Ending a month-to-month lease in Louisiana: 10 days before the end of the month
Louisiana has one of the shortest month-to-month notice periods in the country. Civil Code article 2728 requires notice ten calendar days before the end of the month, and article 2729 says that for a house or apartment the notice must be in writing. After the lease ends, Code of Civil Procedure article 4701 adds a separate notice to vacate of at least five days, though the termination notice can serve as both.
What do Civil Code articles 2727 to 2729 say?
Article 2727 says a lease with an indeterminate term, including a reconducted lease, ends by notice to that effect given by the party who wants to end it. Article 2728 sets when the notice must be given: for a lease measured by a period longer than a month, thirty calendar days before the end of that period; for a month-to-month lease, ten calendar days before the end of that month; for a period of at least a week but under a month, five calendar days before the end of that period; and for a period shorter than a week, at any time before it expires.
A notice given in time ends the lease at the end of the period the notice names. If it names none, the lease ends at the end of the first period for which the notice was timely. That second sentence is useful: a late notice does not fail, it just rolls to the next month.
Article 2729 says that if the leased thing is an immovable, or a movable used as a residence, the notice must be in writing, and that a tenant's surrender of possession at the time notice would be due counts as the tenant's notice.
How do you count the ten days?
Ten calendar days means every day counts, including weekends and holidays. For a lease on a calendar-month cycle, the notice has to be given on or before the 21st for a month with 31 days, and on or before the 20th for a month with 30 days. Give yourself margin, since the statute counts from the giving of the notice.
Example a made-up landlord wants a month-to-month lease to end at the close of Thursday, December 31, 2026. Ten calendar days before is Monday, December 21, 2026, so a written notice given that day or earlier is timely. A notice given Tuesday, December 22 is not timely for December and ends the lease at the close of January 31, 2027.
Do you still need a notice to vacate?
Yes, in the sense that Code of Civil Procedure article 4701 requires a written notice to vacate before you can sue to evict, and the notice must allow not less than five days from delivery. If the lease has no definite term, the article says the notice the law requires to end it counts as the notice to vacate. So a clear written termination notice, delivered with at least five days before the vacate date, does both jobs. A lessee can waive the notice requirements in a written waiver in the lease, in which case the lessor may institute eviction proceedings once the right to occupy ends.
If the tenant does not leave, the procedure is the rule to show cause under articles 4731 to 4735: returnable not earlier than the third day after service, with a warrant 24 hours after judgment. That process is walked through in our Louisiana eviction guide.
What to put in the notice and what to avoid
- The address, the names of the lessees, the date given and the date the lease ends.
- A statement that the lease is terminated and the premises must be vacated by that date.
- Your signature, and proof of delivery with a date.
- Giving a verbal notice. For a residence, article 2729 requires writing.
- Treating a late notice as void. Under article 2728 it runs to the end of the first timely period.
- Relying on the termination notice alone when the lease has a definite term; article 4701 allows the notice to vacate no more than thirty days before the term ends.
Where does DoorKeeping fit?
DoorKeeping stores the lease, the rent ledger and a copy of every notice you send, so the date you served and the date it ends are on file if a court asks. You still write, serve and track the notice yourself. This is general information, not legal advice: check the current statute, and ask a local attorney if the tenant disputes the notice.
Sources
Questions
- How many days notice for a Louisiana month-to-month lease?
- Ten calendar days before the end of the month (Civil Code art. 2728).
- Must a Louisiana lease termination notice be in writing?
- For a residence, yes (Civil Code art. 2729).
- What if a Louisiana landlord gives the notice late?
- It still works, ending the lease at the end of the first period for which it is timely (art. 2728).