Does Louisiana Have Squatters Rights? Eviction and Trespass

Louisiana does recognize squatters rights, but only through a slow and demanding process called acquisitive prescription: a person who occupies your land can eventually become its legal owner after either 10 or 30 years, depending on whether they had a deed and honest belief in their ownership. Short of that, an unauthorized occupant has no right to be there, and Louisiana gives property owners two ways to remove them — a criminal trespass charge under a 2024 update to state law, or a civil eviction that starts with a five-day notice to vacate.

How Long Before a Squatter Can Claim Ownership

Louisiana sets two timelines for gaining ownership by possession, and which one applies depends on the occupant’s paperwork and state of mind when they moved in.

Ten Years With Good Faith and Just Title

The shorter path takes a decade and comes with strict conditions. Under Louisiana Civil Code Article 3473, an occupant can acquire ownership after 10 years of possession if they meet four requirements: possession for the full 10 years, good faith, just title, and property that is capable of being acquired by prescription.¹ Article 3475 confirms all four must exist.²

Good faith means the possessor genuinely and reasonably believed they were the rightful owner when they took possession. Someone who buys a parcel at a tax sale and moves in without knowing about a title defect fits the description. Just title refers to a legal document, such as a deed or act of sale, that would have transferred ownership if the person signing it had actually held the authority to do so. A deed signed by someone who turns out not to be the true owner can still qualify as just title, provided the buyer had no reason to know about the problem.

Thirty Years Without Either

When the occupant has no deed, or knew they weren’t the true owner, the timeline stretches to 30 years. Louisiana Civil Code Article 3486 allows ownership to be acquired after three decades of possession without any requirement of good faith or just title.³ Even a knowing trespasser on vacant land can eventually become the legal owner if the title holder never acts.

The 30-year rule functions as a finality mechanism. After that much time, the law treats the actual owner as having effectively abandoned the property. The possession standards described below still apply; the only difference is that the occupant does not need a deed or an honest belief that the land is theirs.

What Counts as Possession

Regardless of which timeline applies, an occupant has to prove they possessed the property in a legally meaningful way. Louisiana Civil Code Article 3424 sets the baseline: the person must intend to possess as owner and must take corporeal possession of the property.⁴ Wanting the land is not enough. There has to be physical use that looks like ownership.

Corporeal possession means tangible, physical acts of control: building or maintaining structures, installing fences, farming, clearing vegetation, or regularly using the property in a visible way.⁵ The possession also has to meet three qualitative standards:

Continuous and uninterrupted for the entire prescriptive period, without significant gaps.
Peaceable, meaning not obtained or maintained through force or threats.
Public and unequivocal, so that neighbors, passersby, and the true owner can observe someone treating the property as their own.

Sporadic use will not satisfy these standards. Mowing a lot once a year or occasionally storing items there does not read, from the outside, as ownership.

One common misconception is worth flagging: paying property taxes on someone else’s land does not, by itself, build a prescription claim. Louisiana requires actual, hands-on possession, not just a paper trail of tax receipts.

Land That Cannot Be Claimed at All

Some property is simply off-limits to prescription. Louisiana law specifically provides that acquisitive prescription does not run against levee districts or levee and drainage districts, so no length of occupation can produce ownership of land held by those entities.⁶ Other publicly owned property — roads, waterways, and land dedicated to public use — is generally treated as exempt as well.

Removing a Squatter Through Criminal Trespass

Unauthorized occupancy in Louisiana is not only a civil problem. Louisiana Revised Statutes 14:63 defines criminal trespass as entering or remaining on property owned by another without express, legal, or implied authorization.⁷ The statute was amended in 2024 to speak directly to squatters, defining a squatter as any person who remains on property to which they lack a right of possession, ownership, occupancy, or a lease interest.

