Could a Louisiana town shut off current services to collect open-account balances more than three years old?

Plain-English summary

Maringouin's mayor asked about unpaid accounts more than three years old and an overgrown sawmill property. In 2006, the Attorney General applied the three-year prescriptive period for actions on an open account in La. Civil Code Article 3494. For the balances described, it said the town could no longer take legal action to collect or disconnect current services for nonpayment. The underlying debt remained a “natural obligation,” so a debtor could still pay voluntarily.

The AG separately addressed the sawmill's weeds and debris. It said the town's own ordinance supplied the method of enforcing its grass-height rule; an unsightly, uncut property did not justify discontinuing services. If enforcement required the town to cut the grass or pay to have it cut, the AG said the town had to recover that cost from the landowner because of the constitutional restriction on donating public funds.

The opinion said much of the mayor's broader letter did not identify a precise legal issue. Its answers covered the open accounts and property-enforcement examples the AG could discern.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2006. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Could the town disconnect service over the old account balances?

The AG said no for the described open accounts older than three years. It said the time to enforce payment had expired and current services could not be disconnected to collect those balances.

Could a resident voluntarily pay a time-barred balance?

Yes. The opinion distinguished an unenforceable claim from a natural obligation that a debtor could still satisfy voluntarily.

Could the town cut off service because the sawmill lot was overgrown?

No. The AG said the town had to use its ordinance's enforcement method and could not discontinue services just because the property was unsightly or its grass was uncut.

What if the town paid to cut the grass?

The AG said the town would have to recoup the cost from the landowner if ordinance enforcement required municipal cutting or payment for it.

Background and statutory framework

The mayor reported more than $53,000 in outstanding accounts older than three years and asked about collection. The AG applied La. Civil Code Article 3494 to those open accounts. A separate issue concerned an ordinance requiring grass below 18 inches at a sawmill property. The AG referred enforcement to the ordinance itself and cited Article VII, Sec. 14(A) of the La. Const. for the public-funds concern if the town paid for mowing without recovery.

Citations

• La. Civil Code Article 3494 (three-year prescription for an open-account action, as quoted in the opinion).
• Article VII, Sec. 14(A) of the La. Const. (public-funds restriction identified by the AG).

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/05-0325

Original opinion text

April 26, 2006
Opinion Number 05-0325

90-A-1 Public Funds and Contracts
Civil Code Art. 3494
Honorable John F. Overton, Sr.
Mayor, Town of Maringouin
Summary: The prescriptive period for actions on open
P.O. Box 10
accounts is three years. After three years, all legal actions
are barred.
Maringouin, LA 70757

Dear Mayor Overton:

We are in receipt of your letter requesting an Attorney General opinion on numerous issues, most of which appear to be covered by state statutes or local ordinances. We are unable to determine the legal issues for which you are seeking the Attorney General’s opinion. For example, you state in your letter that you have over $53,000 in outstanding accounts that are all over three years old and ask for the legal time limit for collecting on outstanding accounts.

La. Civil Code Article 3494 provides, in pertinent part, “The following actions are subject to a liberative prescription of three years . . . (4) An action on an open account.” Thus all legal actions to enforce the payment of these open accounts were barred after three years, and you may no longer take any legal actions to enforce them. A natural obligation still exists, and the debtor may voluntarily pay the debt, but as a creditor, you no longer have the right to enforce the payment. This means you may not disconnect present services for the failure to pay the balances over three years old.

You further state that the yard of a local sawmill is cluttered and unsightly. It contains stacks of old, rotten wood and broken equipment surrounded by high weeds, and the owners have not cleaned it despite repeated requests by the Town. Your letter states that the Town has an ordinance that requires that grass be kept less than 18 inches in height, and you ask how this ordinance can be enforced. The Town must look to its ordinance for the method of enforcement. The Town may not, however, discontinue services because the property is unsightly and the grass is uncut.

Additionally, we note that Article VII, Sec. 14(A) of the La. Const. contains a prohibition against donating public funds. Generally, towns are found to have violated this provision if they give up something of value when they are under no legal obligation to do so.1 Therefore, if the enforcement of the grass ordinance required the Town to either cut the grass or pay to have it cut, the Town would have to recoup its costs from the landowner.
1
st
Town of Brusly v. WBR Police Jury, 283 So.2d 288 (1 Cir. 1973); Atty. Gen. Op. No. 90-651

Page 2

Opinion Number 05-0325
Honorable John F. Overton, Sr.
Mayor, Town of Maringouin
Page -2-

If this guidance has not adequately addressed your legal issues, please consult with your city attorney and provide this office which a brief summary of the legal issues for which you are requesting an opinion. If you have additional questions, please contact our office.

Yours very truly,

CHARLES C. FOTI, JR.
Attorney General

BY: _________
DENISE BROU FITZGERALD
Assistant Attorney General

CCF, jr./DBF/dam

Page 3

Opinion Number 05-0325
Syllabus

90-A-1 Public Funds and Contracts
Civil Code Art. 3494

Summary: The prescriptive period for actions on open accounts is three years. After three years, all legal actions are barred.

Honorable John F. Overton, Sr.
Mayor, Town of Maringouin
P.O. Box 10
Maringouin, LA 70757

Date Received:

Date Released: April 26, 2006

Denise Brou Fitzgerald
Assistant Attorney General