Louisiana security deposit law

Louisiana does not cap the amount of a security deposit. Its deposit law covers what happens to the deposit, not how large it may be.

La. R.S. 9:3251 to 9:3254

• If you sell or transfer the property during a lease, you must pass the deposit on to the new owner, who then becomes responsible for returning it; once you do, you are released from liability for it. La. R.S. 9:3251
• Any waiver of the tenant's deposit rights is null and void, so a lease clause giving them up has no effect. La. R.S. 9:3254
• If you sell the home during a lease, the lease does not end, but the buyer is bound by your lease obligations only if the buyer assumes them, a lease affects third persons such as a buyer only from the time it is filed for registry, and the tenant can recover from you any loss the sale causes. La. Civ. Code art. 2711 La. Civ. Code art. 2712 La. Civ. Code art. 2681.1

Return the deposit within one month after the lease ends. You may keep only what is reasonably necessary to remedy the tenant's default or unreasonable wear to the home. If you keep any part, send the tenant an itemized statement of what you kept and why within one month after the tenancy ends, or within fifteen days after that one-month date.

La. R.S. 9:3251

• The tenant must give you a forwarding address when the lease ends so the statement can be sent there. The one-month clock runs from the end of the lease, not from receiving the address. La. R.S. 9:3251
• These return rules do not apply when the tenant abandons the home without giving the required notice or before the lease ends. La. R.S. 9:3251
• A willful failure to follow the return rules lets the tenant recover the amount wrongfully kept plus $300 or twice that amount, whichever is greater. Failing to pay within thirty days after the tenant's written demand for a refund counts as willful. La. R.S. 9:3252
• The tenant may sue in the parish where you are domiciled or where the property is, and the court may award costs and attorney fees to whichever side wins. La. R.S. 9:3252 La. R.S. 9:3253

Louisiana does not require you to hold the deposit in a separate account or to pay interest on it.

La. R.S. 9:3251 to 9:3254

• The deposit sections address only return, transfer on sale, penalties and waiver; none mentions a bank account, a trust account or interest. La. R.S. 9:3251 to 9:3254

Louisiana requires no move-in checklist or inspection form. You must deliver the home on time and in good condition suitable for living in, and the tenant must return it in the same condition, except for normal wear and tear.

La. Civ. Code art. 2683 La. Civ. Code art. 2684

• Because the tenant's return duty is measured against the condition at delivery, a dated record of that condition is your best evidence when you keep part of the deposit. La. Civ. Code art. 2683 La. R.S. 9:3251
• Unless you agree otherwise, a tenant may remove improvements they made if they restore the home; for improvements left behind, you may reimburse the lesser of their cost or added value, or demand removal within a reasonable time. La. Civ. Code art. 2695