease's terms must be reasonable to be enforceable.

Louisiana has no statewide rent control. Rent amounts and increase schedules are set by the lease. Mid-lease rent increases are not allowed unless the lease specifically permits them; at lease renewal, the landlord can offer any rent the parties agree to.

Late fees and grace periods are similarly contractual. The lease can specify any late-fee structure, but Louisiana courts will refuse to enforce fees that function as a penalty rather than a reasonable estimate of the landlord's collection costs. As a practical guideline, late fees in the 5-10% range with a 3-5 day grace period are routinely enforced; flat fees that compound aggressively get scrutinized.

Louisiana does not require the landlord to accept partial rent payments. If the landlord does accept a partial payment, courts may treat it as waiving the right to evict for the remaining balance during that month — operators should send a written reservation-of-rights notice with the receipt to avoid waiver.

Lease Requirements & Disclosures

What a Louisiana lease must include, what it can't do, and the federal disclosures that apply.

Louisiana doesn't require a written lease for residential rentals shorter than one year — an oral month-to-month is enforceable. For leases longer than one year, La. C.C. art. 1832 requires the lease to be in writing. In practice, every operator should put every lease in writing regardless of term: oral leases create ambiguity that wins zero arguments in court.

Required federal disclosure

For any property built before 1978, federal law (Title X / 42 U.S.C. § 4852d) requires the landlord to: (1) provide the EPA pamphlet "Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home", (2) disclose any known lead-based paint hazards in the unit, and (3) include a lead warning statement in the lease signed by the tenant. Failure to comply is a federal violation, not a state one — penalties run up to $19,500 per violation.

Provisions Louisiana courts won't enforce

• Waivers of the landlord's repair obligation (La. C.C. art. 2691 — landlord must keep the premises in suitable condition; can't be contracted away in residential leases).
• Confessions of judgment that pre-authorize the landlord to take a default judgment without notice.
• Penalty clauses far in excess of actual damages, as discussed above.
• Provisions that waive the tenant's right to demand the deposit return + itemization (the statutory protections are non-waivable).

Landlord Entry & Notice

Louisiana doesn't have a statutory notice-to-enter rule. The lease controls — but reasonableness applies.

Unlike most states, Louisiana has no statute setting a minimum notice period for the landlord to enter. The lease governs. Most well-drafted Louisiana leases require 24 hours' notice for non-emergency entry and allow immediate entry for emergencies (fire, flood, suspected gas leak, etc.). Without lease language, a landlord must still give reasonable notice — "showing up unannounced to inspect" is not allowed even where the lease is silent, on general civilian-code reasonableness grounds.

Common permitted entry purposes: maintenance and repairs, showing the unit to prospective tenants in the last 60-90 days of the lease, inspections after a tenant complaint, and emergencies. Showing the unit to a buyer (sale) is allowed when the lease permits it; without lease language, the tenant can refuse buyer showings.

Eviction Procedure

Louisiana's eviction procedure is fast by national standards — the formal court timeline can run 2-3 weeks. The notice phase is what most operators get wrong.

Eviction in Louisiana follows La. C.C.P. art. 4701 et seq. The landlord first delivers a written Notice to Vacate giving the tenant five days (counting Sundays and legal holidays) to leave. If the tenant doesn't leave, the landlord files a Rule to Show Cause in justice-of-the-peace court (or city court in larger parishes), which sets a hearing at least three days out. If the tenant loses or doesn't appear, the court issues a judgment of eviction; if the tenant still doesn't leave, the landlord requests a warrant of possession and the constable executes it.

Grounds for eviction

• Non-payment of rent.
• Lease violation (unauthorized occupants, illegal activity, damage, breach of any other lease term).
• Holdover after lease expiration with no renewal.
• Termination of an at-will tenancy with proper notice (10 days for month-to-month).

What the landlord cannot do

• Self-help eviction — locking the tenant out, removing their belongings, shutting off utilities. Louisiana courts treat self-help as a tort and award damages to the tenant.
• Retaliation — evicting in response to a tenant's good-faith complaint to a code-enforcement agency or assertion of statutory rights.
• Skipping the Notice to Vacate — without it, the Rule to Show Cause is dismissed and the landlord starts over.

Habitability & Repairs

Louisiana imposes a statutory duty on the landlord to maintain the premises in suitable condition. The duty can't be contracted away in residential leases.

Under La. C.C. art. 2691 the landlord must keep the leased premises "in a condition such that it can be used for the purpose for which it was leased". For residential rentals that means working plumbing, hot water, heat, electrical service, weather-tight roof and walls, and no conditions that endanger the tenant's health and safety. The duty applies regardless of what the lease says — La. C.C. art. 2699 makes habitability protections non-waivable for residential leases.

Tenant remedies for failure to repair

• Notify the landlord of the defect in writing and give a reasonable time to repair.
• If the landlord fails to repair, the tenant may either (a) repair-and-deduct from rent (limited to one month's rent for a single repair), (b) terminate the lease and vacate, or (c) sue for damages.
• The tenant cannot withhold rent unilaterally without using the repair-and-deduct procedure — straight withholding is treated as non-payment and grounds for eviction.

Lease Termination & Renewal

How leases end in Louisiana — fixed-term expiration, month-to-month termination, and reconduction.

A fixed-term lease ends automatically on its end date — no notice required from either side under the statute, though most operators send a courtesy non-renewal notice 30-60 days out. If the tenant stays past the end date and the landlord accepts rent, the lease is reconducted (renewed) into a month-to-month tenancy on the same terms (La. C.C. art. 2721). Reconduction is the Louisiana equivalent of "holdover converts to month-to-month".

Month-to-month notice

Either party can terminate a month-to-month tenancy with 10 days' written notice ending the rental period (La. C.C. art. 2728). Notice given mid-month doesn't end the tenancy until the next rent period rolls over. Both landlords and tenants are bound by the 10-day rule — the lease can extend it (e.g., to 30 days), but cannot shorten it below 10 days.

Early termination by tenant

• Active military deployment under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (federal — overrides any state contrary rule).
• Habitability failure following the repair-and-deduct procedure.
• Domestic violence or stalking — Louisiana provides limited early-termination rights for victims with documentation (La. R.S. 46:2173).
• Mutual agreement, properly documented in writing.

Fair Housing & Discrimination

Federal Fair Housing law applies in Louisiana. State law adds nothing on top, but parishes (especially New Orleans) sometimes do.

The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation per HUD's 2021 guidance), familial status (presence of children), and disability. These protections apply to advertising, screening, lease terms, and the eviction process. Louisiana does not add state-level protected classes beyond the federal list. The City of New Orleans extends protection to source of income (housing voucher recipients) by ordinance — operators in Orleans Parish should not deny applicants because they pay with Section 8.

Disability accommodation is the area most operators get wrong. Required accommodations include allowing service animals (no pet deposit, no breed restriction), permitting reasonable modifications at the tenant's expense, and adjusting screening criteria where doing so doesn't cause undue hardship. Emotional support animals occupy a similar protected status under the FHA — the tenant must produce documentation from a treating professional, but the request itself can't be denied because the breed or species is otherwise restricted.