New Orleans, LA Rental Inspections: Tenant Complaint Process (2026)

New Orleans built a formal complaint channel directly into its Healthy Homes Program. Under City Code § 26-680(a), any lessee may report a suspected violation of the rental housing article or of §§ 26-156 through 26-230 of the Minimum Property Maintenance Code by contacting the Department of Safety and Permits and requesting an inspection of the unit. Section 26-680(b) defines 'protected activity' broadly: notifying the lessor of a violation, requesting corrective action, notifying regulators or the public, or testifying in a court or administrative proceeding about a violation.

Subsection (c) lists retaliatory acts that are prohibited when motivated by that protected activity, including unlawful lease termination, cutting services, raising rent or fees, threatening or filing an eviction suit, or refusing to renew a lease. Subsection (d) creates a rebuttable presumption of retaliation whenever a lessor takes one of those actions within six months of the tenant's protected activity and there is probable cause, a citation, notice of violation, photographs, or similar evidence, that an actual violation occurred. Under § 26-681, a lessor can rebut that presumption with proof of an escalation clause, a documented building-wide pattern of increases or service changes independent of the complaint, participation in a government rent-assistance program, or the tenant's own failure to give reasonable notice of the needed repair, or, for an eviction, by showing the tenant was delinquent on rent, damaged property, threatened safety, or otherwise breached the lease. Tenants displaced by enforcement action can also apply to the city's renter anti-displacement fund under § 26-682 for relocation assistance.