What law governs a Louisiana residential lease?

The Civil Code. Louisiana is the only civil-law state and has no URLTA and no landlord-tenant act. The law of lease is Title IX of Book III of the Civil Code, arts. 2668 through 2729, substantially revised by Acts 2004, No. 821. It is supplemented by the Lessee's Deposit Act at La. R.S. 9:3251 through 9:3254 and scattered sections of Revised Statutes Title 9, and eviction lives entirely in Code of Civil Procedure Title XI, arts. 4701 through 4735.

How much can a Louisiana landlord charge for a security deposit?

There is no limit. No Louisiana statute caps a residential security deposit. The Lessee's Deposit Act at La. R.S. 9:3251 regulates the return of the deposit, not its size, and the Civil Code Title of Lease says nothing about deposits at all. What cannot be varied is the return: La. R.S. 9:3254 makes any waiver of the tenant's rights under the Act null and void.

How long does a Louisiana landlord have to return a security deposit?

One month after the lease terminates for the money, and since 1 August 2026 up to one month plus fifteen days for the itemized statement. La. R.S. 9:3251(A) requires the deposit to be returned within one month. Act 63 of 2026, House Bill 292, amended the section so that the itemized statement accounting for any retained portion may be forwarded within one month after the tenancy terminates or within fifteen days after that one-month date. The deadline for the money itself was not extended.

What happens if a Louisiana landlord wrongfully keeps a deposit?

Under La. R.S. 9:3252 the tenant recovers the portion wrongfully retained and, in addition, three hundred dollars or twice the wrongfully retained portion, whichever is greater. Failure to remit within thirty days after written demand for a refund is itself wilful failure. Suit may be brought in the parish of the lessor's domicile or the parish where the property sits. Under La. R.S. 9:3253 the court may, in its discretion, award costs and attorney fees to the prevailing party, which can be either side.

Can a Louisiana lease waive the landlord's warranty for defects?

Only partly. La. Civ. Code art. 2696 warrants that the premises are suitable and free of vices or defects. Article 2699 permits a waiver only in clear and unambiguous language brought to the attention of the lessee, and makes any waiver ineffective as to vices the lessee did not know about and the lessor knew or should have known about, to the extent it is contrary to art. 2004, and, in a residential lease, to the extent it purports to waive vices or defects that seriously affect health or safety.

What is La. R.S. 9:3221 and why does it appear in Louisiana leases?

It is the Louisiana liability-shift clause, and it has no analogue in any other state. Where a lease provides that the lessee assumes responsibility for the condition of the premises, La. R.S. 9:3221 says the owner is not liable for injury caused by any defect to the lessee or to anyone whose right to be there derives from the lessee, unless the owner knew or should have known of the defect, or was given notice of it and failed to remedy it within a reasonable time. It operates notwithstanding La. Civ. Code art. 2699.

Can a Louisiana tenant repair and deduct?

Yes. La. Civ. Code art. 2694 provides that if the lessor fails to make necessary repairs within a reasonable time after demand by the lessee, the lessee may cause them to be made and may either demand immediate reimbursement or apply the amount to the payment of rent, but only to the extent the repair was necessary and the amount expended was reasonable. Guidance that says Louisiana has no repair-and-deduct is looking for a landlord-tenant act that does not exist.

How much notice must a Louisiana landlord give before entering?

None by statute. Neither the Civil Code Title of Lease nor the Revised Statutes contain a landlord entry or access provision. The nearest article is La. Civ. Code art. 2693, which lets the lessor make a repair that cannot be postponed even if that inconveniences the lessee, with a matching right in the lessee to an abatement of rent or dissolution. Any notice before an ordinary entry exists only because the lease creates it.

How much notice ends a Louisiana month-to-month lease?

Ten calendar days. La. Civ. Code art. 2728 requires notice ten calendar days before the end of the month for a month-to-month lease, thirty calendar days for a lease whose term is measured by a period longer than a month, and five calendar days for a period of at least a week but less than a month. Under art. 2729 the notice must be in writing where the thing is an immovable or a movable used as a residence.

What is reconduction in a Louisiana lease?

It is Louisiana's automatic renewal, and it is fast. Under La. Civ. Code art. 2721 a lease with a fixed term longer than a week is reconducted if, after the term expires and without notice to vacate or other opposition, the lessee remains in possession for one week. Article 2723 then makes a reconducted lease month to month where the original term was a month or longer, and art. 2724 continues every provision of the lease.

What notice comes before an eviction in Louisiana?

A single written notice to vacate allowing not less than five days from delivery, under La. C.C.P. art. 4701. Louisiana uses that one notice for every ground, including nonpayment of rent, and has no separate cure notice. If the lessee does not comply, the lessor files a rule to show cause under art. 4731, returnable not earlier than the third day after service under art. 4732.

Can a Louisiana lease waive the five-day notice to vacate?

