Louisiana: Late Rent Fee Limits

Requirements one by one

No late-fee statute — the stipulated-damages rule governs

Louisiana has no residential landlord-tenant act that caps a late fee or fixes a
grace period. Because the lease is a contract, a late fee is treated as
"stipulated damages" — an amount the parties fix in advance for late performance
of the rent obligation. The Civil Code lets the parties set it:

Parties may stipulate the damages to be recovered in case of nonperformance,
defective performance, or delay in performance of an obligation.

The one outer limit is the court's narrow power to modify that figure:

Stipulated damages may not be modified by the court unless they are so
manifestly unreasonable as to be contrary to public policy.

So there is no statutory ceiling, no statutory percentage, and no set grace
period. The amount stands as written unless a court finds it manifestly
unreasonable and contrary to public policy — the court's authority to reduce it
is limited to that standard. A separate article lets the figure shrink when the
tenant has partly performed:

Stipulated damages for nonperformance may be reduced in proportion to the
benefit derived by the obligee from any partial performance rendered by the
obligor.

The fee must be in the lease — which may be oral

A late fee is owed only if the lease provides for it; the Civil Code speaks of
what the "parties may stipulate," so an unstipulated fee has no basis. Louisiana
does not require the lease to be in writing:

A lease may be made orally or in writing.

That means an oral lease can include a late-fee term, but if no fee was agreed —
in writing or orally — none is owed. There is no separate statutory disclosure
form a Louisiana landlord must give before a stipulated late fee applies.

What trips people up

The court rarely rewrites the number. Unlike a general "reasonableness"
review, Louisiana lets a court change a stipulated late fee only when it is "so
manifestly unreasonable as to be contrary to public policy." A fee you think is
high is not automatically reducible; it has to cross that statutory line.

The five-day notice to vacate is an eviction clock, not a late-fee grace
period. When a landlord seeks possession, Code of Civil Procedure article 4701
requires a written notice to vacate allowing "not less than five days." That is
the pre-eviction step, not a period during which a late fee is barred; the lease
alone controls when a late fee attaches.

A partial payment can cut the fee down. Article 2011 lets stipulated damages
"be reduced in proportion to the benefit" the landlord got from any partial
performance, so paying part of the rent can lower the late charge that survives.

Common questions

Is there a maximum late fee in Louisiana? No statute sets one. The lease
sets the amount, and a court will step in only if the fee is "so manifestly
unreasonable as to be contrary to public policy" under article 2012.

My tenancy is oral — can I owe a late fee? Yes, if the oral lease included a
late-fee stipulation. A lease may be made orally in Louisiana (article 2681),
and a late fee is owed only where the parties stipulated it (article 2005).

Does paying part of the rent reduce the late fee? It can. Article 2011
allows a stipulated late charge to be reduced in proportion to the benefit the
landlord derived from a partial payment.

Statutes and sources

• La. Civ. Code art. 2005 — parties may stipulate damages for delay in
  performance; the stipulation is a secondary obligation enforcing the rent.

  Parties may stipulate the damages to be recovered in case of nonperformance,
  defective performance, or delay in performance of an obligation. That
  stipulation gives rise to a secondary obligation for the purpose of enforcing
  the principal one.

Official source: https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=109261 (accessed 2026-07-20)

• La. Civ. Code art. 2011 — a stipulated late charge may be reduced in
  proportion to the tenant's partial performance.

  Stipulated damages for nonperformance may be reduced in proportion to the
  benefit derived by the obligee from any partial performance rendered by the
  obligor.

Official source: https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=109268 (accessed 2026-07-20)

• La. Civ. Code art. 2012 — a court may not modify a stipulated late fee
  unless it is manifestly unreasonable and contrary to public policy.

  Stipulated damages may not be modified by the court unless they are so
  manifestly unreasonable as to be contrary to public policy.

Official source: https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=109269 (accessed 2026-07-20)

• La. Civ. Code art. 2681 — a Louisiana lease may be oral or written.

  A lease may be made orally or in writing. A lease of an immovable is not
  effective against third persons until filed for recordation in the manner
  prescribed by legislation.

Official source: https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=109742 (accessed 2026-07-20)

• La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 4701 — five-day written notice to vacate before
  eviction (an eviction clock, not a late-fee grace period).

  When a lessee's right of occupancy has ceased ... the lessor or his agent
  shall cause written notice to vacate the premises to be delivered to the
  lessee. The notice shall allow the lessee not less than five days from the
  date of its delivery to vacate the leased premises.

Official source: https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=112073 (accessed 2026-07-20)