To evict a family member in Louisiana, you have to go through the courts, even if that relative never signed a lease or paid rent. The process is short but exacting: deliver a written five-day notice to vacate, file a Rule to Show Cause if they stay, prove your case at a hearing, and let a sheriff or constable carry out the removal if the judge rules in your favor. From notice to physical removal, the whole thing usually takes two to three weeks. Cutting corners, or trying to force the person out yourself, can undo everything you’ve done and expose you to a lawsuit.
Is Your Relative an Occupant or a Tenant
Louisiana law treats these two categories differently, and figuring out which one your family member falls into is the first thing to settle. An “occupant” under the Code of Civil Procedure is anyone living on your property with your permission who is not a formal lessee. The statute expressly includes former owners, day laborers, and anyone else staying with the owner’s consent.1FindLaw. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Art. 4704 A tenant, by contrast, holds a lease and pays rent.
If your relative moved in without a written agreement and has never paid you regular rent, they are almost certainly an occupant. That puts them under Article 4702, which sets the five-day notice rule for occupants.2FindLaw. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Art. 4702 Tenants fall under Article 4701, which has its own five-day notice tied to lease termination.3Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Art. 4701 – Termination of Lease; Notice to Vacate
One trap: if your relative has been handing you money each month and you’ve been accepting it, a court could find that an informal lease exists even without anything in writing. Consistent payments that look like rent can shift someone from occupant to tenant. The timeline is similar either way, but misclassifying the person gives them a defense that will delay the case. When you’re not sure, treat them as whichever category offers them more protection and proceed carefully.
The Five-Day Notice to Vacate
Every eviction in Louisiana starts with a written notice. For occupants, Article 4702 requires you to give the person five days to leave, in writing.2FindLaw. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Art. 4702 The notice should name your family member, state the date of delivery, and clearly demand that they vacate the property.
The statute says “five days” without spelling out whether that means calendar or business days. In practice, Louisiana courts exclude weekends and legal holidays from the count. Start counting the day after delivery as day one, skip weekends and holidays, and be ready to file on the sixth business day if your relative is still there.
How to Deliver the Notice
The cleanest option is handing the notice to your family member directly. If they refuse to take it or you cannot find them at the property, Article 4703 allows you to attach the notice to the door.4Justia Law. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Art. 4703 – Delivery of Notice Some owners also send certified mail as a backup, but certified mail alone may not satisfy the delivery requirement if the recipient never signs for it.
Document everything. Bring a witness when you hand-deliver or post the notice. Take a timestamped photograph of anything you tack to the door. If the case goes to a hearing, you’ll need to prove that notice was properly given, and photos and a witness carry more weight than your word alone.
Filing a Rule to Show Cause
If the five days pass and your relative is still living there, the next step is filing a Rule to Show Cause. Article 4731 authorizes this filing, which asks the court to order the occupant to appear and explain why they should not be evicted.5Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Art. 4731 – Rule to Show Cause Louisiana city courts and justice of the peace courts handle evictions alongside district courts.6Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Art. 4844 – Amount in Dispute; Eviction Proceedings
When you go to the clerk’s office, bring:
- A copy of the notice to vacate you delivered, along with any proof of delivery: a witness affidavit, a certified mail receipt, or photos
- Proof that you own the property, such as a recorded deed or a current tax assessment listing you as the owner
- The filing fee, which varies by court but generally runs around $120 to $150, plus an additional charge per defendant
After you file, a constable, marshal, or sheriff has to formally serve your family member with the court summons. You cannot hand it over yourself. The hearing cannot be set any earlier than three days after that service.7Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Art. 4732 – Trial of Rule; Judgment of Eviction
What Happens at the Hearing
The burden is on you at the hearing. The judge needs to see three things: that you own or have the right to possess the property, that your family member is an occupant whose right to stay has ended, and that you properly served the five-day notice. A recorded deed, the notice itself, and testimony from your delivery witness usually cover it.
Expect defenses. Your relative might argue that they were never properly served, that they are actually a tenant with an ongoing lease, or that you accepted money from them after the notice went out, which a court could read as giving them fresh permission to stay. If the judge finds your evidence sufficient, or if your family member simply does not show up, the court will render an eviction judgment on the spot.7Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Art. 4732 – Trial of Rule; Judgment of Eviction
The 24-Hour Window and the Warrant for Possession
Once the judge signs the eviction judgment, your family member has 24 hours to leave. If they don’t, the court must immediately issue a warrant for possession directing a sheriff, constable, or marshal to physically remove them.8Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Art. 4733 – Warrant for Possession You request the warrant through the clerk’s office, and law enforcement carries out the actual removal.
The judgment stays enforceable for at least 90 days. If your relative comes back after being removed, you can enforce the same judgment without starting the case over.7Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Art. 4732 – Trial of Rule; Judgment of Eviction Expect a separate law-enforcement fee for executing the warrant, on top of what you paid at filing.
Can the Eviction Be Appealed
Yes, but the window is narrow and the requirements are strict. Under Article 4735, an appeal only suspends the eviction if the occupant did all three of the following: answered the original rule under oath with a specific defense entitling them to stay, applied for the appeal within 24 hours of the judgment, and posted an appeal bond set by the court within that same 24-hour period.9Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Art. 4735 – Appeal; Bond
If your family member files a regular appeal without hitting all three of those marks, the eviction moves forward while the appeal is pending. This is where most attempted appeals collapse. Someone who didn’t show up for the hearing, or who appeared but never filed a sworn answer with an affirmative defense, cannot stop the eviction through an appeal. The 24-hour clocks for both the appeal and the bond start when the judge signs the written judgment, and weekends and holidays generally do not count when the deadline is under seven days.
Do Not Try to Handle It Yourself
No matter how tense things get, Louisiana law prohibits property owners from carrying out an eviction on their own. Changing the locks, cutting off electricity or water, moving your family member’s belongings out, or physically forcing them to leave are all illegal self-help eviction. A relative subjected to those tactics can sue you for damages, and the amount they recover can easily exceed what a proper eviction would have cost.
The framework exists so that a judge authorizes the removal and a law-enforcement officer carries it out. Even after you win, only that officer can physically evict. Locking your relative out or setting their things on the lawn before the warrant is executed can force you to pay damages and start the process over.
When Federal Law Slows Things Down
Active-Duty Military
The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act prohibits evicting an active-duty servicemember from a primary residence without a court order when the monthly rent falls below an annually adjusted threshold, set at $2,400 in 2003 and increased each year for housing-price inflation. The Department of Defense publishes the current figure in the Federal Register. If the SCRA applies, the court can stay the eviction for at least 90 days and may extend it. Knowingly evicting a covered servicemember without a court order is a federal misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in prison.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3951 – Evictions and Distress If you are unsure about your family member’s status, you can verify it through the Defense Manpower Data Center before filing.
Bankruptcy
A bankruptcy filing triggers an automatic stay that freezes most legal proceedings against the filer. If your family member files for bankruptcy before you obtain a judgment of eviction, the case pauses until the bankruptcy court lifts the stay or the stay expires.
Timing changes everything. If you already have a signed eviction judgment when the bankruptcy petition is filed, the automatic stay generally does not stop enforcement. Federal law carves out an exception allowing eviction to move forward when a judgment for possession was entered before the bankruptcy began. Your family member can request a limited 30-day delay by filing a certification and depositing rent with the bankruptcy clerk, but the requirements are strict and rarely change the outcome in occupant situations where there is no rent obligation at all.