Lafourche Parish is a long, narrow south Louisiana coastal parish of approximately 98,000 people that stretches from the sugarcane fields and bayou communities of the north all the way south to the Gulf of Mexico along Bayou Lafourche — one of the most historically significant waterways in Louisiana, once the main channel of the Mississippi River. Thibodaux, the parish seat with a population of about 14,000, sits at the northern end of the parish and functions as its commercial and educational hub, home to Nicholls State University. The parish economy is shaped by two dominant industries: offshore oil and gas production, for which Lafourche Parish serves as a critical heliport and marine access corridor, and sugarcane agriculture, which has defined the bayou parishes since the antebellum period. Communities like Lockport, Golden Meadow, Galliano, and Cut Off stretch down Bayou Lafourche toward the Gulf, becoming increasingly focused on oil and gas marine services and commercial fishing as one moves south.
The rental market in Lafourche Parish divides meaningfully between the northern section around Thibodaux and the southern bayou communities. Thibodaux has a more diverse rental market anchored by Nicholls State University, healthcare, and public employment. The southern communities have a rental market more tightly correlated with offshore oil and gas activity. The 17th Judicial District Court in Thibodaux handles all parish evictions. Louisiana Civil Code governs all leases with no local rent control or just-cause eviction requirements.
Thibodaux, Lockport, Golden Meadow, Galliano, Cut Off, Larose
Court
17th Judicial District Court
Typical Rent Range
~$750–$1,200/mo
Rent Control
None
Just-Cause Eviction
Not required
⚡ Eviction At-a-Glance
Nonpayment Notice
5-Day Notice to Vacate
Lease Violation
5-Day Notice to Vacate
Month-to-Month Term.
10-Day Written Notice
Cure Period
None required by law
Eviction Filing
Rule to Show Cause
Eviction Timeline
2–5 weeks total
Security Deposit Cap
2 months rent
Security Deposit Return
30 days after termination
Statute
La. CC Art. 2686–2729; CCP Art. 4701
Lafourche Parish Ordinances & Local Rules
Topic
Rule / Notes
Rental Licensing
No parish-level rental license required. Louisiana has no statewide landlord licensing statute. Verify with the City of Thibodaux for any local code enforcement requirements within city limits. Unincorporated bayou communities are not subject to municipal codes.
Rent Control
None. Louisiana has no statewide rent control and Lafourche Parish has no local rent control ordinance. Lessors may raise rents freely at renewal with proper notice.
Security Deposit
Capped at 2 months’ rent (R.S. 9:3251). Must be returned with itemized deductions within 30 days of lease termination or surrender, whichever is later (R.S. 9:3252). Permissible deductions: unpaid rent, damage beyond normal wear and tear, unpaid utilities owed by lessee.
Eviction Court — 17th Judicial District
All Lafourche Parish eviction proceedings are filed in the 17th Judicial District Court, Lafourche Parish Courthouse, 303 W. Third Street, Thibodaux, LA 70301. Phone: (985) 447-4841. Hours: Monday–Friday 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Note: Thibodaux City Court may also have jurisdiction for properties within Thibodaux city limits for leases within its monetary jurisdiction — confirm current filing venue with the clerk. Justice of the Peace courts may have jurisdiction for leases not exceeding $1,000/month in unincorporated areas.
Notice to Vacate
Written 5-day notice to vacate required before filing for eviction (CCP Art. 4701–4703). Serve personally, by domiciliary service, or by door-posting plus first class mail. Retain all service documentation.
Month-to-Month Termination
10-day written notice required to terminate a month-to-month lease (CC Art. 2687, 2728). Notice must be given at least 10 days before the end of the monthly rental period.
Tacit Reconduction
Accepting rent after a fixed-term lease expires automatically creates a new month-to-month tenancy (CC Art. 2686). Give written notice before lease expiration if renewal is not intended.
No Statutory Cure Period
Louisiana provides no statutory cure period for lease violations. After the 5-day notice expires, the lessor may file a Rule to Show Cause immediately.
Offshore Oil & Gas Rotation Workers
Lafourche Parish is a major access corridor for Gulf of Mexico offshore workers departing from South Lafourche Airport (heliport) and marine bases in Larose, Galliano, and Golden Meadow. Offshore workers on rotation schedules (14/14, 21/21, 28/28) earn highly variable pay stubs depending on the rotation period, overtime, and hitch frequency. Use three months of pay stubs averaged. Verify current active employment status directly — offshore employment contracts change with commodity cycles and rig count.
Marine & Oilfield Services
Marine fabrication, vessel crew-boat operations, supply chain, and oilfield services companies operating from south Lafourche employ W-2 workers whose income is more regular than offshore rotation workers but still subject to oil industry cycle swings. Verify current employment status and use prior-year tax returns for commodity-cycle income context.
Sugarcane Agriculture
Sugarcane farming is the dominant agricultural industry in northern Lafourche Parish. Harvest (grinding) season runs October through December with peak income; off-season months are lower income. Request prior-year tax returns or 12-month bank statements for sugar industry workers.
Nicholls State University
Nicholls State University (enrollment ~5,500) in Thibodaux generates student rental demand in neighborhoods near campus. Student applicants without independent income require a creditworthy co-signer who independently meets income and credit thresholds. Apply co-signer policies consistently across all student applicants per Fair Housing requirements.
Flood & Hurricane Risk
Southern Lafourche Parish is among the most vulnerable areas in Louisiana to hurricane storm surge and coastal flooding. Verify FEMA flood zone status for each property. Include flood zone disclosure, mandatory renter’s insurance, evacuation compliance provisions, and storm damage reporting in all leases. Carry separate flood insurance on the structure. Louisiana CC Art. 2696 governs total destruction of leased premises.
Source of Income / HCV
No state or local source of income protections. Landlords are not required to accept Housing Choice Vouchers. Contact the Lafourche Parish Housing Authority for current HCV payment standards.
Self-Help Eviction
Prohibited. Lessors may not take possession by any means other than lawful judicial process (CCP Art. 4736). Lockouts, utility shutoffs, or removal of tenant belongings without a court order expose the lessor to liability.
Tenant Can Cure?No - Louisiana notices are unconditional. No right to cure by paying rent. However, tenant can negotiate with landlord. Notice can be waived entirely in lease.
Days to Hearing2-7 days
Days to Writ1-3 days
Total Estimated Timeline14-30 days
Total Estimated Cost$100-$400
⚠️ Watch Out
VERY landlord-friendly state. 5-day notice is UNCONDITIONAL - no cure right, tenant must vacate. Notice can be WAIVED in lease - if waived, landlord can file immediately without any notice. No grace period. No statewide late fee cap. No security deposit cap. Tenant gets only 24 hours to appeal after judgment. Lease term notice: 10-day for month-to-month, 30-day for year lease. Do not count weekends/holidays in 5-day period.
Serve the required notice based on the eviction reason (nonpayment or lease violation).
Wait for the notice period to expire. If tenant cures the issue (where allowed), the process stops.
File an eviction case with the Justice of the Peace Court / City Court / District Court. Pay the filing fee (~$50-150).
Tenant is served with a summons and has the opportunity to respond.
Attend the court hearing and present your case.
If you prevail, obtain a writ of possession from the court.
Law enforcement executes the writ and removes the tenant if necessary.
⚠️ Disclaimer: This page provides general information about Louisiana eviction laws and does not constitute legal advice.
Eviction procedures can vary by county and may change over time. Local jurisdictions may have additional requirements or tenant protections.
For specific legal guidance, consult a qualified Louisiana attorney or local legal aid organization.
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⚠️ Disclaimer: These calculations are estimates based on state statutes and typical court timelines. Actual results vary by county, court backlog, and case specifics. Always verify current requirements with your local courthouse. This is not legal advice.
Underground Landlord
🏘️ Communities & Screening Tips
Key communities: Thibodaux, Lockport, Larose, Cut Off, Galliano, Golden Meadow.
North vs. South: Thibodaux — diversified market (Nicholls State, healthcare, sugar, public sector). South Lafourche — offshore rotation workers (3-month averaging), marine services W-2 employees (pay stubs + commodity cycle context). Sugarcane workers need full-year documentation. Southern areas require flood disclosures in every lease.
Background checks, eviction history, credit reports — get the full picture before handing over the keys.
Lafourche Parish Louisiana Landlord-Tenant Law: A Guide for Rental Property Owners in Thibodaux, Golden Meadow, and Bayou Lafourche
Lafourche Parish is one of Louisiana’s most geographically distinctive parishes — a long, narrow strip of land that follows Bayou Lafourche from the sugarcane fields of the north all the way south to the Gulf of Mexico, a distance of more than 60 miles. Bayou Lafourche was once the main channel of the Mississippi River, and the communities that line its banks — Thibodaux, Raceland, Lockport, Larose, Cut Off, Galliano, Golden Meadow — developed along a linear geography shaped entirely by this waterway’s course. The bayou communities of south Lafourche are some of the most culturally distinctive in Louisiana, with deep roots in the French Cajun and Houma Indigenous traditions that have shaped south Louisiana’s coastal way of life for centuries. They are also directly tied to the offshore oil and gas industry in a way that is more physical and immediate than any inland parish: the helicopters and crew boats that carry workers to Gulf of Mexico platforms depart from south Lafourche regularly, and the communities along the lower bayou have grown up around the offshore industry’s shore-based infrastructure.
A Parish in Two Parts: Thibodaux and South Lafourche
Landlords in Lafourche Parish operate in two meaningfully different rental sub-markets. Thibodaux at the northern end is anchored by Nicholls State University, Thibodaux Regional Health System, parish government, and the sugarcane processing industry — a more diverse employment base that provides some insulation from oil industry cycles. The southern communities from Larose to Golden Meadow are far more dependent on offshore oil and gas activity; when the rig count rises and operators push into the Gulf, demand for rental housing in these communities rises with it. When oil prices fall and offshore budgets contract, vacancy can spike quickly as rotation workers follow the work elsewhere.
Offshore rotation workers — the roughnecks, drillers, marine specialists, and technical crew who commute by helicopter or boat to offshore platforms — earn excellent wages per hitch but have income that varies by the number of hitches worked, overtime, and whether their platform or rig is actively drilling or producing. Three-month pay stub averaging is the standard approach: take the gross income from the three most recent available stubs, divide by three, and use that as monthly income. Verify current employment status directly with the employer, as layoffs in the offshore industry happen quickly and may not be reflected in stubs printed before the layoff date. Marine and oilfield services company W-2 employees on shore-based operations are more regular in their income but similarly exposed to commodity cycle swings; request prior-year tax returns alongside recent stubs for the full income picture.
Coastal Flood Risk and Lease Provisions
Southern Lafourche Parish is among the most flood- and hurricane-vulnerable areas in Louisiana. Land subsidence combined with sea level rise has reduced the elevation of many south Lafourche communities significantly over the past century, and storm surge from Gulf hurricanes has historically penetrated deep into the bayou communities. Every lease for property in southern Lafourche Parish should include flood zone disclosure with current FEMA zone status, mandatory renter’s insurance, explicit evacuation compliance requirements, and storm damage reporting obligations. Landlords must carry separate flood insurance — standard policies do not cover flood damage and never have.
Louisiana Law and the Eviction Process in Lafourche Parish
All Lafourche Parish evictions are filed in the 17th Judicial District Court, 303 W. Third Street, Thibodaux, LA 70301, phone (985) 447-4841. Begin with a written 5-day notice to vacate for nonpayment or lease violation, served per CCP Art. 4704. After expiration, file a Rule to Show Cause. The court schedules a hearing, serves the rule at least 2 days before, and the judge rules. If the lessor prevails, the lessee has 24 hours to vacate before the Lafourche Parish Sheriff enforces a writ of possession. Month-to-month leases require 10-day written notice to terminate. Security deposits are capped at 2 months’ rent and must be returned with itemized deductions within 30 days.
This guide is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Louisiana landlord-tenant law is governed by the Civil Code. Flood zone status should be independently verified. Consult a licensed Louisiana attorney or contact the 17th Judicial District Court at (985) 447-4841 for guidance. Last updated: March 2026.
⚠️ Legal Disclaimer: This page is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Louisiana landlord-tenant law is governed by the Civil Code. Flood zone status should be independently verified. Consult a licensed Louisiana attorney for guidance. Last updated: March 2026.
