Free Louisiana Tenant Notice to Vacate

A Louisiana Tenant Notice to Vacate is the written 10 days notice a tenant gives a landlord to end a periodic tenancy under Louisiana Civil Code Article 2728. It identifies the rental unit, sets the last day of tenancy, provides a forwarding address for the security deposit, and creates the documentary record that protects you if the move-out is later disputed. The form on this page handles the statutory content automatically — you fill in the blanks, the PDF generates a clean, signature-ready notice, and you deliver it to your landlord.

What this form does and when to use it

The Louisiana Tenant Notice to Vacate is a written notice from the tenant to the landlord ending a periodic (typically month-to-month) tenancy under Louisiana Civil Code Article 2728. It serves three purposes at once: it gives the landlord the art. 2728 notice — for a month-to-month tenancy, delivered at or before ten calendar days before the end of the month — it specifies the last day of tenancy so rent obligations stop on a defined date, and it provides the forwarding address La. R.S. 9:3251 directs the tenant to furnish, to which the landlord sends the deposit and any itemized statement within one month after the lease terminates. Without a properly written and delivered notice, a tenant who simply moves out remains exposed to claims for additional rent and may have a harder time recovering the security deposit.

Use this notice when you have a periodic tenancy — month-to-month is the most common form, but the same rule applies to week-to-week or other periodic arrangements (with a corresponding shorter notice period for terms shorter than a month). The 10 days notice applies regardless of how long you have lived in the unit. Many states impose longer notice obligations on landlords than on tenants — those longer landlord rules do not flow back to tenants. As a tenant on a periodic tenancy in Louisiana, you give the 10 days period stated in La. Civ. Code art. 2728 every time.

This is not the right form for a fixed-term lease. If you have a lease with a defined end date and you intend to leave at the natural end of the term, the lease itself sets the end date — although it is good practice to send a written notice anyway to confirm your intent and trigger the security deposit clock. If you want to leave a fixed-term lease early, the 10 days notice does not apply: you need either a lease provision authorizing early termination, the landlord’s written agreement to release you, or a statutory ground (uninhabitable conditions, domestic violence early termination, or military deployment under federal SCRA at 50 U.S.C. § 3955). Sending a art. 2728 notice on a fixed-term lease without one of those grounds typically does not end your rent liability under Louisiana law.

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Louisiana statute and legal authority

The tenant’s right to terminate a periodic tenancy in Louisiana is set out in Louisiana Civil Code Article 2728. The statute generally provides that a periodic tenancy is renewed at the end of each rental period unless one of the parties gives written notice to the other of an intention to terminate. For a month-to-month tenancy, art. 2728(2) requires the notice to be given at or before ten calendar days before the end of that month. Read that carefully, because it is the single most misreported rule in Louisiana move-out practice: art. 2728 is a deadline counted back from the end of the rental period, not a ten-day clock that starts running when you hand over the notice. The article’s closing paragraph supplies the consequence — a timely notice “terminates the lease at the end of the period specified in the notice, and, if none is specified, at the end of the first period for which the notice is timely.” So notice delivered on 3 April ends a month-to-month tenancy on 30 April; notice delivered on 25 April is too late for April and ends it on 31 May instead. The article sets four periods, not one: thirty calendar days where the term is longer than a month, ten calendar days for month-to-month, five calendar days where the term is a week or more but shorter than a month, and any time before expiration where the term is shorter than a week.

La. Civ. Code art. 2728 requires the notice to be in writing and to clearly state the date the tenancy will terminate. Beyond those minimums, courts generally hold that the writing must be clear enough that a reasonable landlord understands the tenant intends to end the tenancy on a definite date. Ambiguous statements (“I’m thinking about moving”) or conditional statements (“I’ll move if I find a place”) do not satisfy the statute. The form on this page produces unambiguous statutory language.

La. R.S. 9:3251 governs what happens to the security deposit after the tenancy ends, and it is shorter and blunter than most states’ deposit statutes. The landlord has one month after the lease terminates — a calendar month, not a fixed thirty-day count, so a February termination has fewer days to run than a July one — to return the deposit, and if any portion is retained, to forward an itemized statement accounting for the proceeds retained and giving the reasons therefor within the same one month. Louisiana does not enumerate four permitted deduction categories the way several common-law states do. Section 9:3251(A) allows the lessor to retain only what is “reasonably necessary to remedy a default of the tenant or to remedy unreasonable wear to the premises” — two grounds, not four, and both are measured by reasonable necessity rather than by category. The statute directs the tenant to furnish the lessor a forwarding address at the termination of the lease, to which such statements may be sent; the form on this page builds that in. Two Louisiana-specific limits are worth knowing: 9:3251(C) provides that subsection A does not apply where the tenant abandons the premises without giving the required notice or before the lease terminates, and 9:3254 makes any waiver of a tenant’s rights under this Part null and void.

