Ouachita Parish, LA Rental Property Rules: Repairs & Habitability (2026)

Section 3½-34, in Division 3 of the parish's Housing and Property Standards article, sets the floor a rental dwelling must clear: no person may occupy as owner-occupant, let, or sublet a dwelling unit designed for living, sleeping, cooking, or eating, and no vacant dwelling may be left standing, unless it complies with the chapter's requirements. Those requirements include a duty to keep the premises free of any 'nuisance' under § 3½-34(2)a, defined to include weeds, dead trees, trash, and garbage, and any condition the administrator finds dangerous to human life and health.

A companion duty in the same section bars unsheltered storage of junked vehicles, machinery, and similar 'personalty' on any lot in the unincorporated parish for more than twenty days. Enforcement runs through the parish administrator under § 3½-23, who may inspect premises on complaint or referral under § 3½-24. A written notice of violation under § 3½-26 must identify the sections violated, the maximum penalty, and appeal procedures, and gives the recipient twenty calendar days to correct the condition, extended to thirty days if the property is historic under § 3½-27.

Uncorrected violations go to the property standards board of appeals, which under § 3½-32 may fine a first violation up to twenty-five dollars per day and a repeat violation up to one hundred dollars per day, and under § 3½-33 may record a lien capped at fifty percent of the parish tax assessor's fair market valuation. This chapter reaches only the unincorporated parish; Monroe and West Monroe enforce their own housing codes inside city limits.