Lafayette: the city says it in its own executive summary

Ordinance No. CO-094-2023 was adopted by the Lafayette City Council on October 3, 2023 by a 4–1 vote and codified as Chapter 73 of the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government Code. The Consolidated Government's own executive summary of the proposed ordinances, under “Common Elements to Both,” states:

“Regulations do not supersede or affect private covenants/neighborhood restrictions (See Sec. 73-2).”

“Regulations apply to existing and new STRs (See Sec. 73-2).”

“No vested right in STR license and the license is not transferrable (See Sec. 73-4 & 73-5)”

From the same summary: the licence fee is $100.00 per year, a licence is valid for one calendar year, revocation bars reissuance for two years, appeal lies to the Fifteenth Judicial District Court, and the ban covers the RS, PI-L and PI-H districts.

The third bullet is worth borrowing for an entirely different purpose. “No vested right” in a licence is a useful analogy when a board explains to an owner that an architectural approval is not a vested right either.

We quote the executive summary because we could not open Chapter 73 as codified; treat the section numbers as the summary's own references rather than as verified code text.²

East Baton Rouge: the Parish Attorney answered the question directly

The City-Parish Planning Commission's August 2022 short-term rental study memorandum records the Parish Attorney's conclusions in a question-and-answer format:

“• Does the City's zoning ordinance currently prohibit homeowners (in single-family residential zones) from entering into short-term rental agreements?
▷ The current zoning ordinance doesn't address short-term rentals in single-family residentially zoned properties therefore the use is allowed.
• Could private restrictive covenants prohibit homeowners from engaging in short term rentals?
▷ If private restrictive covenants state that 'this property shall be used solely for detached, single-family dwelling purposes' or 'this property shall not be used for a short-term rental' then short-term rentals would not be allowed in the subdivisions.”

Two layers, answered separately by the parish's own lawyer: zoning permits it, covenants can forbid it. That is the cleanest statement of the Louisiana position we found in any local record.³

New Orleans and Jefferson, for completeness

New Orleans goes further than a disclaimer: it makes the owner certify the point. Both the residential and commercial short-term rental owner-permit applications require the owner to attest that the dwelling unit “is not subject to any contractual restrictions precluding the Dwelling Unit from being used for Short-Term Rentals, including but not limited to: homeowner association agreements, condominium bylaws, restrictive covenants, or building restrictions.” The same form warns that a permit issued “on the basis of incorrect, inaccurate, or any false statement or misrepresentation” may be suspended or revoked. Note the certification appears on the owner permit forms and not on the operator form.

Jefferson Parish prohibits short-term rentals in residential and industrial zoning districts and allows them in commercial and mixed-use districts, with a wind-down period. We could not open the parish code, so the ordinance number and date are unverified and we do not state them.

How to use this without overstepping

The organising idea is that in Louisiana the local ordinance and the recorded covenant are two independent layers, and three of these five governments say so in their own documents. Practically:

• Quote the local government's own words. An owner who hears “the parish ordinance says it does not alter your restrictions” is hearing something different from “the board says your permit is irrelevant.”
• Enforce the covenant, and only the covenant. A parish that bans short-term rentals outright does not thereby give the association a fine. The association's fining power comes from R.S. 9:1141.20(A)(2)(l) and the declaration, exercised without being “arbitrary or capricious” under subsection (F).
• Do not treat the two tracks as alternatives. A complaint to a permit office and a covenant action can both proceed; neither substitutes for the other.
• Get certified copies of the recorded documents. They are what contradicts a New Orleans certification, and R.S. 9:1141.36 makes them association records an owner may inspect.

What is above all of this

State law that constrains the local governments, not the associations. The Fifth Circuit confirmed the source in October 2025: “In Louisiana, municipalities may regulate and restrict 'the location and use of the buildings, structures, and land for trade, industry, residence, or other purposes.' La. Revised Stat. § 33:4721.”

And two 2025 bills that would have added a statewide layer both died — SB 225, which would have given a homeowners, condominium or neighbourhood association standing to sue a non-compliant short-term rental within 300 feet, and HB 469, which would have enumerated what parishes and municipalities may regulate and would have defined a short-term rental as a stay “of less than twenty-nine days.”

What to watch next

St. Tammany's code is codified through Ordinance No. 26-5906, enacted January 8, 2026 — described as a housekeeping text amendment, whose short-term rental content we could not verify. And no 2025 or 2026 amendment to the St. Tammany, Lafayette, Jefferson or East Baton Rouge regimes surfaced, which is not proof that none exists.