5.3.2 Homeowners

When making a request for temporary housing, make sure you are clear about homeownership issues and how they affect your request for relief. The Domestic Abuse Assistance Act specifies the relief available to victims when the abusive partner is a sole homeowner. In that case, the abusive partner can be evicted and possession awarded to the petitioner, but only if she is the custodian of shared children.1  At least one appellate court, however, has affirmed an award of possession to a petitioner when the abusive party was the sole owner and the parties did not have children in common.2

• 1La. R.S. 46:2135(A), 2136(A)(2).
• 2Beard v. Beard, 05-CA-302, pp. 6­–7 (La. App. 5 Cir. 11/29/05), 917 So. 2d 1160, 1163–64.