The landlord’s duties to the tenant are to make necessary repairs, maintain the rental in a condition suitable for the intended purpose (i.e., habitation), and warrant the tenant’s peaceful possession.1  In some circumstances, a landlord’s failure to comply with these legal duties presents a defense to eviction and possibly a separate suit for damages.

• 1La. C.C. arts. 2682, 2684–2685, 2691–2702.

To avoid breaching the lease, a tenant must pay the rent in the amount and on the schedule agreed to in the lease, use the rental in accordance with the intended purpose (i.e., habitation), and return the unit in the same condition as at the start of the lease minus normal wear and tear.1

• 1La. C.C. arts. 2683, 2686–2690, 2703–2704.

Private landlords may set their own tenant screening and admissions requirements, provided that those requirements do not violate the Fair Housing Act.1  An increasing number of landlords and housing providers rely on reports generated by tenant screening companies to screen prospective tenants’ rental histories, credit reports, criminal backgrounds, and records of civil cases where the applicant is a party, such as eviction or debt collection cases.

• 1On the protections of the Fair Housing Act, see Section 13.

When a housing provider relies on an inaccurate tenant screening report to refuse to accept an applicant as a tenant, the applicant can take steps to dispute that report under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).1  Housing providers must comply with FCRA’s adverse action requirements by furnishing the name, address, and telephone number of the tenant screening or consumer reporting agency to the applicant.2  Within 60 days of the denial of housing, applicants have the right to request a free copy of the screening or consumer file directly from the tenant screening company.3  Once the applicant has obtained the file from the tenant screening company, they may write a dispute letter asking the company to reinvestigate or delete inaccurate information. Upon receiving the dispute, the tenant screening company has 30 days to conduct a reinvestigation (and more time if the information was purchased from another consumer reporting agency).4  Once the applicant receives written notice of the reinvestigation’s outcome, complete with the updated file, the applicant may then request that the screening company notify the housing provider of any updates.5

Due to the time it takes to use the FRCA dispute process to correct inaccurate screening information, tenants will rarely succeed in reversing a landlord’s decision to refuse to rent the unit at issue. However, disputing inaccurate information may prevent the prospective tenant from being denied leases in the future.

• 115 U.S.C. § 1681, et seq.
• 215 U.S.C. § 1681m.
• 315 U.S.C. § 1681j(b).
• 415 U.S.C. § 1681i(a), (f).
• 515 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(6), (l).

Many housing providers will deny an applicant if the tenant screening report shows a debt owed to a previous landlord. Under Louisiana law, rent and debts on an open account have a 3-year prescriptive period.1  Landlords frequently report inaccurate debts, often containing “junk” fees unsupported by the lease or the law, that can be challenged under the FCRA.

If the debt is still owed, a tenant’s only remedy is to pay the balance. If the debt has been sent to collections, it is often possible to negotiate a lower balance or payment plan directly with the collections agency. Collections agencies are especially amenable to negotiating lower debt balances during tax season.

• 1La. C.C. art. 3494.

The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in the rental of housing based on race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status or national origin.1  Although tenants with a criminal record are not among the FHA’s protected classes, an admissions policy may be discriminatory and prohibited by the Act if it has a disparate impact on a protected class.2

In 2016, HUD’s Office of General Counsel issued guidance on the relationship between the use of criminal records and the FHA. The guidance argues that criminal history-based housing restrictions may disproportionately impact racial minority groups since these groups are convicted and incarcerated at higher rates than the general population due to discrimination in the criminal legal system.3  The guidance concludes that the FHA prohibits blanket housing restrictions based on a tenant’s criminal history. Instead, owners should conduct an individualized assessment considering the time, nature, and extent of any conduct and to factors that might indicate a reasonable probability of favorable future conduct.4  Because the guidance is based on the FHA, it is applicable to both private and federally-subsidized landlords. Courts have positively cited the HUD analysis to support a disparate impact claim.5

If a landlord covered by the FHA refuses to rent to an applicant due to the applicant’s criminal history, the applicant should request an individualized assessment in writing. That request should include an explanation of why the criminal charges have no bearing on the applicant’s current conduct as a tenant and any mitigating circumstances surrounding the charge.

