How to Evict a Roommate in Louisiana (and Other Household Situations)
What Louisiana law says about roommates who are not on the lease, guests who won't leave, family members, renting a room in your own home, and tenancies at will — each with the statute or official source.
Short answer: A lease is a contract to give someone the use of a thing for a term in exchange for rent, so a roommate who pays rent to the leaseholder under an oral or written agreement is a sublessee; a lessee may sublease unless the lease expressly prohibits it. A roommate who lives there without paying rent, by permission of the owner or another occupant, is an "occupant" for eviction purposes rather than a tenant. La. C.C. arts. 2668, 2713; La. C.C.P. art. 4704
| Roommate not on the lease | A lease is a contract to give someone the use of a thing for a term in exchange for rent, so a roommate who pays rent to the leaseholder under an oral or written agreement is a sublessee; a lessee may sublease unless the lease expressly prohibits it. A roommate who lives there without paying rent, by permission of the owner or another occupant, is an "occupant" for eviction purposes rather than a tenant. Whether a roommate is a sublessee or an occupant depends on whether rent was agreed. |
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| Removing a roommate or subtenant | For eviction purposes, "lessor" includes a sublessor and "owner" includes a lessee, so a leaseholder can evict a subtenant or occupant roommate. The leaseholder delivers a written notice to vacate giving at least five days (for a lease with no fixed term, the notice required to end the lease also counts), then files an eviction suit if the roommate stays. A month-to-month lease is ended by notice at least 10 calendar days before the end of the month (La. C.C. art. 2728). |
| Guests who won't leave | A guest does not become a lessee unless rent is agreed, but a guest staying by permission of the owner or another occupant is an "occupant." To remove an occupant after the purpose of the stay has ended, the owner delivers a written notice to vacate allowing five days, then may file an eviction suit. An occupant who stays more than five days after being served with that notice is also treated as remaining on the property for criminal trespass purposes. A "squatter"—someone with no right of possession, ownership, occupancy or lease interest—commits trespass by staying after being told to leave (La. R.S. 14:63). |
| Removing a family member or partner | No article names family members specifically. A relative or partner living there by permission without paying rent is an "occupant": the owner (or a lessee, who counts as an owner for eviction purposes) delivers a written notice to vacate giving five days, then files an eviction suit if the person stays. Staying more than five days after that notice also counts as remaining on the property for criminal trespass. Protective orders in domestic abuse cases are a separate court process. |
| Renting a room in your own home (lodgers) | No lodger-specific article was identified. A room rented for agreed rent is a lease under the Civil Code (month to month if no term is agreed), and a person staying without rent by the owner's permission is an "occupant" who must receive a five-day written notice to vacate before an eviction suit. |
| Tenancy at will | Louisiana's Civil Code does not use the common-law tenancy at will. If the parties do not agree on a term, a residential lease is month to month, and either side ends it with notice at least 10 calendar days before the end of the month (30 days for terms longer than a month, 5 days for week-to-month terms). Non-paying occupants are handled by the separate five-day notice to vacate. |
Never remove someone by changing the locks or taking their belongings: if the person has become a tenant, only a court can order them out. If there is violence or a threat, call 911 and ask about a protective order.
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Louisiana eviction laws · Free legal help in Louisiana · Roommate rules in other states
General legal information, not legal advice. Laws change and local rules can differ; check the linked official source or talk to a lawyer about your situation.