Under the updated law, a squatter is “remaining” on the property, and therefore committing criminal trespass, once they have been directed to leave by the lawful possessor. That direction can be given verbally, in writing, or through conspicuous posted signage stating the property is private and trespassing is prohibited. Penalties escalate with each offense:⁷

First offense: a fine of $100 to $500, up to 30 days in jail, or both.
Second offense: a fine of $300 to $750, up to 90 days in jail, or both.
Third and subsequent offenses: a fine of $500 to $1,000, 60 days to six months in jail, or both, plus forfeiture of any property seized in connection with the violation.

The criminal route can be faster than a civil eviction when the occupant clearly has no lease, no deed, and no colorable claim. If the occupant can produce documentation suggesting some right to be there, even a questionable one, the dispute will usually have to be sorted out in civil court instead.

Evicting an Unauthorized Occupant

Louisiana’s Code of Civil Procedure lays out a specific eviction procedure for occupants who won’t leave. The rules differ slightly for former tenants versus people who were never lessees, but the timeline is short in both cases.

The Five-Day Notice to Vacate

For occupants who are not tenants, which covers most squatters, the owner must first deliver a written notice to vacate under Article 4702. The notice gives the occupant five days from delivery to leave.⁸ Former tenants whose lease has ended get the same five-day notice under Article 4701.⁹

Filing a Rule to Show Cause

If the occupant is still there after five days, the owner files a rule to show cause in the local court. Under Article 4731, the court summons the occupant to appear and explain why they should not be ordered to give up the property.¹⁰ The petition has to state the grounds for eviction. Filing fees vary by parish, generally in the range of about $200 to $300 depending on the court and the number of parties involved.

If the court sides with the owner, it issues a judgment ordering the occupant to leave. If they refuse, the court can issue a warrant directing the sheriff or constable to remove the person and their belongings. Article 4731 also lets the owner retake possession without further court proceedings if the owner reasonably believes the occupant has abandoned the premises after receiving the notice to vacate, for instance by removing their belongings or stopping all activity on the property.¹⁰

Stopping the Prescriptive Clock

If you find someone on your land, the clock is already running. The most effective way to stop it is to file a lawsuit. Prescription is interrupted when the owner files an action against the possessor in a court with proper jurisdiction and venue.¹¹ Once interrupted, the prescriptive period resets, and the occupant loses credit for any time already accumulated.

A few practical habits keep a prescription claim from ever getting off the ground:

Inspect vacant land at least a few times a year. Regular visits make it much harder for anyone to establish continuous, uninterrupted possession without your knowledge.
Post conspicuous “No Trespassing” signs. Under the 2024 amendment to R.S. 14:63, that signage supports a criminal trespass charge against a squatter.
Keep records of your maintenance, tax payments, and visits, so you can show you have not abandoned the property.
Put any permission to use your land in writing, and make clear it is temporary and revocable. Someone using land with the owner’s permission is not possessing “as owner” and cannot build a prescription claim.

If the Occupant Built Something on Your Land

An evicted occupant who built structures, planted crops, or made other permanent improvements while possessing the property in good faith cannot simply be told to tear everything down. Louisiana law requires the owner to keep the improvements and compensate the good-faith possessor. The owner picks how to pay: the cost of materials and labor, the current value of the improvements, or the increase in the property’s value.¹² The rule does not protect a bad-faith possessor. Someone who knew they had no right to the property when they built may not be entitled to the same reimbursement.

1
Justia Law. Louisiana Civil Code Article 3473 – Prescription of Ten Years
2
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Civil Code Article 3475 – Requisites
3
Justia Law. Louisiana Civil Code Article 3486 – Immovables; Prescription of Thirty Years
4
Justia Law. Louisiana Civil Code Article 3424 – Acquisition of Possession
5
Justia Law. Louisiana Civil Code Article 3425 – Corporeal Possession
6
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:317 – Acquisitive Prescription Shall Not Run Against Levee Districts
7
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes 14:63 – Criminal Trespass; Squatters
8
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 4702 – Notice to Occupant Other Than Tenant to Vacate
9
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 4701 – Termination of Lease; Notice to Vacate
10
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 4731 – Rule to Show Cause
11
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Civil Code – Interruption and Suspension of Prescription
12
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Civil Code – Constructions by Possessor in Good Faith