La. Civ. Code § Art. 2670
Contract to lease
Operative Text
Art. 2670. Contract to lease A contract to enter into a lease at a future time is enforceable by either party if there was agreement as to the thing to be leased and the rent, unless the parties understood that the contract would not be binding until reduced to writing or until its other terms were agreed upon.
Louisiana Civil Code art. § Art. 2670 establishes that a preliminary agreement to lease property in the future can be legally binding on both the prospective landlord and prospective tenant, provided the parties agreed on the specific property and the rent amount. The agreement is not enforceable, however, if the parties mutually understood that it would only become binding once put in writing or once additional terms were finalized. This rule means that even informal or oral pre-lease agreements may carry legal weight when those two core elements—property and rent—are settled.
Plain English — not legal advice.
Under La. Civ. Code art. § Art. 2670, property owners and managers should be aware that a preliminary commitment to lease a unit can become legally binding before a formal lease document is signed, as long as the property and rent have been agreed upon. Operators who wish to avoid being bound by early-stage negotiations generally make clear—ideally in writing—that no agreement is final until a written lease is executed or all terms are settled. Documenting the intended non-binding nature of preliminary discussions is a practice commonly associated with compliant lease administration under this provision.
General guidance for property managers — not legal advice for your specific situation. Consult an attorney for advice on your case.
La. Civ. Code art. § Art. 2670 means that a prospective tenant who has reached an agreement with a landlord on a specific unit and a specific rent may have enforceable rights even before a formal lease is signed. If a landlord later refuses to honor such a preliminary agreement, a tenant may have grounds to seek enforcement through Louisiana courts, depending on the circumstances of how the agreement was formed. Tenant-rights organizations and legal aid services can help individuals understand whether a particular pre-lease exchange might qualify as an enforceable contract under this article.
General guidance for tenants — not legal advice for your specific situation. Consult a tenant-rights organization or attorney for advice on your case.
Generated October 17, 2026 — auto-generated, not yet human-reviewed. See /transparency for methodology.
Effective Timeline
References Out
No outbound references recorded yet for this provision.
References In
Rules and statutes that cite this regulation