Louisiana has no general landlord-retaliation statute. This is a real gap and most guidance written for other states glosses over it. There is no Louisiana equivalent of the retaliation provisions found in the states that adopted the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act — Louisiana never adopted URLTA, and its lease law sits in the Civil Code. A tenant who believes a landlord acted punitively is therefore arguing from the lease, from the lessor’s Civil Code obligations, and from federal Fair Housing law where a protected characteristic is involved, not from a retaliation statute. What Louisiana does give you on the deposit is concrete and worth more than a vague retaliation theory: under La. R.S. 9:3252(A), a willful failure to comply with 9:3251 lets the tenant recover the portion of the deposit wrongfully retained plus three hundred dollars or twice the amount wrongfully retained, whichever is greater. The statute supplies its own definition of willfulness: “Failure to remit within thirty days after written demand for a refund shall constitute willful failure.” That is why a dated written demand is a tenant’s single highest-value move. Under 9:3253 the court may, in its discretion, award costs and attorney fees to the prevailing party — note that this runs to the prevailing party either way, not automatically to the tenant. Suit may be brought in the parish of the lessor’s domicile or where the property is situated.

Step-by-step: writing your notice to vacate

Follow these steps in order. Each one corresponds to a required field on the form below.

Step 1: Confirm your tenancy is periodic, not fixed-term

Pull out your lease. If it has no end date, or it expired and you simply continued paying month-to-month, you have a periodic tenancy and La. Civ. Code art. 2728 applies — give 10 days’ notice using this form. If your lease has a defined end date and is still within the term, this notice is not the right tool unless you have a separate ground for early termination.

Step 2: Choose your last day of tenancy

Under art. 2728 the last day of a month-to-month tenancy is the end of a rental month, not a date ten days after you hand over the notice. Work backwards: if you can get the notice to the landlord at or before ten calendar days before the current month ends, the tenancy ends at the end of this month; if not, it ends at the end of the next one. Art. 2728 does not authorise mid-period termination with pro-rated rent — its closing paragraph terminates the lease “at the end of the period specified in the notice, and, if none is specified, at the end of the first period for which the notice is timely.” Use the calculator below to compute the exact date, and always check your lease, which may set a longer period.

Step 3: List every named tenant

Include every adult tenant who signed the lease. Each tenant has an independent obligation under the lease, and a notice on behalf of one cotenant does not necessarily end the tenancy for others. If only one of two cotenants intends to leave and the other plans to stay, that is a partial-tenancy issue that this form is not designed for — discuss it with the landlord and consider a written modification of the lease.

Step 4: State the rental address with full precision

Use the address as it appears on the lease, including unit or apartment number, building number, city, and ZIP. Imprecise addresses cause more disputes than people expect, especially in multi-unit buildings.

Step 5: Identify the landlord or property manager

The notice should be addressed to whoever holds the landlord role for purposes of the tenancy — typically the entity named in the lease or the property manager identified on rent-payment instructions. If the lease names a different person from the property manager, address the notice to both to avoid any argument that the wrong party received it.

Step 6: Provide a forwarding address

This is the address where the landlord will mail your security deposit and any itemization. La. R.S. 9:3251(A) closes with a direct instruction to the tenant: “The tenant shall furnish the lessor a forwarding address at the termination of the lease, to which such statements may be sent.” The statute does not say what happens if you fail to — it does not, contrary to widely repeated guidance, expressly authorise mailing to your last known address — but a tenant who gives no forwarding address has no good answer when the lessor says the statement was sent where it had an address. Give one in writing. It does not change the one-month deadline, which runs from termination of the lease either way; it changes whether the statement reaches you.

Step 7: Ask for a pre-move-out walkthrough

Even where state law does not require it, ask the landlord for a pre-move-out walkthrough. The landlord walks through the unit, identifies any deficiencies that would otherwise be deducted from the deposit, and gives you a chance to fix them before move-out. This optional step often pays for itself many times over in deposit recovery. The form below includes a checkbox to put the request in writing.

