Bennett v. Hughes, 2003-1727 (La. App. 4 Cir. 5/26/04), 876 So. 2d 862
Legal information, not legal advice. Verify against the cited opinion.
- Citation: Bennett v. Hughes, 2003-1727 (La. App. 4 Cir. 5/26/04), 876 So. 2d 862.
- Court / Year: Louisiana Court of Appeal, Fourth Circuit, 2004.
- Topic tags: forfeiture | cancellation | eviction | possession | bond_for_deed
- Facts: A bond-for-deed seller, after the buyer’s default, brought a summary rule for possession (eviction) in city court to recover the property. The buyer contended that because a bond for deed concerns ownership of immovable property, the dispute was a title dispute outside the city court’s limited jurisdiction and could not be resolved by a possessory eviction rule.
- Holding: A rule to evict may be used to recover possession from a defaulting bond-for-deed buyer. Where title is not delivered until the price is fully paid and the contract has not expired, the controversy is one for occupancy, which an eviction action properly addresses; the city court’s jurisdiction may be fixed by the fair rental value of the premises. The seller must nevertheless have validly terminated the contract — i.e., complied with the La. R.S. 9:2945 cancellation procedure (45-day certified-mail notice and registry) — before ejecting the buyer.
- Reasoning: The court distinguished the buyer’s ownership claim from the possession remedy actually sought. Because the bond for deed reserves legal title in the seller until full payment, a properly cancelled contract leaves the defaulting buyer as an occupant without right, and summary possession lies. The case is the leading authority that a Louisiana bond-for-deed default ends in an eviction-style recovery of possession — not in a mortgage-style foreclosure sale.
- Practical impact for CFD operators/buyers: Louisiana sellers recover the property by statutory cancellation + eviction, not by judicial foreclosure. But eviction is defeasible: if the seller skipped the 45-day notice or the conveyance-record cancellation under R.S. 9:2945, the buyer can defeat the eviction. Compliance with the cancellation statute is the gateway to possession.
- Good-law status: Good law; routinely cited (with Tabor v. Wolinski and Thomas v. King) for the cancellation-then-eviction sequence.
- Source (retrieved): https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/la-court-of-appeal/1114375.html · Verified: 2026-06-08
Jurisdictions that follow / cite: louisiana
Disclaimer. Legal information, not legal advice. Confirm the opinion is still good law before relying on it.