Yes. La. C.C.P. art. 4701 says in terms that a lessee may waive the notice requirements by written waiver contained in the lease, in which case the lessor may immediately institute eviction proceedings once the right of occupancy ends. It is lawful and common in Louisiana forms, and it is the single most consequential choice a Louisiana tenant makes when signing.

Can a Louisiana tenant sublet without permission?

Yes, unless the lease expressly says otherwise. La. Civ. Code art. 2713 gives the lessee the right to sublease the thing and to assign or encumber his rights in the lease unless expressly prohibited by the contract of lease, and a provision prohibiting one of those rights is deemed to prohibit the others. In a lease of an immovable such a provision is strictly construed against the lessor. New art. 2713.1 adds that a sublessee or assignee acquires no greater rights than the lessee.

What disclosures does Louisiana require in a residential lease?

One. La. R.S. 9:3260.1 requires the lessor to disclose in writing, during and prior to entering into a residential lease, any pending foreclosure action to which the dwelling is subject and the lessee's right to be notified of one, with a seizure notified within seven calendar days in a prescribed form. Federal law adds the lead-based paint disclosure for pre-1978 housing. The property disclosure chapter at La. R.S. 9:3196 through 9:3200 governs sellers and purchasers, not lessors.

What changed in Louisiana lease law on 1 August 2026?

Three acts of the 2026 Regular Session took effect. Act 63 gave lessors an extra fifteen days for the itemized statement of a retained deposit under La. R.S. 9:3251(A). Act 64 extended the early-termination protections at La. R.S. 9:3261.1 to stalking and cyberstalking under La. R.S. 14:40.2 and 14:40.3. Act 240, a Louisiana State Law Institute revision, amended Civil Code arts. 2674, 2681, 2711, 2712 and 2713 and enacted arts. 2681.1, 2681.2 and 2713.1.

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Free Louisiana Residential Lease Agreement

Louisiana residential lease agreement walk-through

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A configurable Louisiana residential lease agreement that generates a signable multi-page PDF. Built to the Civil Code Title of Lease, the warranty against vices and defects, and the deposit rules as changed by Act 63 of 2026.

Louisiana Civil Code 2668-2729 2026 Acts Applied Free PDF 2026 Edition

Updated Q3 2026 By Tenant Screening Background Check Editorial Team Scope Louisiana ~16 min read

A Louisiana residential lease agreement is not governed by a landlord-tenant act, because Louisiana does not have one. Louisiana is the only civil-law state in the United States, and the law of lease lives in the Civil Code — Title IX of Book III, arts. 2668 through 2729, substantially revised by Acts 2004, No. 821 — supplemented by the Lessee’s Deposit Act at La. R.S. 9:3251 and following, a handful of scattered sections of Revised Statutes Title 9, and the eviction articles of the Code of Civil Procedure at arts. 4701 through 4735. Nothing about that structure is cosmetic. It means the landlord owes a warranty against vices or defects rather than an implied warranty of habitability; it means the tenant genuinely has repair-and-deduct, in a Civil Code article rather than a statute; it means the lessee may sublet unless the lease says otherwise; and it means a lessee can lawfully waive the five-day notice to vacate in the lease itself. Three acts of the 2026 Regular Session took effect on 1 August 2026 and are not yet in the codified text that most sources are reading.

Louisiana Lease Rules at a Glance

Security Deposit Cap

No Limit

Deposit Return

One Month

Entry Notice

None by Statute

Month-to-Month Notice

10 Calendar Days

The itemized statement is no longer on the same clock as the refund. Act 63 of the 2026 Regular Session amended La. R.S. 9:3251(A) with effect from 1 August 2026: the money is still due within one month after the lease terminates, but the itemized statement accounting for anything retained may now be forwarded within one month or within a further fifteen days after that one-month date. The codified article text published by the legislature has not caught up, which is why no other page carries it.

Three Louisiana Acts Took Effect on 1 August 2026

The Louisiana Legislature’s codified database is current only through the 2025 First Extraordinary Session. Three acts of the 2026 Regular Session took effect on 1 August 2026 and change the answer to questions this page is about. Act 63 (House Bill 292) amended La. R.S. 9:3251(A) to give a lessor an extra fifteen days for the itemized statement of a retained deposit. Act 64 (House Bill 297) extended the early-termination and anti-retaliation protections at La. R.S. 9:3261.1 to stalking and cyberstalking as defined in La. R.S. 14:40.2 and 14:40.3, and widened the list of people who may certify. Act 240 (Senate Bill 77), a Louisiana State Law Institute revision of the Title of Lease itself, amended Civil Code arts. 2674, 2681, 2711, 2712 and 2713 and enacted new arts. 2681.1, 2681.2 and 2713.1. We read all three in the enrolled session law, not in a summary.

