Alabama Eviction Laws: Grounds, Notice, and Unlawful Detainer

Alabama eviction laws require a landlord to go through the courts to remove a tenant, starting with a written notice (usually seven business days) and ending with a judge’s order and, if needed, a sheriff’s writ. The rules sit in the Alabama Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act at Title 35, Chapter 9A of the Alabama Code. Skipping steps or trying to push a tenant out without a judgment can cost a landlord up to three months’ rent plus attorney’s fees.

Grounds That Justify an Eviction

Alabama does not let a landlord evict for any reason at any time. There has to be either a specific violation of the lease or statute, or a properly ended periodic tenancy.

Nonpayment of Rent

If rent is unpaid, the landlord delivers a written notice stating the exact amount owed, including late fees, and giving the tenant at least seven business days to pay in full.¹ Business days matter. A notice served Friday doesn’t count the weekend, so the real calendar window is longer than a week. Full payment within the window stops the eviction.

Curable Lease Violations

For other lease breaches, such as an unauthorized pet or property damage, the landlord serves a similar seven-business-day notice describing the specific problem. The tenant can keep the tenancy by fixing the issue in that window.¹

Noncurable Defaults

Some violations end the tenancy on a seven-day notice with no opportunity to cure:

Manufacturing, possessing, or using illegal drugs in the unit or common areas.
Illegally using, manufacturing, possessing, or discharging a firearm on the property, except in lawful self-defense.
Assaulting another tenant or guest on the property, except in lawful self-defense.
Repeating substantially the same breach that was previously noticed and cured, if the second breach happens within six months of the first.
Intentionally misrepresenting a material fact on the rental application, such as income, employment, or criminal history.

No tenant consent is needed to terminate for these.¹ The repeat-violation rule is easy to miss. A tenant who fixed a noise complaint in March and does the same thing in July can be treated as a noncurable second breach.

Ending a Month-to-Month or Week-to-Week Tenancy

No violation is required to end a periodic tenancy. A month-to-month arrangement needs at least 30 days’ written notice before the next rental due date. A week-to-week needs at least seven days’ written notice before the termination date.² Either side can give the notice, and no reason has to be stated.

A tenant who stays past a fixed-term lease without the landlord’s consent is a holdover, and the landlord can file for possession immediately. Accepting rent from a holdover usually converts the arrangement into a month-to-month tenancy, which then requires 30 days’ notice to end.²

Writing and Delivering the Notice

Proper notice is the mandatory first step for any violation-based eviction. Without it, the court will dismiss the case. The notice should include the tenant’s name, the property address, the exact dollar amount owed or a specific description of the violation, and the deadline for curing or vacating.

Delivery can be by hand, by certified mail, or by posting on the premises. Keep proof: a certified mail receipt, or an affidavit from whoever handed it over. Hold onto a signed copy of the lease too, since the court will want to see it.

The Acceptance-of-Rent Trap

This is where landlords most often wreck their own case. If a landlord accepts rent knowing the tenant is in default, that acceptance waives the right to terminate the lease for that breach.³ Cashing a partial payment after serving a seven-day notice usually ends the eviction. The parties can agree otherwise in writing after the breach, but the default rule protects the tenant.

Filing the Unlawful Detainer in Court

Once the notice period runs out with no resolution, the landlord files an unlawful detainer complaint in the district court for the county where the property sits.⁴ Filing fees vary by county but typically run around $300 for one defendant, with roughly $10 for each additional defendant.⁵ Eviction cases get scheduling priority over other civil matters.

Serving the Tenant

The clerk issues a summons that a sheriff, constable, or private process server delivers. If the tenant can’t be found, the summons may be left with any competent adult living on the premises. If no one is on the property after a reasonable effort, the server may post it on the door and mail a first-class copy to the tenant at the property address the same day or by close of the next business day.⁴

The Tenant’s Answer

The tenant has seven days from service to file a written answer to a complaint for possession.⁵ No answer within that window lets the landlord ask for a default judgment, which the court may grant without a hearing. If the tenant does answer, the court sets a hearing where both sides present evidence on the lease, the alleged breach, and any defenses.

After the Judgment

A ruling for the landlord grants a judgment of possession, but the tenant has seven days from entry of judgment to appeal to the circuit court.⁴ Filing a post-judgment motion pauses the appeal clock until the court rules on it.

An appeal does not automatically let the tenant stay. To stop the court from issuing a writ of possession during the appeal, the tenant must pay the circuit court clerk all rent due since the original case was filed, and keep paying each month’s rent as it comes due. A missed payment lets the landlord ask the court to issue the writ immediately.⁴ The circuit court treats the appeal as a new trial and must schedule it within 60 days of filing.

The Writ of Possession

If the tenant doesn’t appeal and doesn’t leave, the landlord returns to the clerk to request a writ of restitution or possession. The writ authorizes the sheriff to physically remove the tenant and their belongings. It cannot be requested until the seven-day appeal period has run.⁶ The sheriff’s office handles the actual removal on its own schedule.

Belongings Left Behind

Once the lease is terminated, the landlord has no duty to store or protect items left in the unit after 14 days have passed since the termination date. After that, the landlord can dispose of the property.⁷ During the 14-day window, documenting what was left and avoiding damage reduces the risk of a later claim.

Self-Help Evictions Are Illegal

A landlord cannot take possession by any route other than the court process. Changing the locks, removing doors or windows, shutting off utilities, or hauling belongings to the curb is prohibited.⁸ Cutting off heat, running water, electricity, or gas counts as unlawful ouster even if the landlord frames it as a billing or maintenance issue.

A tenant who is illegally locked out or has utilities cut can either recover possession or terminate the lease, and either way is entitled to up to three months’ rent or actual damages, whichever is greater, plus reasonable attorney’s fees. The landlord must also return the full security deposit and any prepaid rent. A shortcut usually costs far more than the formal process would have.

When Retaliation Blocks an Eviction

A landlord cannot raise rent, cut services, or file for eviction in response to a tenant who complained to a government agency about a code violation affecting health or safety, complained to the landlord about failure to maintain the property, or joined or organized a tenants’ group. A court finding of retaliation gives the tenant a defense to the eviction and may support damages.⁹

The protection has limits. A landlord can still proceed if the tenant is behind on rent, if the tenant or household caused the complained-about condition, if repairs require demolition or remodeling that would make the unit uninhabitable, or if there is a separate material lease violation.⁹

1
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 35-9A-421 – Noncompliance with Rental Agreement; Failure to Pay Rent
2
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 35-9A-441 – Periodic Tenancy
3
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 35-9A-424 – Waiver of Landlord’s Right to Terminate
4
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 35-9A-461 – Landlord’s Action for Eviction, Rent, Monetary Damages, or Other Relief
5
Chambers County – Fifth Circuit Court of Alabama. Unlawful Detainers
6
Morgan County – Eighth Circuit Court of Alabama. Evictions
7
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 35-9A-423 – Remedies for Absence, Nonuse, and Abandonment
8
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 35-9A-427 – Recovery of Possession Limited
9
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 35-9A-501 – Retaliatory Conduct Prohibited