• 142 U.S.C. § 3601, et seq. For additional discussion of the FHA, see Section 13.
• 2Tex. Dep’t of Hous. & Cmty. Affairs v. Inclusive Cmtys. Project, 576 U.S. 519 (2015).
• 3U.S. Dep’t of Hous. & Urb. Dev., Office of General Counsel Guidance on Application of Fair Housing Act Standards to the Use of Criminal Records by Providers of Housing and Real Estate-Related Transactions (2016).
• 4Id.
• 5Conn. Fair Hous. Ctr. v. CoreLogic Rental Prop. Sols., LLC, 369 F. Supp. 3d 362 (D. Conn. 2019) (denying defendant’s motion to dismiss where the housing provider denied an applicant based on a single arrest record); Fortune Soc’y v. Sandcastle Towers, 388 F. Supp. 3d 145 (E.D.N.Y. 2019) (denying a defendant’s motion for summary judgment where housing provider banned admission to any individuals who had ever had a felony conviction).

Where an admissions denial is based on activity related to a disability or addiction (for example, a drug or behavioral-health related conviction), a landlord covered by the Fair Housing Act must consider a reasonable accommodation request for admission.1  Drug and alcohol addiction constitutes a disability under the Fair Housing Act so long as the individual is not currently using.2

Under Louisiana state law, a covered landlord may not deny an applicant admission based on activity directly related to domestic abuse or sexual assault.3  The applicant must provide requisite documentation and otherwise qualify to enter into the lease agreement.4

• 1For a more extensive discussion of reasonable accommodations under the FHA, see Section 13.5.2.
• 224 C.F.R. § 100.201(a)(2). The Fair Housing Act requires housing providers to take into consideration the rehabilitation of a person with a substance use disorder. United States v. S. Mgmt. Corp., 955 F.2d 914, 918 (4th Cir. 1992) (“Someone who as a medical matter will always have a craving for narcotics, but who has been able to control that craving for some (undefined) period of time, must not be denied access to housing on the basis of that craving and its attendant dangers.”).
• 3La. R.S. 9:3261.2(D)(1)(a). For a more complete discussion of LAVAWA, see Section 1.7.
• 4La. R.S. 9:3261.2(D)(1)(a).

In 2021, Louisiana passed limited and largely unenforceable protections for tenants who may have evictions, criminal convictions, or other adverse information on their records.1  Under current law, a lessor may not charge an application fee unless, prior to accepting payment, the lessor gives written notice of: (1) the amount of the fee; (2) whether the lessor considers credit scores, employment history, criminal history, or eviction records; and (3) the applicant’s right to share a statement of 200 words or less explaining that the applicant has experienced financial hardship due to a state or federally declared disaster.2  Tenants do not have a cause of action to enforce this law, but may be able to make a complaint to the Attorney General’s consumer protection division.3

• 1La. R.S. 9:3258.1.
• 2La. R.S. 9:3258.1(A).
• 3La. R.S. 9:3258.1(D).

If a lease has a fixed term, it automatically terminates by the arrival of the term.1  However, the lease may contain an option to extend the term or renew the lease; if the option is exercised, the lease continues subject to the provision of the option.2  If a lease with a fixed term terminates but the landlord does not issue a notice to vacate or make other objections and the tenant has remained in possession for the required period of time (typically a week), then the lease is reconducted.3  For most residential leases, the term of a reconducted lease is month to month.4

If the original lease did not have a fixed term or a lease with a fixed term has been reconducted, the lease term is month to month.5  Either party can terminate such a lease by written notice 10 days before the end of the month.6  However, if there was an original written lease, you should always check the notice requirement for nonrenewal because the terms of the original lease apply on a month-to-month basis and most written leases require 30 days’ notice.

• 1La. C.C. art. 2679.
• 2La. C.C. art. 2725.
• 3La. C.C. art. 2721.
• 4La. C.C. art. 2723.
• 5La. C.C. art. 2680.
• 6La. C.C. arts. 2727–2729.

There are two grounds for eviction: (1) “no cause”, i.e., the expiration of the lease; and (2) “for cause”, i.e., a violation of the lease, including nonpayment of rent. “No cause” evictions are evictions where the landlord wishes to take possession of the unit due to no fault of the tenant and most commonly involve 10-day terminations of month-to-month leases. In “for cause” evictions, the landlord is generally seeking possession of the unit due to some alleged contractual breach by the tenant.

