Louisiana Landlord-Tenant Laws 2026: What Renters and Landlords Need to Know
Louisiana Rental Law 2026: Reading the Civil Code Correctly
Louisiana runs on civil law, not the common-law tradition every other state in this guide uses. Its landlord-tenant rules live mainly in the Civil Code’s “Lease of Things” articles (2668–2729), not a standalone landlord-tenant act. That structure is accurate on the old page. What isn’t: the claim that repair-and-deduct “is not codified” here. It is. Article 2694 gives a tenant a real, working remedy — demand, a reasonable wait, then fix it and deduct the cost. Denying a real right is the single most damaging kind of error a guide like this can make, and it’s the first thing this rewrite corrects.
Security Deposits in Louisiana
| Requirement | Louisiana Law |
|---|---|
| Maximum Deposit | No statutory limit |
| Return Deadline | Within one month after the lease terminates (R.S. 9:3251) — doesn’t apply if the tenant abandoned the unit without proper notice or before the lease actually ended |
| Interest Required? | Not required |
| Itemized Statement | Required within that same one-month window for any amount withheld |
| Wrongful Retention Penalty | $300, or twice the wrongfully retained amount — whichever is greater — plus possible costs and attorney’s fees (R.S. 9:3252) |
That penalty figure changed in 2019. A 2018 act raised it from a flat $200 to the current $300-or-double formula, and guides still citing $200 are quoting a repealed number. There’s a gate on it, too: the penalty only kicks in once the landlord fails to pay within 30 days of the tenant’s own written demand for a refund. Skip the demand, and there’s no “willful failure” to punish yet — that’s the trigger the statute actually names.
Lease Agreements and Disclosures
A Louisiana lease can be oral. Civil Code Article 2681 says so directly. Push the term past one year, though, and it has to be in writing to be enforceable. A landlord’s obligations ahead of a signature:
- Known material defects in the property
- Flooding history
- Lead-based paint hazards for housing built before 1978 (federal requirement)
- Owner or property-manager contact information
Rent Increases and Late Fees
| Rule | Louisiana Law |
|---|---|
| Rent Control | Not permitted anywhere in the state, including New Orleans |
| Notice for Increase | 10 days for month-to-month |
| Late Fee Limit | No statutory cap; has to be written into the lease |
| Grace Period | No statute sets one |
Eviction Process in Louisiana
Louisiana doesn’t run separate notice tracks for nonpayment, lease violations, and no-cause endings the way most states do. One article covers all of them.
| Situation | Notice Period | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Any Reason at All — Nonpayment, Violation, End of Term, No-Cause | At least 5 days from the date the notice is delivered (Code of Civil Procedure Art. 4701) | One unified standard covers every reason a landlord might end the tenancy. For a lease with a definite end date, the notice can be handed over as much as 30 days before that date arrives |
That 5-day floor isn’t unconditional, either. A tenant can waive it entirely in writing, right in the lease. Plenty of Louisiana leases include exactly that clause, and where one exists, the landlord can go straight to filing an eviction with no notice period at all. Checking the lease for a waiver clause matters here as much as knowing the 5-day default. There’s no single verified figure for how long a Louisiana eviction runs start to finish. It rides on the parish’s own docket and on whether the tenant shows up to contest it, more than on any number printed in a guide.
Maintenance and Repair Obligations
What a Lessor Actually Owes
Civil Code Article 2682 sets three duties: hand over the unit, keep it fit for its intended purpose, and protect the tenant’s peaceful possession for the lease term. None of it can be signed away.
Repair-and-Deduct — Real, Not “Uncodified”
Article 2694 is the actual text: if the landlord doesn’t make a necessary repair within a reasonable time after the tenant demands it, the tenant may have the repair done. From there, the tenant can either demand immediate reimbursement or apply the cost to rent — but only up to what was actually necessary and reasonable. There’s no fixed dollar ceiling the way some other states set one. The limit here is the necessity-and-reasonableness standard itself, and a tenant who can’t show both risks losing the whole claim. Demand comes first. Skip that step, and the remedy isn’t available yet.
Tenant Rights and Protections
| Protection | Louisiana Law |
|---|---|
| Entry Notice | No statute sets a specific number of hours or days; the standard is reasonable notice at a reasonable time, and many leases add a 24-hour clause on top of that |
| Retaliation Protection | No statute at all. What exists is a judicial doctrine — abuse of right (abus de droit) — that a tenant can raise as a defense to an eviction. Louisiana’s Fourth Circuit recognized it in this exact context in Capone v. Kenny, 646 So. 2d 510 (La. App. 4 Cir. 1994), holding it was error for a trial court to refuse to even consider the defense — though the court still affirmed the eviction because the tenants hadn’t met their burden. It’s a defense, not a standalone claim. The tenant carries that burden of proving retaliatory motive, and there’s no presumption shifting it the way many other states’ statutes provide |
| Domestic Abuse / Sexual Assault | R.S. 9:3261.1: a victim (or a household member of one) can request early termination with “reasonable documentation” — either a protective order or a sworn statement from a qualified professional. The lease ends on a mutually agreed date within 30 days of the request, and the tenant owes rent only through that date, plus any confirmed damage. A civil enforcement action has to be filed within a year of a violation |
One more local wrinkle worth naming: New Orleans, not the state, is the source of any expanded fair-housing protection here. The city’s own ordinance (Code of Ordinances Ch. 86) bars discrimination on sexual orientation, gender identity, and marital status — categories the state Fair Housing framework and federal law don’t reach. That protection stops at the Orleans Parish line. A renter in Shreveport or Lafayette doesn’t get it just because Louisiana has it somewhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Louisiana have a repair-and-deduct law? Yes — Civil Code Article 2694. A tenant demands the repair, waits a reasonable time, and if the landlord still hasn’t acted, may have it done and either get reimbursed or apply the cost to rent, limited to what was necessary and reasonable.
How much can a Louisiana landlord be penalized for wrongfully keeping a deposit? $300 or twice the amount wrongfully kept, whichever is greater — not the $200 figure that still circulates from before a 2019 change. The penalty applies once the landlord misses a 30-day window after the tenant’s written demand for the refund.
Can a Louisiana eviction notice period be waived? Yes. The standard 5-day notice under Code of Civil Procedure Article 4701 can be waived in writing in the lease itself, and many Louisiana leases do exactly that — check the lease, not just the default rule.
Does Louisiana law protect tenants from retaliation? Not by statute. The Fourth Circuit recognized a defense based on the civil-law doctrine of abuse of right in Capone v. Kenny, 646 So. 2d 510 (La. App. 4 Cir. 1994), but the tenant has to prove the landlord’s motive, and there’s no presumption in the tenant’s favor the way several other states provide by law.