How to Fill Out This Louisiana Lease Agreement

The Seven-Step Louisiana Sequence

1. Name the lessor and the lessee, and give an address

Louisiana’s vocabulary is lessor and lessee, and the words matter because the Civil Code uses them. Give the lessor an address: La. Civ. Code art. 2703 makes rent payable at the address the lessor provides, and the written demand that starts the deposit clock under La. R.S. 9:3252 has to go somewhere.

2. Describe the premises, the parish, and the unit count

Louisiana is divided into parishes, not counties, and the parish matters: venue for a deposit suit under La. R.S. 9:3252(B) is the parish of the lessor’s domicile or the parish where the property sits. Record how many separate dwellings are in the building, because La. R.S. 9:3261.1 applies only at six or more.

3. Set the term, and decide about recordation

Under art. 2680 a lease of an immovable with no agreed duration is month to month, and under art. 2679 no term may exceed ninety-nine years. Then make the recordation decision: under new art. 2681.1 a lease of an immovable has effect against third persons only from the time it is filed for registry.

4. Set rent, the due day and any late fee

Rent is due at the beginning of the term, or of each interval where it is payable more often, under art. 2703. Louisiana sets no statutory grace period and no cap on late fees, so if you want either, this lease must create it.

5. Decide the two condition questions

First, whether to waive the warranty against vices or defects — and art. 2699 will only let you go so far. Second, whether the lessee assumes responsibility for the condition of the premises under La. R.S. 9:3221, the clause that exists nowhere else in the country.

6. Handle the foreclosure disclosure and the notice to vacate

La. R.S. 9:3260.1 requires a written disclosure of any pending foreclosure before and during the lease — Louisiana’s only mandatory lease disclosure. Then decide whether the lessee waives the five-day notice to vacate, which La. C.C.P. art. 4701 expressly permits by written waiver in the lease.

7. Generate, sign and diarise the deadlines

Download the multi-page PDF and sign. Louisiana requires no witnesses and no notary. Diarise one month for the deposit refund, one month plus fifteen days for the itemized statement, and — if the lease is fixed-term — the one-week reconduction window at art. 2721.

Build Your Louisiana Residential Lease Agreement

Complete the fields below to generate a Louisiana residential lease agreement as a signable multi-page PDF. Every field you fill is written into the document, and the generated lease cites the controlling Civil Code article or Revised Statutes section at each point — including the three questions no other Louisiana template asks: the warranty waiver, the La. R.S. 9:3221 assumption of responsibility, and whether the lessee waives the notice to vacate. Before handing over keys, run proper tenant screening. Pair the signed lease with a Louisiana move-in / move-out checklist, which is your evidence of the condition in which the premises were delivered under La. Civ. Code art. 2684 and returned under art. 2683.

Louisiana Residential Lease Agreement Builder

1. Parties

Lessor (landlord) full legal name

Lessor phone

Lessor address for notices and for rent under La. Civ. Code art. 2703

Lessee 1 full legal name

Lessee 2 full legal name (if any)

Additional lessees (comma-separated)

Other residents who are not lessees (the warranty under La. Civ. Code art. 2698 runs to them too)

2. Premises

Rental property address (street, unit, city, ZIP)

Parish (Louisiana has parishes, not counties)

Property type

Year built (pre-1978 triggers the federal lead disclosure)

Bedrooms / bathrooms

How many separate residential dwellings are in this building or structure? (La. R.S. 9:3261.1)

3. Term

La. Civ. Code art. 2680 supplies a month-to-month term where the parties agree none, and art. 2679 caps any term at ninety-nine years. Watch art. 2721: leave a lessee in possession, unopposed, for one week after a fixed term expires and the lease is reconducted.

Lease type

Term length in months (if other)

Lease start date

Lease end date (if fixed)

Will this lease be filed for registry in the parish conveyance records? (La. Civ. Code art. 2681.1)

4. Rent

Monthly rent (dollars)

Rent due day of month

Late fee, if any (Louisiana sets no cap)

Grace period in days (Louisiana provides none by statute)

Acceptable payment methods (comma-separated)

5. Security Deposit

Louisiana caps no deposit. What it does regulate is the return: La. R.S. 9:3251 gives the lessor one month, and Act 63 of 2026 gives an extra fifteen days for the itemized statement alone. La. R.S. 9:3254 makes any waiver of the lessee’s deposit rights null and void, so this section is drafted to the statute and cannot be bargained away.

Total security deposit (dollars)

Additional pet deposit (dollars)

6. Louisiana’s Mandatory Lease Disclosure

La. R.S. 9:3260.1 is the only disclosure Louisiana requires in a residential lease: a pending foreclosure must be disclosed in writing before and during the lease, and a seizure notified within seven calendar days.

Is the dwelling subject to a pending foreclosure action?

If pending: district court, case name and docket number

Pending foreclosure disclosure — required of every Louisiana residential lessor by La. R.S. 9:3260.1