Louisiana Residential Lease Agreement Form
Does the idea of Louisiana’s warm Southern hospitality have you thinking of relocating and renting property in the state? You’ll need a Louisiana Residential Lease Agreement Form, a contract that defines the terms of your lease in an apartment or other residential property.
Before signing a lease agreement, however, you’ll need to submit a rental application form together with an application fee. If the landlord approves your application, you can then discuss the lease terms. Once you and your landlord agree on the terms, you’ll both sign the standard lease agreement form.
A lease template usually contains a brief description of the property. It has the personal information of the landlord, tenant, and all its occupants, including pets. Moreover, the agreement must specify the terms of your lease as well as the rent amount and when rent is due. It will also include required disclosures by the state of Louisiana.
If both parties agree on the terms, the lease may include clauses on the security deposit and late fee. Another important matter to note is utility payments. The tenant may pay the landlord for utilities, which will become part of the rent payment, or they may pay directly to the utility company.
Lease agreements cannot ask tenants to waive their rights. These rights include the right to live in safe and habitable residences. If there is damage to the property, the landlord must have it repaired immediately. The tenant is allowed to arrange for repairs and be reimbursed by the landlord or deduct the cost of repairs from next month’s rent.
Required Disclosures
- Lead-Based Paint Disclosure - The United States banned lead-based paint in 1978. Landlords, therefore, have to inform tenants if the residential real estate for lease was built before that year. They also have to provide tenants with educational materials about the hazards of having lead-based paint on walls and ceilings (Lead-Based Paint Disclosure Rule (Section 1018 of Title X)).
- Foreclosure - In case the property receives a foreclosure notice, the landlord is obligated to inform the tenant within seven days of receiving the notice.
Rent Grace Period
There is no rent grace period statute in Louisiana. This means a landlord can charge a late fee a day after rent is due, which is usually on the first day of every month.
However, since the lease is an agreement between the landlord and tenant, they can still agree to have a rent grace period. They can also jointly agree on another monthly date as the rent due date.
If the tenant fails to pay rent, the landlord may serve the tenant with a five-day notice to vacate. The notice is the first step toward eviction in Louisiana. It should explicitly state that the tenant has five days to move out of the property before an eviction lawsuit is filed.
Security Deposits
In the state of Louisiana, there is no limit to how much a landlord can charge as a security deposit. The landlord can also impose a pet deposit if the tenant has at least one pet. Both deposits are refundable, and the landlord has a month from the tenant’s move-out date to return the amount.
If the property is damaged by the tenant or their pet, the landlord can deduct the cost of repair from the security deposit and/or pet deposit. The landlord may also deduct unpaid rent from the security deposit. In Louisiana, landlords don’t have to pay interest on the deposit (LA Rev Stat § 9:3251 (2021)).