Step 8: Sign and date

The notice must be signed and dated by the tenant. If there are cotenants, every cotenant who is ending the tenancy should sign. The execution date should match the delivery date on your proof of service.

Required information that makes the notice valid

La. Civ. Code art. 2728 sets a low statutory bar: written notice, given the required number of days in advance, stating the tenant’s intent to terminate. The form on this page goes well beyond the minimum because the bigger risk to a tenant is not technical invalidity — it is the move-out dispute (deductions, deposit return delays, claims for additional rent). Each element below addresses a real-world dispute pattern.

How to deliver the notice to your landlord

La. Civ. Code art. 2728 requires the notice to be in writing but does not always specify a delivery method. That makes proof of delivery the practical requirement: if the landlord later denies receiving notice, the tenant who has documentary proof prevails. The methods below are listed in order of evidentiary strength.

Move-out timeline and key dates

The full move-out arc — from notice through deposit return — is structured by two clocks that run in opposite directions: the art. 2728 notice deadline, counted back from the end of the rental month, and the one-month deposit clock under La. R.S. 9:3251, counted forward from termination of the lease. Here is the typical sequence.

The clean version of this timeline plays out in roughly 40 days from notice to deposit return. The version that goes wrong adds weeks — disputes over whether the notice was timely, missing forwarding address mail-backs, deductions the tenant disputes. The mitigations are all on the tenant side: deliver with proof, request a pre-move-out walkthrough, document the unit on the way out, and provide a real forwarding address.

Pay rent through the entire 10 days period even if you move out earlier. Returning keys early does not, by itself, end your rent obligation under La. Civ. Code art. 2728. The tenancy ends on the date stated in the notice — earlier physical departure is fine, but the rent runs through the stated end date unless the landlord agrees in writing to release you sooner. (Some landlords will agree to release the tenant once a replacement is found; ask, but get it in writing.)

What happens after the notice period ends

On the last day of tenancy stated in your notice, the tenancy formally terminates. You should surrender possession on or before that date — return all keys, garage remotes, mail keys, and any access cards or fobs. Document the condition of the unit with timestamped photos and video, ideally at the same time you do the move-out walkthrough. Confirm in writing (text is fine for this part) that the keys have been returned and the unit surrendered.

The one-month security deposit clock under La. R.S. 9:3251 runs from termination of the lease. Within that one calendar month, the landlord must either return the full deposit or forward an itemized statement accounting for the proceeds retained and giving the reasons therefor, along with the balance. Lawful deductions are generally limited to: unpaid rent (which should be zero if you paid through the notice period), repair of damage beyond ordinary wear and tear, cleaning to the level at the start of the tenancy, and (in specific circumstances) restoring or replacing personal property the tenant agreed to maintain. Painting, normal carpet wear, and ordinary cleaning are typically not lawful deductions.

If the deposit and itemization are returned within 30 days and the deductions are reasonable, the move-out is complete. If the landlord misses the deadline or makes deductions that look retaliatory or unfounded, your remedy is a written demand letter followed by small claims court. In Louisiana the figure is fixed by La. R.S. 9:3252: on a willful failure the tenant recovers the wrongfully retained portion plus three hundred dollars or twice that portion, whichever is greater. Because the statute makes failure to remit within thirty days after written demand willful by definition, a dated written demand is what converts an ordinary dispute into that penalty — which is usually what motivates settlement.

Security deposit return under § 9:3251

The security deposit is where most tenant move-outs go sideways. The legal framework is straightforward, but enforcement depends on the tenant’s documentation. Build the file from day one of the notice period.

What the landlord must do within one month

La. R.S. 9:3251 requires the landlord, within one month after the lease terminates, to either return the full deposit or forward a written itemized statement accounting for the proceeds retained and giving the reasons therefor. Louisiana does not require receipts or supporting documentation to be attached — several other states do, and guidance written for them travels badly here. The landlord must also return any portion of the deposit not lawfully deducted. The 30 days typically run as calendar days, not business days.

Lawful deductions

The statute permits four deduction categories: (1) unpaid rent, (2) repair of damage beyond ordinary wear and tear, (3) cleaning to the level of cleanliness at the start of tenancy, and (4) Louisiana does not enumerate categories at all: 9:3251(A) permits retention only of what is reasonably necessary to remedy a default of the tenant or to remedy unreasonable wear to the premises. Anything outside those two grounds is a wrongful retention. Painting after a long tenancy is generally ordinary wear; deep stains, holes beyond reasonable hanging, and damage from neglect are not.

