How long does a landlord have to return a security deposit in Louisiana?

1 month. The statute's unit is one month, not 30 days. And the whole protection falls away if the tenant abandons the premises, either without giving the required notice or before the lease ends.

What happens if a landlord does not return the deposit on time in Louisiana?

The tenant recovers the wrongfully retained portion plus the greater of $300 or twice that amount, but only on a willful failure. Failing to remit within 30 days of the tenant's written demand is willful per se, which is why the demand letter matters.

Do landlords have to pay interest on security deposits in Louisiana?

No — Louisiana does not require interest on the security deposit to be paid to the tenant.

What are the security deposit rules in Louisiana?

Verified October 1, 2026 Correction October 2, 2026 All Louisiana topics →

Louisiana sets no limit on how much a landlord can charge as a security deposit, but the deposit must be returned within one month after the lease terminates, minus only what is reasonably necessary to remedy the tenant's default or unreasonable wear.

Cited to La. R.S. 9:3251 (A), (B), (C) and 8 more cited sources · Verified October 1, 2026

If anything is kept, the landlord must send an itemized statement giving the reasons — since August 1, 2026, within one month after the tenancy ends or within 15 days after that one-month mark (Act 63 of 2026), effectively up to about six weeks — to the forwarding address the tenant is required to leave. The enforcement lever is the tenant's written demand: a landlord who fails to remit within 30 days of a written refund demand is deemed in willful violation and owes the wrongfully kept amount plus the greater of $300 or double that amount, with costs and attorney's fees available to whichever side prevails. Two Louisiana quirks cut the other way: a tenant who abandons the premises — or leaves without required notice — loses the return-and-itemization protections entirely, and no interest or separate account is ever required. These rights cannot be waived in a lease.

Louisiana security deposits at a glance

Maximum deposit	No statutory cap
Return deadline	1 month
Deadline conditions	The statute's unit is one month, not 30 days. And the whole protection falls away if the tenant abandons the premises, either without giving the required notice or before the lease ends. The deposit must be returned 'within one month after the lease shall terminate' (R.S. 9:3251(A)). The lessor may retain only what is 'reasonably necessary to remedy a default of the tenant or to remedy unreasonable wear to the premises.' Major carve-out: subsection A does not apply at all 'when the tenant abandons the premises, either without giving notice as required or prior to the termination of the lease' (9:3251(C)). On sale of the property, the deposit transfers to the buyer, who becomes responsible for its return (9:3251(B)). Act 63 of 2026 (effective August 1, 2026) did not touch this return deadline — it extended only the window for the itemized statement.
Itemization required	Yes
Itemization rules	If any portion of the deposit is retained, the lessor must forward an itemized statement 'accounting for the proceeds which are retained and giving the reasons therefor' — since August 1, 2026, 'within one month after the date the tenancy terminates or within fifteen days after the date that is one month after the tenancy terminates' (R.S. 9:3251(A) as amended by Act 63 of 2026 (HB 292)), effectively up to one month plus 15 days for the itemization. Act 63 changed only this window; the one-month deposit-return deadline is unchanged. No statute enumerates permitted deduction categories beyond tenant default and unreasonable wear; normal wear is not deductible.
Separate account required	No
Interest owed to tenant	No
Account & interest rules	Not addressed by statute
Pet deposits	No statute addresses a pet deposit, and no general deposit cap exists for one to count against. The pet-deposit rule, pet rent and fees, and the assistance-animal rules are on the pets and assistance animals page.
Non-refundable fees allowed	Not addressed by statute
Penalty for violation	The tenant recovers the wrongfully retained portion plus the greater of $300 or twice that amount, but only on a willful failure. Failing to remit within 30 days of the tenant's written demand is willful per se, which is why the demand letter matters. Willful failure to comply with R.S. 9:3251 entitles the tenant to recover the wrongfully retained portion PLUS the greater of $300 or twice the amount wrongfully retained (R.S. 9:3252(A), as amended by Acts 2018, No. 416, eff. Jan. 1, 2019). Failure to remit within 30 days after the tenant's written demand for a refund constitutes willful failure per se. Costs and attorney's fees are discretionary and go to the prevailing party — either side (9:3253). Any waiver of the tenant's rights under the part is null and void (9:3254). Venue lies in the parish of the lessor's domicile or where the property sits (9:3252(B)).
Tenant forwarding-address duty	The tenant 'shall furnish the lessor a forwarding address at the termination of the lease' to which the itemized statement may be sent (R.S. 9:3251(A)). Separately, the written-demand letter is what starts the 30-day clock that makes a failure to remit willful under 9:3252 — tenants are well advised to send it certified on move-out (per the AG guide).

