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Last reviewed: 15 September 2026

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Louisiana moved its home warranty regulator, then moved it back

Ohio repealed its home-warranty insurance law in 2004 and left the industry under general consumer-sales law instead (see our Ohio page) — a one-way move. Louisiana did something more unusual: it pulled home service contract providers out of its Department of Insurance in 2015, ran them through the Secretary of State's office for nine years, and then, in 2024, moved them right back to the Department of Insurance and repealed the in-between law entirely.

2015: out of the insurance code, onto a $50,000 bond at the Secretary of State

Senate Bill 152 of the 2015 Regular Session (Acts 2015, No. 161) moved home service contract regulation out of Title 22 (the Louisiana Insurance Code) into a new home, Chapter 57 of Title 51 — Trade and Commerce (La. R.S. 51:3141 through 51:3146) — regulated by the Louisiana Secretary of State rather than the Department of Insurance. Under that law, a home service contract was defined as a separately-priced agreement to service, repair, replace, or indemnify for the operational or structural failure of residential property due to a defect in materials, workmanship, an inherent defect, or normal wear and tear — and the statute said directly that such a contract "is not insurance in this state or otherwise regulated under any provision of the Louisiana Insurance Code." To sell one, a provider had to register with the Secretary of State and stay in good standing, and had to file a surety bond, issued by a company licensed to do business in Louisiana, in the amount of $50,000, with the bond's term matching the registration's.

2024: House Bill 841 moves it back to the Department of Insurance

House Bill 841 of the 2024 Regular Session reversed that structure. It enacted a new Part X of Chapter 5 of Title 22 — R.S. 22:1806.1 through 22:1806.9 — placing home service contract providers back under the Louisiana Commissioner of Insurance, and added R.S. 22:821(B)(28) naming home service contracts among the lines the Commissioner's office now oversees. The new part sets out registration requirements and fees, required contract disclosures, cancellation rules, recordkeeping, examination authority for the Commissioner, prohibited acts, and suspension or revocation of a provider's registration for a violation. HB 841 simultaneously repealed Chapter 57 of Title 51 in full, ending the Secretary of State's nine-year run as the regulator for this product — a run that itself began under a different bill, 2015's Senate Bill 152 (Acts 2015, No. 161), which had specified its own January 11, 2016 effective date rather than using the ordinary default.

What actually changed for a provider, and what to check now

The practical shift is which office holds the checkable registration record and which body can examine a provider's books: the Louisiana Department of Insurance now holds it, not the Secretary of State's commercial-filings office. The Louisiana Department of Insurance's own published forms already include a surety-bond form specifically for a "Home Service Contract Provider," confirming the Department is actively administering registration under the new framework, though whether it requires the same $50,000 bond figure the old Title 51 law used, or a different amount, is worth confirming directly against the Commissioner's current requirements rather than assumed unchanged. A Louisiana home warranty buyer checking a provider's standing today should direct that check to the Department of Insurance, not the Secretary of State's business-filings search that would have been the right answer for most of the 2015-2024 period.

Checking a Louisiana provider today: point 3 of our standard — verifying licensing directly with the regulator, not the provider's own marketing claim — now means the Louisiana Department of Insurance for a home service contract, a change from what would have been the correct answer for most of the past decade.

References

  1. Louisiana House Bill 841 (2024 Regular Session), enacting R.S. 22:821(B)(28) and R.S. 22:1806.1 through 22:1806.9 (Title 22, Chapter 5, Part X), and repealing Chapter 57 of Title 51 (R.S. 51:3141 through 51:3146).
  2. Louisiana Senate Bill 152 (2015 Regular Session), Acts 2015, No. 161, effective January 11, 2016 — enacting former Louisiana Revised Statutes 51:3141 through 51:3146 (Chapter 57 of Title 51 — Trade and Commerce), home service contract provider registration and $50,000 surety bond requirement administered by the Louisiana Secretary of State, repealed by HB 841 in 2024.
  3. Louisiana Department of Insurance, Surety Bond Uniform Form — Home Service Contract Provider (ldi.la.gov), confirming current Department administration of provider registration.

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