Pre-move-out walkthrough — your highest-leverage move

Whether or not your state requires the landlord to perform a pre-move-out walkthrough, you can ask. Walking through the unit with the landlord before move-out lets the landlord flag anything that would otherwise be deducted from your deposit, and gives you a chance to clean, repair, or replace before you surrender possession. Tenants who do this walkthrough typically recover more of their deposit than tenants who wait until move-out to learn what was charged. A friendly, written request is usually all it takes.

If the landlord does not comply

If the month passes without a deposit, an itemization, or both, send a dated written demand letter referencing La. R.S. 9:3251 and the date the lease terminated. Do not skip this step: 9:3252 makes failure to remit within thirty days after written demand a willful failure, which is what unlocks the three-hundred-dollars-or-double penalty. The demand is the trigger, not the missed deadline. If that does not produce a response, file in small claims court (jurisdiction up to a substantial dollar limit; consult the current Louisiana small claims jurisdictional limit before filing). Bad-faith retention typically exposes the landlord to statutory damages — many states authorize up to twice or three times the deposit amount.

Common mistakes that cost tenants money

Most disputes over tenant move-outs trace back to a small number of recurring mistakes. The pattern is consistent: the tenant has the right under La. Civ. Code art. 2728 and La. R.S. § 9:3251, but does not have the documentation to enforce it.

Verbal notice or text-only notice

La. Civ. Code art. 2728 requires writing. A verbal conversation, even one the landlord acknowledges in the moment, can be denied later. A text or email may satisfy the writing requirement if the lease expressly allows electronic notice, but the safer course is a paper notice with delivery proof.

Less than the statutory period

Tenants sometimes give shorter notice because they want to coordinate with a new lease. Anything less than 10 days from delivery to the stated end of tenancy leaves the tenant on the hook for additional rent through the full statutory period — even if you’ve already moved out.

No forwarding address

Without a written forwarding address, the landlord may mail the deposit to your last known address — often the unit you just vacated, where you’ll never see the mail. Always include a real forwarding address in the notice itself, and update the post office.

Moving out early without paying through the notice period

You can vacate before the last day of tenancy, but rent runs through that date regardless unless the landlord agrees in writing to release you. Returning keys early does not end the rent obligation. If the landlord does agree to early release, get it in writing and confirm the rent stop date.

Not asking for a pre-move-out walkthrough

A pre-move-out walkthrough is one of the most underused tools tenants have. Whether or not your state requires the landlord to provide one, you can request it. Tenants who walk through with the landlord before move-out often see deductions they could have cured for a few dollars in cleaning supplies. Always request the walkthrough unless you are absolutely certain the unit is in pristine, return-ready condition.

Cleaning too lightly

The statutory standard is “cleanliness at the start of tenancy.” If you took photos at move-in showing a sparkling unit, that’s the bar. If you didn’t, you’ll have a harder time disputing cleaning deductions. Photograph everything at move-out, including inside cabinets, the oven, the refrigerator, and behind appliances.

Failing to document the move-out

Without timestamped photos and video of every room at move-out, you have no evidence to dispute charges that arrive in the itemization. Photo every wall, floor, ceiling, and appliance. Video walk through narrating what you see. Keep this archive — you may need it 21 to 90 days later in small claims court.

Tenant rights during the notice period

Giving notice does not change your status as a tenant. Until the last day of tenancy, you have every right you had before — habitability, quiet enjoyment, freedom from retaliation, freedom from harassment, and the right to be free from self-help eviction. If the landlord changes the locks, shuts off utilities, harasses you to leave early, or attempts to remove your belongings before the last day of tenancy, those acts are illegal in every state and may expose the landlord to statutory damages.

Most states have anti-retaliation statutes that provide additional protection during the notice period: a landlord may not retaliate against a tenant who has exercised a protected right, which generally includes giving notice of termination. Retaliatory conduct can include refusing to perform repairs, increasing rent, attempting to terminate the tenancy on a different ground, or imposing new restrictions. If the landlord begins acting differently after you give notice, document each incident with dates and details.

You retain the right to access the unit until surrender. The landlord may not enter without proper notice (in most states, written notice 24 hours or more in advance) for any reason other than emergency, the showing of the unit to prospective tenants in the final period of tenancy (with appropriate notice), or other statutory grounds. If the landlord enters without proper notice or attempts to show the unit at unreasonable hours, that is also actionable.

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