Louisiana Eviction Notice: Delivery, Timing, and Defenses

A Louisiana eviction notice has to be in writing, and in most cases it has to give the tenant at least five days to leave after their right to occupy the property has ended.¹ If the lease is month-to-month or otherwise open-ended, a separate termination notice comes first, and the required lead time is longer.² Getting either notice wrong, whether in timing, delivery, or content, is the single most common reason a Louisiana eviction gets thrown out.

The Five-Day Notice to Vacate

Once a tenant’s right to occupy the property has ended, whether from nonpayment, a lease violation, or the expiration of a fixed-term lease, the landlord has to deliver a written notice to vacate giving the tenant at least five days to leave.¹

The five-day count starts the day after the notice is delivered. Weekends and legal holidays don’t count. So a notice delivered Wednesday makes Thursday day one, and the count then skips any Saturdays, Sundays, or holidays until five full business days have passed.³ The landlord can file an eviction petition on the sixth business day.

The notice itself needs the date, the full names of the tenants, the property address, the reason for eviction, and a clear deadline to leave. Louisiana courts have held that due process requires the tenant to know the specific grounds so they can prepare a defense.⁴ A notice that leaves any of this out can be challenged.

The same five-day written notice applies when the person in the property is not a tenant at all, such as a holdover guest or someone whose permission to stay has expired. The owner still has to serve the notice before filing in court.⁵

Termination Notice for Month-to-Month and Other Open-Ended Leases

The five-day notice to vacate only comes into play after the tenant’s right to occupy has ended. On a fixed-term lease that has run out, that ending happens automatically. On an open-ended lease, the landlord has to end it first by giving a termination notice, and the required lead time depends on how the lease is measured:²

Month-to-month: at least ten calendar days before the end of the current rental month.
Lease measured by a period longer than a month: at least thirty calendar days before the end of that period.
Week-to-week: at least five calendar days before the end of that week.
Lease shorter than a week: any time before the period expires.

For leases with no definite term, the law treats the termination notice and the notice to vacate as one and the same. A month-to-month tenant who receives a proper ten-day termination notice does not also need a separate five-day notice on top of it.¹

When the Lease Waives Notice

Many Louisiana lease agreements contain a clause where the tenant waives the right to a notice to vacate. If the lease has this written waiver, the landlord can skip the five-day period entirely and file for eviction as soon as the tenant’s right to occupy has ended.¹

The waiver has to be in writing, and the landlord has to be able to produce the signed lease to prove it. Before assuming the five days apply, tenants should read their lease carefully for language about waiving notice to vacate. The clause appears in many standardized Louisiana lease forms and is easy to miss.

How the Notice Has to Be Delivered

The notice is only as strong as the proof it was delivered. Louisiana recognizes three methods:

Personal delivery, either directly to the tenant or to another adult living in the home who is old enough and responsible enough to pass it along.
Posting on the front door if no one is home. A witness should be present, and depending on the parish, may need to sign the notice as well.
Certified mail with return receipt requested. The signed return card is the proof of delivery.

Landlords should keep a copy of the notice plus whatever documents delivery: the certified mail receipt, the signed return card, or a witness statement. A landlord’s word alone that the notice was given won’t hold up.

Louisiana law does not specifically authorize email or text messages as valid methods for a notice to vacate. Some leases contemplate electronic communication, but relying on a text or email to satisfy the statutory requirement is risky and can leave a landlord without enforceable proof.

Accepting Rent Can Cancel the Notice

This is where landlords most often sabotage their own eviction. If a landlord accepts a rent payment from the tenant after delivering a notice to vacate for nonpayment, that acceptance wipes out the notice, and the process has to start over. The tenant stays in possession as if no notice was ever given.

There is one nuance. If the tenant makes a partial payment and the landlord accepts it, the landlord can still pursue eviction for the unpaid balance. Taking part of the rent does not waive the right to seek cancellation of the lease when the full amount remains owed. And when the eviction is based on something other than nonpayment, such as a lease violation or the end of a fixed term, accepting rent does not cancel the notice at all.