The grounds for eviction must appear in the Rule for Possession and the Notice to Vacate, if there is one.1  Identifying the ground for eviction is important because some defenses apply to all evictions, while others are specific to the type of eviction.

• 1La. C.C. art. 4731(A); La. State Museum v. Mayberry, 348 So.2d 1274 (La. App. 4 Cir. 1977).

Generally, absent contrary agreement, a month-to-month tenant may terminate the lease by giving the landlord written notice 10 days prior to the end of the current rental month, unless the lease requires a longer notice period.1  At the end of a year-term lease, the required minimum notice period is 30 days.2  Tenants with fixed-term leases may only terminate the lease prior to the expiration of the term for reasons provided in the lease, the Civil Code, or other applicable laws.3

If a landlord fails to perform (i.e., fails to fulfill the obligations required by the Civil Code), a tenant may be able to terminate a lease extrajudicially in accordance with the rules applicable to contracts in general.4  These rules require that the tenant demand that the landlord fulfill the obligations under the lease within a reasonable time5  and that the tenant place the landlord in default, generally by written notice.6  Under limited circumstances a tenant may terminate a lease without notice to perform.7  Because unilateral dissolution of a contract is undertaken at the dissolving party’s own risk and because a lease cannot be dissolved for minor violations of the lease, a court may still side with a landlord who maintains that the requirements for extrajudicial dissolution were not satisfied (i.e., the landlord did not fail to perform and/or the procedures for notice and placing in default were not followed). As such, extrajudicial dissolution of a lease by a tenant puts the tenant at risk of a suit for rent due under the remainder of the lease. More commonly, a landlord will report a debt straight to a collection agency without suing and include an “early termination fee” or other penalty that may be inappropriate or illegal under the circumstances. Landlords have an obligation to mitigate their damages when a tenant terminates their lease early.8

Grounds for a tenant to dissolve a lease may include:

• Landlord’s failure to maintain the apartment in a habitable condition.9
• Landlord’s failure to make necessary repairs, depending on each party’s fault or responsibility, the length of repair period and the extent of the loss of use.10
• Landlord’s failure to maintain tenant in peaceable possession.11
• Landlord’s substantial violation of lease.12
• Fraudulent misrepresentations about neighborhood safety.13

In addition to landlord breach, a tenant may terminate a lease early for the following reasons:

• Total destruction of premises by fire, flood, or other force majeure.14
• Partial destruction or substantial impairment of use by fire, flood, or other force majeure.15
• Verbal agreement (despite written term lease) allowing tenant to cancel at any time.16
• Certain military orders to relocate.17
• Tenant’s disability which requires early termination.18
• Domestic violence or sexual assault.19

• 1La. C.C. art. 2728.
• 2Id.
• 3La. C.C. art. 2718.
• 4La. C.C. art. 2719.
• 5La. C.C. art. 2015.
• 6La. C.C. art. 1991 (identifying methods of placing an obligor in default).
• 7
• 8La. C.C. art. 2002.
• 9Freeman v. G.T.S. Corp., 363 So. 2d 1247 (La. App. 4 Cir. 1978).
• 10La. C.C. arts. 2693, 2719.
• 11Essen Dev. v. Marr, 95-1344 (La. App. 1 Cir. 11/30/95), 687 So. 2d 98 (other tenant’s barking dog rendered premises uninhabitable).
• 12La. C.C. art. 2719.
• 13Borne v. Edwards, 612 So. 2d 219 (La. App. 4 Cir. 1992).
• 14La. C.C. art. 2714
• 15La. C.C. arts. 2693, 2715; Bossier Ctr., Inc. v. Palais Royal, Inc., 385 So. 2d 886, 890 (La. App. 2 Cir. 1980). But see Eubanks v. McDowell, 460 So. 2d 42, 44 (La. App. 1 Cir. 1984) (finding that flood damage that took 4 days to repair was “mere injury” and not “partial destruction.”).
• 16Harper v. Gorman, 96-513 (La. App. 5 Cir. 04/29/97), 694 So. 2d 1094.
• 17La. R.S. 9:3261; 50 U.S.C. § 500.
• 1842 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(3)(b) (requiring reasonable accommodation of tenant’s disability); Samuelson v. Mid-Atl. Realty Co., 947 F. Supp. 756 (D. Del. 1996). If a disabled tenant can no longer use the apartment because it has become inaccessible, the landlord should allow early termination as an accommodation.
• 19La. R.S. 9:3261.1 (domestic violence); La. R.S. 3261.2 (sexual assault); 34 U.S.C. § 12491 (Violence Against Women Act; applies only to federally subsidized tenancies). Note that the Louisiana statutes do not apply to all dwellings.

