Louisiana Uses Civil Law. The Exam Tests Napoleonic Terms.

Louisiana is the only state in the country operating under Civil Law, and the exam tests terminology that does not exist anywhere else in U.S. real estate.

The LREC governs real estate licensing in Louisiana. The PSI exam tests 70 state specific questions alongside 80 national questions, with a minimum passing score of 70%. Louisiana's civil law foundation means the exam uses vocabulary and legal concepts drawn from the Napoleonic Code, not the common law framework every national prep course assumes. Candidates who learn the vocabulary, the redhibition doctrine, and the community property concurrence requirement will pass the state portion. Candidates who import common law assumptions will fail it.

Napoleonic/Civil Law Basics

Louisiana's legal system is built on the Napoleonic Code, not common law. That means the PSI exam uses terms like "immovables," "mandatary," and "authentic act" that appear nowhere in national prep materials and have no direct common law equivalents. When I taught pre-licensing courses, this was the topic that filled my office hours. Students kept trying to translate Louisiana law into common law terms, and every time they did, they got the question wrong.

Louisiana is the only U.S. state operating under civil law derived from the Napoleonic Code, the exam uses unique terminology like "immovables" instead of "real property" and "mandatary" instead of "agent," blindsiding candidates trained on common law concepts.

The terminology gap is the first barrier. An "immovable" in Louisiana civil law is what every other state calls real property. A "mandatary" is an agent. An "authentic act" is a notarized instrument with specific execution requirements. The PSI exam will use these terms without translation, and candidates who encounter them for the first time on test day will spend exam time on definitions instead of applying the law. Know the civil law vocabulary before you walk in, because the exam is written in it.

Redhibition (Defects)

Redhibition gives Louisiana buyers a statutory right to rescind a sale or reduce the price when a hidden defect renders the property unusable or substantially impairs its value. It's a remedy with specific filing timeframes that has no equivalent in any common law state. The exam doesn't reward overthinking here, so learn the doctrine, learn the timeframes, and move on.

Louisiana's redhibition law covers hidden defects in a way that common-law states can't replicate. Mississippi handles latent defects under agency disclosure rules, and New Mexico addresses defect liability through its seller disclosure form. Neither state has a redhibition doctrine with the same statutory remedies as Louisiana.

Louisiana's doctrine of redhibition gives buyers the right to rescind a sale or demand a price reduction when a property has hidden defects, the exam tests the difference between redhibitory and patent defects and specific filing timeframes found nowhere else in U.S. law.

Know the distinction between redhibitory defects (hidden, unknown to the buyer, serious enough to affect the decision to buy) and patent defects (visible, apparent, and therefore not covered). Know the filing deadlines that apply to each defect category. They differ depending on whether the seller knew about the defect. Know what remedies are available under each scenario. The LREC exam tests redhibition with scenarios where the defect type and the seller's knowledge both determine the outcome.

Community Property

Louisiana's community property regime requires both spouses to concur in the sale of community property. Title alone doesn't determine who must sign, and the exam tests whether candidates understand that distinction. I know, I know, Louisiana already made you learn "mandatary" and "redhibition." But this one actually matters on the exam too, because the spousal concurrence requirement catches candidates who assume the deed controls everything.

Each spouse owns an undivided one-half interest in community property, and both must concur to sell regardless of whose name is on the title, the exam tests that title alone does not determine whether property is community or separate.

Know what makes property community versus separate under Louisiana civil law. Assets acquired during the marriage are community property by default, regardless of which spouse's income purchased them or whose name is on the deed. Know that a sale without the concurrence of both spouses is an absolute nullity, not merely voidable. The PSI exam will present a transaction where one spouse acts alone and ask what the legal consequence is. The answer is that the sale is void, and knowing the distinction between community and separate property is the only way to reach that conclusion correctly.