Alaska Writ of Assistance: Filing, Enforcement, and Delays

An Alaska writ of assistance is the court order that lets a peace officer physically remove occupants from real property after a judgment for possession has already been entered and the move-out date has passed. The judgment itself tells the occupant to leave. The writ tells law enforcement to make it happen. Alaska courts will not send officers on the judgment alone, so if the person is still in the property after their deadline, the writ is the next step.

The writ is used almost entirely for real property: residential evictions filed under Alaska’s forcible entry and detainer statutes and post-foreclosure removals when a former owner or occupant will not vacate after the sale.

What You Need Before You Ask

You cannot request the writ until you have a final judgment granting you possession. In most eviction cases that is the Judgment for Possession, form CIV-300.¹ The judgment must state a specific date by which the occupant had to vacate, and that date has to have passed without them complying.

Two documents go with the request:

A certified copy of the Judgment for Possession, which proves the court already ruled in your favor and set a move-out deadline.
The Writ of Assistance form, CIV-575, available from the court’s Customer Service Division or the Alaska Court System’s housing forms page.¹

When you fill out CIV-575, the case caption, the legal description of the property, and the physical address all need to be accurate. Any error in the property description can delay enforcement, so check your entries against the original judgment before you submit the form.

Getting the Writ Signed

There are two ways the writ gets signed, depending on what happened at your eviction hearing. If the judgment includes an order for a writ to issue, the judge may sign it in court, and the in-court clerk hands you a certified copy on the spot.²

If the judge did not sign the writ at the hearing, you fill out CIV-575 and bring it to the Customer Service counter. The clerk prepares the file and takes it to a judge, who confirms the judgment is final and the possession deadline has passed, then signs and seals the writ.² There is generally no separate filing fee for the writ. The underlying eviction filing fee covers the action: $150 for cases with up to $100,000 in claimed damages, or $250 for cases above that amount.³

Getting the Writ Enforced

Once you have the certified writ, you deliver it to the appropriate law enforcement agency along with a completed Service Instructions form, CIV-615, telling the officer where the property is and how to get there.⁴ In Anchorage, the court’s instructions direct you to the State Trooper Judicial Services Office.² In some parts of the state, civil process is handled by private process servers rather than troopers, though a peace officer may assist when needed.

Law enforcement charges a service fee for executing the writ, separate from any court fees, and the amount varies by location. The writ itself specifies the exact date and time when enforcement can begin. Judges typically set that date one to two weeks after the judgment, though no statewide statute fixes the notice period. On the enforcement date, the officer is authorized to remove all occupants and secure the premises so you can take possession.

Belongings Left Behind

If the occupant leaves personal property behind, you cannot throw it away. Alaska Statute 34.03.260 requires you to make a reasonable effort to remove the property from the premises, store it in a safe place, and exercise reasonable care over it.⁵

You then have to notify the former tenant in writing, mailed to their last known address, telling them where the property is stored and giving them at least 15 days to retrieve it. The notice has to say what you intend to do with the property if they do not pick it up.⁵

After the 15 days expire, what you can do depends on the value of the items. Property worth selling has to go to a public sale, with notice posted in three public places at least 10 days beforehand. Perishable or low-value items can be disposed of as you see fit. Items not worth the cost of a sale can be destroyed or donated. You can charge the former tenant for reasonable moving and storage costs, but if the items stayed in the rental unit, storage charges cannot exceed the rent. Deliberately or negligently violating these rules can expose you to liability for up to twice the tenant’s actual damages.⁵

If You’re the One Being Removed

An occupant facing a writ has limited options, but not none. The most direct is a motion under Alaska Civil Rule 60(b) to set aside the underlying judgment. The court can grant relief for mistake or excusable neglect, newly discovered evidence that could not have been found in time for trial, fraud or misrepresentation by the opposing party, a judgment that was void because the court lacked jurisdiction, or a judgment that has already been satisfied or reversed. There is also a narrow catch-all for any other justifying reason. The motion must be filed within a reasonable time, and for some of these grounds no later than one year after the judgment.⁶

Staying Enforcement During an Appeal

Filing an appeal does not, by itself, stop the writ. Alaska Civil Rule 62(a) gives an automatic 10-day stay after a judgment is entered, but once that period runs out, enforcement can proceed. To pause enforcement while the appeal is pending, you need a supersedeas bond approved by the court. The bond is a financial guarantee covering the other party’s costs and damages if your appeal fails. Once approved, the stay takes effect. Without the bond, the writ will generally be executed on schedule regardless of a pending appeal.⁷

Even without an appeal, the court has discretion under Rule 62(b) to stay execution while a Rule 60 motion or a motion for new trial is pending. This is an uphill request once the writ has already issued, and the court will likely require security for the opposing party’s protection.⁷

Situations That Can Delay or Block the Writ

A few federal protections can slow or stop enforcement even when the Alaska paperwork is in order.

Active-duty servicemembers. Under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, a landlord cannot evict a servicemember or their dependents from a primary residence without a court order when the monthly rent falls below the SCRA threshold. The base amount is $2,400 per month, adjusted annually for housing price inflation; as of 2024, the adjusted cap was $9,812.12.⁸⁹ If a servicemember’s ability to pay rent has been materially affected by military service, the court must grant a stay of at least 90 days and may extend it further.

Bankruptcy. A bankruptcy filing triggers an automatic stay, but under 11 USC 362 the stay generally does not stop an eviction when the landlord already obtained a judgment for possession before the filing. The landlord does not need to ask the bankruptcy court to lift the stay in that situation.¹⁰ A narrow exception may apply if state law allows a tenant to cure the default after a possession judgment, in which case the tenant can preserve the stay by depositing the rent due within 30 days of the filing and then paying all back rent in that same window. Whether Alaska law permits that cure is a question to confirm with a bankruptcy attorney before relying on it.

Tenants in foreclosed properties. When the writ follows a foreclosure, the federal Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act requires the new owner to give legitimate tenants at least 90 days’ notice before eviction. If the tenant has a lease, the new owner must generally honor it through the end of the term, with a narrow exception when the property is sold to a buyer who intends to live there personally. The tenancy must be legitimate: not the former owner or a close family member, negotiated at arm’s length, and not substantially below market rent unless a government subsidy explains the difference. Alaska state or local notice requirements that are longer still apply on top of the federal 90 days.¹¹

1
Alaska Court System. Housing – Forms
2
Alaska Court System. Instructions for Requesting a Writ of Assistance
3
Alaska Court System. Filing Fees and Fee Waiver
4
Alaska Court System. Alaska Court System Form CIV-615 – Service Instructions
5
Alaska Attorney General. The Alaska Landlord and Tenant Act: What It Means to You
6
Alaska Court System. After You Get the Final Order and Judgment
7
Alaska Court System. Alaska Rules of Civil Procedure – Rule 62
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3951 – Evictions and Distress
9
Federal Register. Publication of Housing Price Inflation Adjustment
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 – Automatic Stay
11
Federal Reserve. Consumer Compliance Handbook: Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure