How to Fire Your Property Manager in Louisiana

A step-by-step guide for Louisiana landlords switching property managers, covering trust accounts, LREC rules, tenant deposits and what to collect before you cut ties.

Last updated September 23, 2026

Missed repairs, slow replies, an owner statement that never adds up. Most landlords wait too long to make the call.

Louisiana gives you less of a head start than some states. There is no statute that puts a hard deadline on your old manager to hand back your records. What you do have is a written management agreement the Real Estate Commission requires, trust account rules with teeth, and a five-year records rule that means the paperwork exists whether they feel like sending it or not.

Here is how to make the switch without losing a deposit, a tenant or a month of rent.

Step 1. Read your management agreement

Your contract decides how you exit, and in Louisiana that contract has to exist in writing. A licensee cannot manage property without written authorization from the owner, and the authorization has to spell out the manager's duties, their authority and powers, the period of the agreement, and the fees you pay (LAC 46:LXVII.2603).

Pull yours out and look for four things.

Notice period. Thirty days' written notice is common.
Termination fee. Some agreements charge one, some do not.
Leasing fee clawbacks. Check what you owe for tenants the manager placed.
Who "owns" the tenant relationship. Some agreements try to bill you for keeping a tenant they found.

If the manager broke the agreement, by ignoring repairs or mishandling money, you may be able to end it sooner. That is a question for a Louisiana attorney.

Step 2. Send written notice

Put it in writing, by email and by any method the agreement names. State the end date, ask for a full handover by that date, and list what you expect back (see Step 4).

Keep the tone flat and factual. You want your records and your money, not an argument.

Step 3. Know the trust account rules

This is your leverage. A resident Louisiana broker who manages property has to keep a rental trust checking account at a Louisiana financial institution, with every dollar of rent collected on behalf of owners going into it. Security and damage deposits go into a separate account of their own (LAC 46:LXVII.2701). The account has to carry the trust account title on its checks and statements, and the broker can leave only a small amount of personal money in it to cover bank charges (LAC 46:LXVII.2713).

Withdrawals are limited to a short list of reasons, mutual written consent among them (LAC 46:LXVII.2715 and 46:LXVII.2605).

The license law backs that up. Failure to account for money coming into a licensee's possession that belongs to others, failure to disburse it properly, and commingling a principal's money with the licensee's own are each grounds for censure, suspension or revocation of a license (La. R.S. 37:1455(4), (5) and (6)).

Louisiana sets no statutory deadline for returning an owner's records and funds after a management agreement ends. Your agreement's own handover terms and the accounting duties above are what you enforce. If the money does not come, file a complaint with the Louisiana Real Estate Commission.

Step 4. Collect everything

The Commission requires a broker to keep property management records readily available and properly indexed for five years, including bank statements, management agreements, lease agreements, owner ledgers, checks, invoices and receipts (LAC 46:LXVII.2607). Ask for all of this before the end date.

Security deposits for every tenant, with the amount held for each
The trust account ledger showing rents collected, fees taken and what is still owed to you
Signed leases, renewals and addenda
Any move-in condition reports tenants signed
Tenant contact details, forwarding addresses and payment history
Open maintenance requests plus vendor contacts, invoices and warranties
Keys, fobs, gate remotes and codes
Year-to-date income and expense reports for your taxes

Step 5. Move the security deposits

Every tenant deposit the manager holds is yours to take back, and the deposit clock does not reset when management changes hands. Under Louisiana law the deposit goes back to the lessee within one month after the lease terminates, with an itemized statement for anything you keep, on the deadline set by Act 63 of the 2026 Regular Session (La. R.S. 9:3251(A)). Get it wrong and you are exposed to $300 or twice the amount wrongly retained, whichever is greater (La. R.S. 9:3252(A)).

Louisiana does not require a self-managing owner to hold deposits in a special account. The trust account rules bind licensed brokers, not owners managing their own property. Open a separate account anyway. One commingled deposit is all it takes to turn a small dispute into a bad afternoon in court.

Reconcile the number the manager reports against every lease before you accept the transfer.

Step 6. Tell your tenants

Tenants care about three things. Where to pay rent, who to call for repairs, and whether their deposit is safe. Send one clear message covering all three, dated, with the day the change takes effect. Ask each tenant to confirm the address you have on file for them, which is the address your deposit statement has to reach later.

Step 7. Take over the day-to-day

Line up your vendors, set up rent collection, and get a maintenance line that picks up at 2am. This is where most landlords end up back where they started, holding a phone that never stops ringing.

Who can manage property for pay in Louisiana

Property management means marketing, leasing or overall management of real property for others for a fee, and a property manager is someone who for compensation manages real estate for another, collects the rents, supervises maintenance and accounts for the money (La. R.S. 37:1431). Doing that for someone else without a license is unlawful, and a single act counts (La. R.S. 37:1436).

The owner exemption is the part that matters to you. The license law does not apply to an individual or entity that sells, exchanges, leases or manages its own property, with a carve-out for timeshare businesses (La. R.S. 37:1438). Self-manage your own rentals and you need no license.

Hiring a new manager instead? Check the license on the Louisiana Real Estate Commission's site first, and confirm the written management authorization covers everything article 2603 requires.

Your switching checklist

Read the agreement for notice, fees and clawbacks
Send written notice with a firm end date
Demand a trust account accounting for rents and deposits
Collect ledgers, leases, tenant records, vendor files and keys
Move deposits into an account of their own and reconcile against every lease
Tell tenants where to pay and who to call
File with the LREC if money or records do not arrive

Switch to Taz

Taz is an AI property manager built for landlords who have been let down before. It answers tenants day and night, routes repairs to vendors, sends rent reminders and keeps every record in one place, for a flat monthly price per door instead of a cut of your rent. See how Taz works.

Where this guide says a state has no rule on something, that means we found no statute setting one, which is not the same as none existing. Local ordinances and court practice can add requirements. Confirm anything you plan to rely on.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Your management agreement and your specific facts matter. Talk to a Louisiana attorney before ending a contract. Last checked September 2026.