Louisiana eviction law

Before filing an eviction, deliver a written notice to vacate that gives the tenant at least five days from delivery to leave. Because the period is shorter than seven days, legal holidays are not counted, and under Louisiana law Sundays are legal holidays and Saturdays are whole or half holidays.

La. C.C.P. art. 4701 La. C.C.P. art. 5059 La. R.S. 1:55

• A tenant can waive the notice to vacate in a written lease clause; you may then file for eviction as soon as the right of occupancy ends. La. C.C.P. art. 4701
• If the lease has no definite term, the termination notice the law requires serves as the notice to vacate. La. C.C.P. art. 4701 See Ending a month-to-month lease on the Louisiana page
• An application for, or receipt of, rent assistance is not payment of rent and is not a defense to an eviction. La. R.S. 9:3259.2

Louisiana sets no fixed cure period for a lease violation. When a tenant fails to perform, you may seek dissolution of the lease under the general contract rules and then deliver the same five-day written notice to vacate used for unpaid rent.

La. Civ. Code art. 2719 La. C.C.P. art. 4701

• You may serve a notice to perform within a reasonable time, warning that the lease will be considered dissolved if the tenant does not comply. La. Civ. Code art. 2015
• A contract may not be dissolved when a substantial part has been performed and the unperformed part does not substantially impair your interest. La. Civ. Code art. 2014
• No notice to perform is needed when late performance would no longer be of value or it is evident the tenant will not perform. La. Civ. Code art. 2016
• If the tenant misuses the home or uses it in a way that may damage it, you may seek an injunction, dissolution of the lease and damages. La. Civ. Code art. 2686

After the notice to vacate expires, you file a rule to show cause, stating the grounds, in a court with jurisdiction. The hearing is set no earlier than the third day after service; if you win or the tenant does not appear, the court renders a judgment of eviction immediately, and if the tenant has not left within 24 hours, the court issues a warrant for possession.

La. C.C.P. art. 4731 La. C.C.P. art. 4732 La. C.C.P. art. 4733

• For a lease with a definite term, a notice to vacate may be given no more than thirty days before the term expires. La. C.C.P. art. 4701
• A judgment of eviction stays effective for at least ninety days. La. C.C.P. art. 4732
• The sheriff, constable or marshal carries out the warrant in the presence of two witnesses and may break open locked doors or gates. La. C.C.P. art. 4734
• An appeal stops the eviction only if the tenant answered under oath with a defense entitling them to stay, and applied for the appeal and posted the bond within 24 hours of the judgment. La. C.C.P. art. 4735
• City and parish courts, and justice of the peace courts, hear residential evictions whatever the rent amount. La. C.C.P. art. 4844 La. C.C.P. art. 4912
• Prepare a hearing folder with the lease, notice to vacate, court papers, delivery records and a clear rent ledger. Add dated photographs, receipts and relevant messages for the issue being disputed. Keep the documents in date order and connect each item to the stated reason for possession; this is an organizational checklist, not a substitute for the court's evidence requirements. La. C.C.P. art. 4732 Louisiana Access to Justice: eviction response guide
• A payment-plan or move-out discussion does not by itself cancel the hearing. The Access to Justice instructions distinguish negotiating an agreement from asking the court for more preparation time. Follow the scheduled date unless the court confirms a change, and understand any consent judgment before agreeing: failure to follow it can lead to eviction without another hearing. Louisiana Access to Justice: eviction response guide

To remove a tenant, you must use the court eviction process; the court's warrant is carried out by the sheriff, constable or marshal. The one exception is abandonment after the required notice to vacate. The law on utility shutoffs was not read for this page; a separate law requires landlords who use third-party utility billing to share the original bills on request.

La. C.C.P. art. 4731 La. C.C.P. art. 4733 La. C.C.P. art. 4734

• In its paragraph on federally declared disasters, article 4731 gives a residential tenant the right to recover $500 or twice the monthly rent, whichever is greater, when the lessor fails to comply with that article, and lets the tenant seek a restraining order or preliminary injunction to enforce it. La. C.C.P. art. 4731
• The Civil Code lease title and the eviction articles say nothing about cutting off utilities; Public Service Commission rules and other utility law were not read. La. Civ. Code arts. 2668 to 2729 La. C.C.P. arts. 4701 to 4735
• If you use third-party billing for a home with its own utility meter, you must give the tenant copies of the original utility bills within thirty days of a written request that meets the statute, and each violation can bring a fine of up to $500. La. R.S. 51:3272 La. R.S. 51:3273 La. R.S. 51:3274

After the required notice to vacate, you may take back the home without further court process if you reasonably believe the tenant has abandoned it. Signs of abandonment include the tenant no longer living there, returning the keys and removing furniture or belongings.

La. C.C.P. art. 4731

• In a parish under a federal disaster declaration, a tenant no longer living in the home is not evidence of abandonment for thirty days after the declaration. La. C.C.P. art. 4731
• You have a privilege (a security right) on the tenant's movables in the home to secure the rent, enforced through a court seizure while they are there and for fifteen days after removal if they can be identified; the seizure procedure was not read for this page. La. Civ. Code art. 2707 La. Civ. Code art. 2709 La. Civ. Code art. 2710
• No section read sets a storage period or a disposal procedure for belongings left in an abandoned home. La. Civ. Code arts. 2668 to 2729 La. C.C.P. arts. 4701 to 4735
• If the premises are abandoned or the tenant cannot be found, eviction notices and papers may be attached to a door of the premises. La. C.C.P. art. 4703

None of the Louisiana lease and eviction laws read for this page bars retaliation in general, but the fair housing law bars interfering with anyone for exercising fair housing rights. In a building of six or more homes, you may not end a lease, refuse to renew or issue a notice to vacate because domestic abuse occurred on the premises and the victim is a tenant or household member.

La. R.S. 9:3261.1 La. R.S. 51:2609

• The Civil Code lease title, the Revised Statutes lease sections and the eviction articles read for this page contain no general anti-retaliation rule. La. Civ. Code arts. 2668 to 2729 La. C.C.P. arts. 4701 to 4735
• Louisiana's fair housing law makes it unlawful to coerce, intimidate, threaten or interfere with anyone because they exercised a fair housing right, such as filing a discrimination complaint, or helped someone else exercise one. La. R.S. 51:2609