Consulta de leyes por estado › Depósitos de seguridad › Louisiana
Depósitos de seguridad en Louisiana: qué dice la ley
Mi arrendador se quedó con mi depósito
Lo que dice la ley
- Multiplicador de daños legales
- 2×
- Se exige estado detallado
- Sí
- Límite de reclamos menores
- $5,000
- Sección del código
- La. R.S. 9:3251-9:3254 (Lessee's Deposit Act); primary section La. R.S. 9:3251
- Deposit cap
- None found. The Lessee's Deposit Act (La. R.S. 9:3251-3254) contains no limit on the amount of a security deposit and no other Louisiana statute imposing one was located.
- Deadline text
- One month after the lease terminates - a calendar month under La. C.C.P. art. 5059, not 30 days. A lease ending January 31 runs to the last day of February.
- Local stacking
- None found. No parish or municipal security-deposit ordinance located (New Orleans' Healthy Homes ordinance, City Code ch. 26, covers rental registration and habitability standards, not deposits).
- Penalty detail
- For a 'willful' failure to comply with 9:3251 the tenant recovers the wrongfully retained portion PLUS the greater of $300 or twice the amount wrongfully retained (so the total can reach 3x the withheld sum).
Ver la regla completa
The statute supplies the willfulness trigger: 'Failure to remit within thirty days after written demand for a refund shall constitute willful failure.' The $300/2x figure dates from Acts 2018, No. 416, eff. 2019-01-01 (previously $200). Costs and attorney's fees are discretionary and go to the 'prevailing party' (9:3253) - two-way, a landlord who wins can also get them. Any lease waiver of these rights is null and void (9:3254). Venue: parish of the lessor's domicile or the parish where the property is situated (9:3252(B)).
- Deadline detail
- Statute text is 'within one month after the lease shall terminate' (a calendar month, not '30 days'; no business-day language).
Ver la regla completa
Two tenant-side preconditions: the tenant 'shall furnish the lessor a forwarding address at the termination of the lease' (9:3251(A)), and subsection A does not apply at all if the tenant abandoned the premises without giving required notice or before the lease term ended (9:3251(C)). Itemized statement: within one month after the tenancy terminates, OR - per Act 63 of 2026 (HB 292), effective 2026-08-01 - 'within fifteen days after the date that is one month after the tenancy terminates', i.e. up to roughly 45 days for the accounting; the one-month return sentence itself was NOT amended. Separate penalty trigger: failure to remit within 30 days after a written demand for refund is deemed willful (9:3252(A)).
- Penalty statute
- La. R.S. 9:3252(A) (penalty); La. R.S. 9:3253 (costs and attorney's fees); La. R.S. 9:3254 (waiver void)
- Deadline statute
- La. R.S. 9:3251(A)
- Interest or escrow
- None found. No Louisiana statute located requiring interest on, or a segregated/escrow account for, residential security deposits.
- Small claims statute
- La. C.C.P. art. 4911(A) (justice of the peace courts); La. R.S. 13:5202(A) (small claims divisions of city courts). Both measure the amount in dispute exclusive of interest, court costs, attorney fees, or penalties (art. 4911(B); 13:5202(A)), so the 9:3252 penalty does not count toward the cap.
- Abandonment exception
- La. R.S. 9:3251(C): the one-month rule does not apply at all if the tenant left before the end of the term or without the notice the lease required.
- Attorney fees two way
- La. R.S. 9:3253 fee-shifting is discretionary and runs to the prevailing party, so a tenant who loses can be ordered to pay the landlord's fees. Justice of the peace and city courts rarely award large fees against a self-represented tenant.
- Itemized list statute
- La. R.S. 9:3251(A)
- Forwarding address detail
- La. R.S. 9:3251(A) makes furnishing a forwarding address a precondition. A tenant who never gave one will struggle to prove a willful failure under 9:3252, but a written demand letter that states the new address cures this going forward and starts the clock on the remedy.
- Itemized statement statute
- 2026 La. Act 63 (HB 292), amending La. R.S. 9:3251(A)
- Forwarding address required
- Sí
La. R.S. 9:3251(A) makes furnishing a forwarding address a precondition. A tenant who never gave one will struggle to prove a willful failure under 9:3252, but a written demand letter that states the new address cures this going forward and starts the clock on the remedy.
- Itemized statement deadline text
- For terminations on or after August 1, 2026, 2026 Act 63 (HB 292) gives the landlord one month plus 15 more days to deliver the itemized statement. The duty to return the undisputed balance within one month is unchanged.