When Federal Law Requires a Longer Notice

Some Louisiana rentals fall under federal rules that override the state’s five-day notice. The CARES Act requires at least thirty days’ written notice to vacate for nonpayment when the tenant lives in a “covered dwelling.” That covers any rental unit on a property with a federally backed mortgage (loans insured, guaranteed, or securitized by agencies like the FHA, Fannie Mae, or Freddie Mac) or a property participating in a federal housing assistance program such as Section 8, public housing, or USDA rural housing.

As of early 2026, that thirty-day requirement remains in effect. HUD proposed rescinding it for public housing and project-based rental assistance programs but indefinitely delayed the proposal while taking public comments. Until the rule is formally changed, landlords of covered properties have to give the full thirty days or risk dismissal.

The Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act requires ninety days’ written notice before evicting a tenant from a property that has gone through foreclosure, even if the new owner wants to occupy the unit.

What Happens After the Notice Period Ends

If the tenant does not leave when the notice expires, the landlord files a Rule for Possession, sometimes called a Rule to Show Cause, in the court with jurisdiction over the property, typically a Justice of the Peace court in rural parishes or a City Court in urban areas. The filing has to state the specific grounds for eviction.⁴

The court then sets a hearing date and issues a summons served on the tenant by a constable or marshal. The hearing cannot happen earlier than the third day after service.⁶ Evictions are summary proceedings, so they move fast. At the hearing, the landlord has to prove three things: a landlord-tenant relationship existed, the lease terminated or was violated, and proper notice was given.

If the judge rules for the landlord, or the tenant fails to appear, the court enters a judgment of eviction. The judgment stays effective for at least ninety days, so the landlord does not have to refile if the tenant tries to come back inside that window.⁶

After the judgment, the tenant has twenty-four hours to leave or file an appeal. If neither happens, the court issues a warrant of possession directing the sheriff, constable, or marshal to remove the tenant physically and return the property to the landlord.⁷

A tenant who wants to stop the eviction while appealing has to do two things inside that twenty-four-hour window: answer the eviction rule under oath and raise an affirmative defense that entitles them to keep possession, and post an appeal bond in an amount set by the court.⁸ This is a suspensive appeal, and the bar is high. A devolutive appeal is possible without meeting those conditions, but it does not stop the eviction from going forward.

Defenses That Target the Notice

Tenants challenging an eviction most often win on the paperwork rather than the merits. The defenses that turn on the notice itself:

Defective notice to vacate. If the notice wasn’t delivered properly, didn’t allow the full five days, or didn’t state the grounds, a judge can dismiss the case.
Premature filing or hearing. The hearing cannot take place sooner than the third day after service of the rule, and the landlord cannot file before the notice period expires.⁶
Failure to prove the case. The landlord has to show a landlord-tenant relationship, termination or breach, and proper notice. Missing any one sinks the eviction.
Rent accepted after notice. Taking a full rent payment after a nonpayment notice cancels the notice.
Repair-and-deduct. Under Louisiana Civil Code Article 2694, a tenant who told the landlord about needed repairs, waited a reasonable time, made them, and deducted the cost from rent can raise that as a defense to a nonpayment eviction.
Bankruptcy. A bankruptcy petition triggers an automatic stay that temporarily halts the eviction.

Self-Help Is Not an Option

No matter how the notice period ends, a Louisiana landlord cannot evict without going through the court. Changing the locks, shutting off utilities, removing doors or windows, throwing out the tenant’s belongings, or using threats to force a move are all illegal, whether or not the tenant owes rent or has broken the lease. The only lawful removal is a warrant of possession executed by law enforcement after a judgment of eviction. In parishes under a federal disaster declaration, a tenant whose landlord takes possession without judicial process can recover $500 or twice the monthly rent, whichever is greater, plus attorney fees.⁴

1
Justia Law. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Art. 4701 – Termination of Lease; Notice to Vacate; Waiver of Notice
2
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Civil Code Art. 2728 – Notice of Termination; Timing
3
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Art. 5059 – Computation of Time
4
Justia Law. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Art. 4731 – Rule to Show Cause
5
Justia Law. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Art. 4702 – Notice to Occupant Other Than Tenant to Vacate
6
Justia Law. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Art. 4732 – Trial of Rule to Show Cause
7
Justia Law. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Art. 4733 – Warrant of Possession
8
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Art. 4735 – Appeal; Bond