One-Year Liberative Prescription – La. C.C. art. 3492
Louisiana civil law uses the term 'prescription' rather than 'statute of limitations.' Under La. C.C. art. 3492, delictual (tort-like) actions prescribe in ONE YEAR from the day injury or damage was sustained. Quasi-contractual claims for unpaid municipal fines are typically governed by the three-year prescription of La. C.C. art. 3494(1). However, where a municipality has failed to take judicial action (formal suit) within the prescriptive period, the underlying obligation is extinguished. Critically, mailing reminder notices does NOT interrupt prescription under Louisiana law — only formal judicial demand or a written acknowledgment by the debtor does (La. C.C. art. 3462–3464). Many old NOLA tickets are quietly time-barred but still appear in collections.
Legal basis
La. C.C. art. 3492 (one-year delictual prescription); La. C.C. art. 3494 (three-year prescription for accounts/fines); La. C.C. art. 3462–3464 (interruption of prescription)
Sample appeal wording
Central Adjudication Bureau / [Issuing Parish] City Court [ADDRESS] Re: Citation No. [CITATION_NUMBER] Issued: [ORIGINAL_DATE] (more than [3 years] ago) PEREMPTORY EXCEPTION OF PRESCRIPTION (La. C.C.P. art. 927) I plead the peremptory exception of prescription under La. C.C.P. art. 927(A)(1) and request that the above citation be DECLARED PRESCRIBED and removed from all collection rolls. Facts: 1. Citation [CITATION_NUMBER] was issued on [ORIGINAL_DATE]. 2. More than three years have elapsed since the citation date. 3. To my knowledge, no formal judicial demand has been filed against me. A search of [PARISH] civil court records on [DATE] shows no suit. 4. I have not made any written acknowledgment of the debt nor any partial payment that would interrupt prescription under La. C.C. art. 3464. Law: Under La. C.C. art. 3494(1), an action 'for the recovery of compensation for services rendered, including payment of salaries, wages, commissions, tuition fees, professional fees, fees and emoluments of public officials, freight, passage, money, lodging, and board' prescribes in three years. Municipal parking fines, as quasi-contractual obligations to the public fisc, are governed by this provision. Under La. C.C. art. 3462, interruption requires either filing of suit or written acknowledgment — neither has occurred here. Mere collection notices do not interrupt prescription (Lima v. Schmidt, 595 So.2d 624 (La. 1992)). The obligation is extinguished. I request: (a) Dismissal of citation [CITATION_NUMBER]; (b) Removal from any collections agency/credit reporting; (c) Reinstatement of vehicle registration / driver licence if affected. Respectfully, [NAME] | [ADDRESS] | [DATE]
Replace [PARKING DATE], [NtK DATE] etc. with your own dates before sending.
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- La. C.C. art. 3492, 3494, 3462–3464
- La. C.C.P. art. 927 (Peremptory Exceptions)
- Lima v. Schmidt, 595 So.2d 624 (La. 1992)