Some notable principles of lease analysis are:

• Uncertain or ambiguous lease provisions must be construed against the drafter (typically the landlord) and in favor of maintenance of the lease.1
• Oral modifications or the parties’ course of conduct can change a written lease.2
• If the lease does not govern a particular problem, then Louisiana Civil Code arts. 2668-2744 or other applicable laws will govern.
• The lease provision may be unenforceable or prohibited if it violates the law or public policy.3
• If a lease contains conflicting provisions, ordinary principles of contract interpretation may be used to resolve the conflict.

• 1New Orleans Minority Bus. Ctr., Ltd. v. Duong, 97-CV-0894 (La. App. 4 Cir. 11/19/97), 703 So. 2d 157, 158.
• 2Karno v. Joseph Fein Caterer, Inc., 2002-1269 (La. App. 4 Cir. 4/16/03), 846 So. 2d 105, 107–08; Quigley v. T.L. James & Co., 595 So. 2d 1235, 1238 (La. App. 5 Cir. 1992) (finding question of material fact regarding existence of oral modification and holding that the “proponent of an oral amendment must show that there was an oral agreement and meeting of the minds between the lessor and lessee as to the alleged modification”).
• 3La. C.C. art. 1968. For examples of unenforceable lease provisions, see Section 1.5.2.

Some lease provisions are unenforceable:

• Waiver of repair of/or liability for serious defects in residential lease.1
• Waiver of warranty of peaceable possession.2
• Waiver of minimum notice to terminate lease when one or both parties have reserved the right to terminate the lease before the end of the term.3
• Waiver of rights under rent deposit statute.4
• Any clause allowing landlord to collect future rent due under the lease after electing to terminate the lease.5
• Waivers of liability for intentional or gross fault that causes damage, and waiver of liability for physical injury.6
• Any contract made in violation of the Louisiana Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law.7
• Forfeiture or penalty clauses in bonds for deed that purport to forfeit the funds paid by the purchaser if the bond for deed is cancelled.8

Other provisions may be unenforceable if their object or cause is to circumvent the law or public policy.9

• 1La. C.C. art. 2699(3); Shubert v. Tonti Dev. Corp., 09-348 (La. App. 5 Cir. 12/29/09), 30 So. 3d 977, 985–86. However, note the exception to liability under Article 2699 if the lessee has assumed responsibility for defect in the leased premises, found in La. R.S. 9:3221. See Stuckey v. Riverstone Residential SC, LP, 2008-1770 (La. App. 1 Cir. 08/05/09); 21 So. 3d 970.
• 2Entergy La., Inc. v. Kennedy, 2003-0166 (La. App. 1 Cir. 07/02/03), 859 So. 2d 74.
• 3La. C.C. arts. 2718, 2728–2729. However, the 5-day notice to vacate required by La. C.C.P. art. 4701 may be waived for private tenants.
• 4La. R.S. 9:3254.
• 5U.S. Leasing Corp. v. Keiler, 290 So. 2d 427, 430 (La. App. 4 Cir. 1974). But see 745 Olive St., L.L.C. v. Optimal Wellness, LLC, 54,778 (La. App. 2 Cir. 11/16/22), 351 So. 3d 890, 895 (holding that landlord was not precluded from suing for future rent when the lessee abandoned the rental and the landlord changed the locks and attempted to re-lease the premises).
• 6La. C.C. art. 2004.
• 7See La. R.S. 51:1403.
• 8Seals v. Sumrall, 2003-0873 (La. App. 1 Cir. 09/17/04), 887 So. 2d 91, 96.
• 9See La. C.C. art. 1968; Bach Inv. Co. v. Philip, 98-667 (La. App. 5 Cir. 12/16/98), 722 So. 2d 1222, 1223.