12.1 Lessee’s Deposit Act

Louisiana’s Lessee’s Deposit Act requires a landlord to return a tenant’s deposit within one month of termination of the lease agreement.1  This period begins on the date of termination printed in the lease agreement. A landlord may only legally withhold security deposits, or portions thereof, in two instances: to remedy damage to the premises beyond normal wear and tear caused by the tenant’s fault and to remedy tenant default.2

If a landlord retains any portion of a tenant’s deposit, the landlord must provide the tenant a written itemized statement accounting for the money retained and describing legitimate reasons for doing so.3  This itemized statement must be provided to the tenant within one month after the lease ends.4  Tenants must provide landlords with a forwarding address to which the itemized statement may be sent.5

When a landlord transfers the landlord’s interest in a leased unit during the lease term, the landlord must also transfer the security deposit to the successor in interest.6  Transferring the deposit to the successor in interest relieves the landlord of further liability with respect to the security deposit.7  The landlord’s successor in interest is then responsible for the return of the tenant’s deposit when the lease terminates.8

This procedure does not apply if the tenant moves from the unit at the end of the current lease term without providing the landlord required notice of lease termination or if the tenant abandons the unit prior to the current lease term ending.9  Presumably, midterm cancellation of the lease by either party, or by a third party such as a public housing authority, for legal cause would relieve the tenant from the notice requirements of R.S. 9:3251(C), and the tenant could still be entitled to return of the deposit.

Willful failure to comply with the Lessee’s Deposit Act subjects the landlord to additional damages of the greater of $300 or double the amount of the deposit wrongfully withheld.10  Courts, in their discretion, may also award costs and attorney’s fees to the prevailing party in security deposit litigation.11  The penalty is in addition to the refund of the security deposit itself.12  Note that some small claims courts may deny attorney’s fee to a prevailing tenant or award an unreasonably low amount. 

Before 2019, landlords who willfully failed to return tenants’ security deposits were only subject to the penalty of $200 (or actual damages if greater). The heightened penalty for landlords who willfully fail to return tenant security deposits should serve as more of an incentive for landlords to return deposits when owed. The heightened penalty for landlords applies to all lease agreements, including those entered into before the January 1, 2019 effective date of the amendment increasing the penalties.

• 1La. R.S. 9:3251, et seq. A security deposit is distinct from a “rental deposit,” in which money is given according to an agreement to move in, not a lease agreement.
• 2Tenant’s default generally includes unpaid rent, abandonment, or failure to notify landlord of intent to terminate tenancy.
• 3La. R.S. 3251(A).
• 4Id.
• 5Id.
• 6La. R.S. 3:3251(B).
• 7Id.
• 8Id. Note that unless the lease was recorded, the landlord’s successor is not bound by the lease and may evict the tenant. See Section 10.5.
• 9La. R.S. 9:3251(C).
• 10See La. R.S. 9:3252(A).
• 11La. R.S. 9:3253; Miller v. Ecung, 96-267 (La. App. 3 Cir. 06/06/96), 676 So. 2d 656 ($1,000 in attorney’s fees); WebApps, L.L.C. v. Murdock, 2016-0092 (La. App. 4 Cir. 06/29/16), 196 So. 3d 765  (tenant was properly awarded $27,868.75 in attorney’s fees and $5,490.15 in costs and an additional $3,000 in attorney’s fees on appeal because the tenant successfully defended the appeal); Vinson v. Henley, 38,006 (La. App. 2 Cir. 01/28/04), 864 So. 2d 894 (additional $1,250 attorney’s fees for appeal).
• 12Id.