1100 BOURBON LLC v. JON MOELLER AND SHONTAE MOELLER (2026)

In this eviction case, Relator, 1100 Bourbon, LLC, seeks supervisory review of the trial court's March 4, 2026 judgment denying its Motion to Dismiss Appeal for failure to timely pay the suspensive appeal bond. Based upon our review, we find that the trial court is not divested of jurisdiction. For the following reasons, we grant the writ, reverse the trial court's ruling and remand the matter to the trial court.

On September 1, 2025, Relator executed a Residential Lease Agreement with the Respondents, Jon K. Moeller and Shontae M. Moeller, for property located at 1112 Bourbon St., Apt. A, New Orleans, LA 70116. The agreement specified that the property was to be used as a private residence only, pursuant to the Vieux Carré Residential District zoning ordinance (VCR-1), that prohibits the property to be used for commercial use.¹

Relator filed an Application for Rule for Possession of Premises in First City Court seeking to evict Respondents from the property due to lease violations. The trial court granted the Rule for Possession and ordered Respondents to vacate the property. Respondents filed a Motion for Suspensive Appeal, which the trial court granted, with the requirement that they pay a suspensive bond of $2,500.00 on the first day of each month, pending appeal. After Respondents did not timely pay the suspensive appeal bond by the 1st day of March 2026, Relator filed a Motion to Dismiss Appeal. In the March 4, 2026 judgment, the trial court denied the motion to dismiss the appeal stating that the court was divested of jurisdiction to dismiss an appeal as it did not retain jurisdiction over the eviction proceeding after it granted the motion for suspensive appeal on March 5, 2026.

The requirements for a suspensive appeal bond for an eviction proceeding are set forth in La. C.C.P. art. 4735, which provides: (1) the defendant has answered the rule under oath, (2) pleading an affirmative defense entitling him to retain possession of the premises, and the appeal has been applied for and the appeal bond filed within twenty-four hours after the rendition of the judgment of eviction. In the case sub judice, the trial court found that it was precluded from acting on Relator's motion as it was divested of jurisdiction pursuant to La. C.C.P. art. 2088.

La. C.C.P. art. 2088(B) provides, “[i]n the case of a suspensive appeal, when the appeal bond is not timely filed and the suspensive appeal is thereby not perfected, the trial court maintains jurisdiction to convert the suspensive appeal to a devolutive appeal, except in an eviction case.” When the “appellant's tardiness in furnishing security merely constitutes an irregularity or defect imputable to the appellant which may form a basis for the appellee to move for dismissal of the suspensive appeal under [La.] C.C.P. art. 2161.” See PRCP-NS New Orleans, LLC v. Swanson, 2022-0393 (La.App. 4 Cir. 12/16/22), 354 So.3d 239, 245 (quoting Clement v. Graves, 2004-1831, p. 6 (La.App. 1 Cir. 9/28/05), 924 So.2d 196, 200). Relator maintains that the appeal bond has not been timely filed by Respondents as required by the suspensive appeal granted on March 25, 2026. Thus, the suspensive appeal has not been perfected, and jurisdiction remains with the trial court as to whether to dismiss the appeal.

Accordingly, we hereby grant Relator's writ application, and reverse and remand the case to the trial court to determine whether to dismiss the suspensive appeal.

WRIT GRANTED; REVERSED AND REMANDED

FOOTNOTES

1.   According to the New Orleans Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance, Article 9.1.A Purpose of VCR-1 Vieux Carré Residential District states, “The VCR-1 Vieux Carré Residential District is intended to preserve and protect existing residential development to maintain the authentic character of the historic Vieux Carré. Incompatible uses and building modifications are excluded from this residential district, and rehabilitation and adaptive reuse are encouraged.”

Judge Tiffany Gautier Chase