Lee esto antes de confiar en los datos de arriba
Louisiana's Lessee's Deposit Act (La. R.S. 9:3251-3254) requires a residential landlord to return the deposit "within one month after the lease shall terminate" - the statute says "one month," not "30 days." The landlord may keep only what is "reasonably necessary to remedy a default of the tenant or to remedy unreasonable wear to the premises," and if anything is kept must send an itemized statement giving the reasons. Since Act 63 of 2026 (HB 292, effective August 1, 2026) that statement may be sent up to fifteen days after the one-month mark (roughly 45 days); the sentence requiring return of the deposit within one month was not changed. Two tenant-side conditions matter: the tenant "shall furnish the lessor a forwarding address at the termination of the lease," and the return duty in subsection A does not apply at all when the tenant abandoned the premises without giving required notice or before the lease term ended (9:3251(C)).
The penalty requires a "willful" failure to comply: the tenant then recovers the wrongfully retained amount plus the greater of $300 or twice the amount wrongfully retained (9:3252(A), figure set by Act 416 of 2018, effective January 1, 2019). The statute supplies its own willfulness test - "Failure to remit within thirty days after written demand for a refund shall constitute willful failure" - so a dated written demand that states a forwarding address is what starts the 30-day clock and unlocks the penalty. Costs and attorney's fees are discretionary and go to the "prevailing party" (9:3253), which cuts both ways; any lease waiver of these rights is null (9:3254); suit may be filed in the parish of the lessor's domicile or where the property is located (9:3252(B)).
Forum: justice of the peace courts (C.C.P. art. 4911) and the small claims divisions of city courts (R.S. 13:5202) both hear claims up to $5,000, measured by the amount demanded "exclusive of interest, court costs, attorney fees, or penalties," so the statutory penalty does not count against the cap. Louisiana has no deposit cap, no interest or escrow requirement, and no state agency that decides deposit disputes; the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Section takes consumer disputes and publishes a landlord-tenant guide, but the remedy is a private civil action.
Louisiana's statute says 'within one month', not '30 days', and a month here is a calendar month (La. C.C.P. art. 5059): a lease that ends January 31 runs to the last day of February. Sending a demand on day 30 can be premature.
Since August 1, 2026, Act 63 gives a landlord who is itemizing deductions an extra 15 days for that statement. Within that window, holding money back while repairs are priced is not a willful failure, so a penalty claim built on the one-month mark alone will not stand where deductions are genuinely in play.
Léelo tú mismo
Fuentes oficiales. Si algún dato de abajo importa en tu caso, abre la ley y léela — las leyes se reforman y muchas ciudades agregan reglas locales más estrictas.
- La. R.S. 9:3251(A) — Return deadline (one month after lease terminates) and tenant's duty to furnish a forwarding address
- La. R.S. 9:3251(A) (as amended by Acts 2026, No. 63) — Itemized statement of retained amounts with reasons; 2026 amendment adds a 15-day extension for the statement only
- La. R.S. 9:3251(C) — Abandonment exception: return duty does not apply if tenant left without required notice or before lease end
- La. R.S. 9:3252(A) — Penalty for willful failure: deposit wrongfully retained plus greater of $300 or 2x the amount wrongfully retained
- La. R.S. 9:3252(A) — Statutory willfulness trigger: no remittance within 30 days after written demand for refund
- La. R.S. 9:3252(B) — Venue for the recovery action
- La. R.S. 9:3253 — Costs and attorney's fees - discretionary, to the prevailing party (either side)
- La. R.S. 9:3254 — Lease waiver of tenant's deposit rights is void
- La. C.C.P. art. 4911(A)-(B) — Justice of the peace court civil jurisdiction: $5,000, exclusive of interest, costs, attorney fees, penalties
- La. R.S. 13:5202(A) — Small claims divisions of city courts: $5,000, exclusive of interest, costs, attorney fees, penalties
- 2026 Regular Session HB 292 = Act No. 63 — Bill status page: signed by the Governor as Act 63, effective 08/01/2026 (amends R.S. 9:3251(A))
- Acts 2026, No. 63 (HB 292), Section 1 — Enrolled act text (PDF): the only added language is the 15-day extension for the itemized statement; the one-month return sentence is unchanged
- Resume Digest, Act 63 (HB 292), 2026 Regular Session — Official digest of the enacted change and effective date (PDF)
- Louisiana Attorney General, Consumer Protection Section - Consumer Dispute page — Complaint channel (online/printable dispute form, hotline); not an adjudicating housing agency
- Louisiana Attorney General, 'Moving In, Moving Out' landlord-tenant guide (PDF) — Official AG guide confirming one-month return, forwarding address, certified-mail demand practice; NOTE it still prints the pre-2019 $200 penalty figure
- 2026 Regular Session HB 1147 (not enacted) — Proposed $8,000 JP-court limit for parishes of 26,000 or fewer people; status 'Pending House Judiciary' - so the $5,000 limit in art. 4911 stands
Última verificación: 2026-09-04
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