Shreveport, LA Code Violation Reporting: How to Report (2026)

Chapter 38's inspection authority sits in section 38-82. The director can inspect surrounding premises, any unimproved lot, and the exterior of a dwelling or property to enforce the Property Standards Code. Paragraph (3)a spells out the citizen-reporting route: any person may request the department of property standards to initiate an exterior inspection of any occupied or unoccupied dwelling, dwelling unit, premises or property located within the corporate limits of the city to determine whether a violation of any provision of the chapter exists. Nothing in that sentence requires the requester to live next door, own property nearby, or identify a personal stake in the outcome; the plain text says any person.

Interior inspections work differently and are reserved for tenants under paragraph (3)b: a tenant must first notify the owner in writing of the violation, state that the owner has ten days to fix it, and let that ten-day window run before the department will send an inspector inside. Once an exterior or interior inspection turns up a violation, the director serves a written notice of violation under section 38-84, which must describe the condition, cite the section violated, list available remedies, and state a deadline and the maximum penalty.

Failure to abate after that notice can bring a citation and, ultimately, misdemeanor penalties under section 38-115. Requests are made to the department of property standards, the same office the code names throughout chapter 38 as the enforcing agency.