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, Louisiana Security Deposit Laws (verified October 1, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/security-deposits/louisiana/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified). Everything above is cited in the citations section below.

Generate a Louisiana security-deposit return letter — free, no signup, built on the same verified Louisiana law as this page.

Editable Louisiana deposit kit — the deposit disposition letter, the move-in receipt with the custody and interest statements, a deposits-held register with the return deadline computed, and the rules fact sheet built on the verified Louisiana rules on this page, in Word, fillable PDF and Excel.

Notes and caveats

The unit is 'one month,' not 30 days — the deposit itself must be returned within one month after the lease terminates — that deadline did not change in 2026.
What Act 63 changed on August 1, 2026 — the itemized statement explaining any amount kept may now be sent within one month after the tenancy terminates, or within 15 days after that one-month mark — effectively up to about six weeks.
Official page is now current — the statute page on legis.la.gov carries the Act 63 amendment (its history line ends 'Acts 2026, No. 63, §1'), and the enrolled act linked in the citations records the change itself.
Stale-source trap — the Attorney General's own guide (current through the 2016 legislative session) and older websites still state the penalty in force before 2019: actual damages or $200, whichever is greater. Since January 1, 2019 it is the greater of $300 or twice the amount wrongfully retained.
The abandonment carve-out — a tenant who abandons the premises, either without giving the required notice or before the lease ends, loses the return-and-itemization protections entirely (9:3251(C)).
What Louisiana never requires — no cap on deposit size, no interest, no separate account. The statutes say 'lessor' and 'lessee' (civil-law vocabulary); 'Lessee's Deposit Act' is the AG guide's name for these sections.
Current as of August 2026 — this section states Louisiana law as of August 12, 2026, including Act 63 of 2026.

Common questions: Louisiana security deposits

Each answer is the verified value from the table above, restated as a direct answer. Free to quote with a link to this page.

How much can a landlord charge for a security deposit in Louisiana?: No statutory cap.
How long does a landlord have to return a security deposit in Louisiana?: 1 month. The statute's unit is one month, not 30 days. And the whole protection falls away if the tenant abandons the premises, either without giving the required notice or before the lease ends.
What happens if a landlord does not return the deposit on time in Louisiana?: The tenant recovers the wrongfully retained portion plus the greater of $300 or twice that amount, but only on a willful failure. Failing to remit within 30 days of the tenant's written demand is willful per se, which is why the demand letter matters.
Do landlords have to pay interest on security deposits in Louisiana?: No — Louisiana does not require interest on the security deposit to be paid to the tenant.
Can a landlord charge a non-refundable fee in Louisiana?: Not addressed by statute.

Changes since last full verification

The Verified date above (October 1, 2026) marks the last time every figure on this page was verified end-to-end against official sources. The changes below were published since then, each verified against the official source it names (what these dates mean).

