A bill letting Louisiana condo associations reach homestead equity passed 96-0 and 38-0. The Governor vetoed it
A bill letting Louisiana condo associations reach homestead equity passed 96-0 and 38-0. The Governor vetoed it
2026-09-10 · Louisiana · Legislation · Did not pass
What happened, and it did not. Louisiana's $35,000 homestead exemption still shields a unit owner's equity against a condominium association's assessment judgment. The Legislature voted unanimously to change that in 2025, and the change did not survive.
House Bill 343, by Representative Paula Davis, would have enacted R.S. 20:1(C)(9). It passed the House 96–0 on May 19, 2025 and the Senate 38–0 on June 8, 2025, after a favourable committee report of 11–0. It was enrolled June 9, sent to the Governor, and vetoed. The bill record's action line reads June 20, 2025; the veto letter itself is dated June 23, 2025. Both appear on the Legislature's site and we report both rather than reconciling them.1
The text that would have become law
“Section 1. R.S. 20:1(C)(9) is hereby enacted to read as follows: … C. This exemption shall not apply to any of the following debts: … (9) For all unpaid or accelerated assessments by an association, subject to the Louisiana Condominium Act, that are collected by the association on a regular basis for routine expenditures used for the protection, improvement, and maintenance of the association's common elements, as defined by R.S. 9:1121.103, and associated property.”
It would have taken effect August 1, 2025. Note the scope: condominium associations under the Condominium Act, not planned communities, and routine common-element expenditure rather than fines.2
The Governor's stated reasons
“For decades, exemptions to the homestead protection have been sparse, and no exception has ever existed for unpaid dues for condominium associations (COA) or the similarly structured homeowners' associations (HOA).”
“Weakening the homestead exemption in favor of allowing COAs to evict unit owners from their primary residence is bad policy for Louisiana.”
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Related Louisiana HOA Topics
- Veto message, Gov. Jeff Landry to Speaker DeVillier and Clerk Fontenot, June 23, 2025 (HB 343) ↩
- Résumé Digest, HB 343 (2025 Regular Session), reprinting the veto message in full ↩
- Senate Resolution 18 (2026 Regular Session) — enrolled text, Law Institute study of the homestead-exemption question ↩
- Instruments Vetoed by the Governor for the 2025 Regular Session — Louisiana Legislature ↩
- HB 343 (2025 Regular Session) — bill record, full action history and vote tallies ↩
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