Correction, October 2, 2026 — Louisiana (correction): the deposit page had shown the return deadline as 30 days. The statute says within one month after the lease terminates (R.S. 9:3251(A)); the page and the deposit letter tool now show one month, and the tool counts a calendar month where it had added 30 days. The eviction page had shown the deadline for an appeal that suspends the judgment as 1 day; the article says within twenty-four hours of the judgment of eviction (C.C.P. art. 4735), and the page now shows 24 hours. The rent increase page had said no city or parish regulates rents: New Orleans requires units created under its inclusionary zoning program to be offered at an affordable rent (New Orleans Code sections 26-641 and 26-646), and the codes of nine other cities and parishes contain no rent regulation. Also corrected: notice to end the lease of a home must be in writing whether or not the lease itself is written (C.C. art. 2729); the 30-day notice in art. 2728 applies to a lease with no fixed term that runs by a period longer than a month, and a fixed-term lease ends without notice (art. 2720); the owner of land with three or more lots rented for factory-built homes may collect a $25 fee when lot rent is 60 days late and notice has gone to the home's secured parties (R.S. 9:3259.1(D)); taking possession without a judgment after an abandonment still requires the notice to vacate (C.C.P. art. 4731(B)); the self-help repossession statute sometimes cited against landlords belongs to the law on leases of movables (R.S. 9:3329); a court's power to refuse to dissolve a lease rests on C.C. arts. 2013 and 2014; the tenant's duty to allow urgent repairs is art. 2693. Comparisons with other states that no official source supports were removed.

Citations

La. R.S. 9:3251 · (A), (B), (C) (verified 2026) Official source
Act 63 of 2026 (HB 292) — amends R.S. 9:3251(A) itemized-statement window, effective 2026-08-01 · Section 1 (verified 2026) Official source
La. R.S. 9:3252 · (A), (B) (verified 2026) Official source
La. R.S. 9:3253 (verified 2026) Official source
La. R.S. 9:3254 (verified 2026) Official source
La. AG, 'A Guide to Louisiana Landlord & Tenant Laws' (La. DOJ Consumer Protection Section) · Lessee's Deposit Act chapter (penalty figure stale — see notes) (verified 2026) Official source
La. R.S. 9:3253 (costs and attorney's fees) (verified 2026) Official source
La. R.S. 9:3254 (waiver of tenant's rights prohibited) (verified 2026) Official source
La. R.S. 46:1954 · (C) (verified 2026) Official source

How this record was verified: Direct read of statute text on the official Louisiana Legislature site (legis.la.gov Law.aspx section pages) for La. R.S. 9:3251-3254 and 9:3258 and Civil Code arts. 2005, 2011, 2012, 2680-2683, 2693, 2695, 2727, and 2728. Enrolled text of 2026 Act No. 63 (HB 292) read in full from the legislature's document server, plus the bill-status page confirming signature 5/11/2026 and 8/1/2026 effective date. Cross-checked against the Louisiana Attorney General's official guide 'A Guide to Louisiana Landlord & Tenant Laws' (La. DOJ Consumer Protection Section), noting that the guide's deposit-penalty figure ($200/actual damages) is stale — superseded by Acts 2018, No. 416. The other 2026 acts on leases (Act 64 on early termination, Act 240 on the Civil Code's lease title, Acts 40 and 113 on legal holidays, Act 127 on notice of a justice of the peace court's judgment and Act 950 on the East Baton Rouge justice courts) change no figure on the deposit, rent increase, late fee or entry pages. September 5, 2026 addendum: the decisive figures touched by the 2025-2026 enactments reviewed that day were re-read on the official host — Civil Code art. 2701, Acts 2026 No. 382 and No. 765, and R.S. 51:911.26 and 51:911.41 on legis.la.gov; the earlier reads stand as recorded. On October 1, 2026 every provision the deposit, rent increase, late fee, entry and eviction answers rest on was read again on legis.la.gov, whose text includes the acts of the 2026 Regular Session: R.S. 9:3201 to 9:3261.2, the Civil Code's lease title (arts. 2668 to 2729) and arts. 2000 to 2014, Code of Civil Procedure arts. 4701 to 4735, 4832 to 4925, 5001 to 5003 and 5059, R.S. 1:55 and La. Const. art. VI, § 9, with the 2025 and 2026 act lists and, for rent regulation, the codes of New Orleans, Baton Rouge and East Baton Rouge Parish, Shreveport, Jefferson Parish, Lafayette, Kenner, Lake Charles, Bossier City, Monroe and Alexandria.