Alabama Landlord-Tenant Law 2026: The Plain-English Guide
Alabama runs its rentals under the Alabama Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (Ala. Code §§ 35-9A-101 et seq.), a full URLTA adoption that is more landlord-friendly than the same acts in many other states. The headline facts: a one-month cap on security deposits, a 60-day return window — one of the longest in the country — and seven-business-day notices for both nonpayment and lease violations, after 2018 reforms quietly shortened what many guides still call 14 days. Eviction mechanics themselves live in a different part of the code (unlawful detainer, §§ 6-6-332 et seq.), which is why some Alabama rules read like two statutes bolted together.
Security deposits
- Capped at one month's periodic rent — Alabama caps the deposit at one month's rent (§ 35-9A-201(a)), with one exception: additional deposits are allowed for pets, changes to the premises, or increased liability risks. Don't smuggle extra charges past the cap under creative labels.
- Return within 60 days after termination of the tenancy and delivery of possession, with a written itemized accounting of every deduction — mailed to the tenant (§ 35-9A-201(b), (c), (e)). Older guides citing 35 days are outdated: Act 2014-279 moved the deadline to 60. Use the extra time to be accurate, not slow.
- Allowed deductions: unpaid rent, damages beyond normal wear and tear, and other lawful lease charges. Normal wear and tear cannot be deducted.
- No separate account required and no interest owed: Alabama does not require you to hold deposits in a separate trust account, and you owe the tenant no interest. Best practice is still a separate ledger so the 60-day deadline never sneaks up on you.
- Forwarding address is the tenant's duty: the tenant must give you a written forwarding address on vacating; if they don't, you mail to their last known address (§ 35-9A-201(d)). Request it in writing at the move-out walkthrough regardless.
- The penalty is severe: miss the deadline and you owe the tenant double the tenant's original deposit — not just double the withheld portion (§ 35-9A-201(f)). Unclaimed deposits are forfeited by the tenant after 90 days.
- Practical habit: 60 days feels generous until a busy month eats it. Photo-document every unit at move-in and move-out, generate the itemization from those photos within the first month, and mail it certified. See our move-in/move-out inspection checklist.
Use our Security Deposit Deadline Finder and deductions guide.
Rent rules
- No rent control — and it's preempted. Alabama doesn't just lack rent control; Ala. Code § 11-80-8.1 prohibits cities and counties from enacting, maintaining, or enforcing any ordinance that controls the amount of rent on private property. A separate provision (§ 35-9A-102) bars local residential landlord-tenant codes that contradict URLTA. You can raise rent freely between lease terms, anywhere in the state.
- Rent-increase notice: the statute sets no dedicated notice period for increases. On a month-to-month tenancy, the 30-day termination notice effectively functions as the notice for a rent change — send increases in writing with the same 30 days' lead time. See how to raise rent legally.
- No mandatory grace period: Alabama sets no required grace period for rent payments. Late is whatever your lease says it is. Most landlords still write a 3–5 day grace period into the lease — make it explicit rather than assumed.
- No late-fee cap: there is no statutory cap on late fees — they're lease-driven. State the amount, when it kicks in, and any ceiling directly in the lease, and keep fees defensible enough to survive a judge's scrutiny. Note: your nonpayment notice must state the rent and late fees owed, so accurate lease drafting feeds directly into your eviction paperwork.
- Rent is due on time, in full: Alabama gives tenants no general statutory right to withhold rent for repair disputes. See how to handle late rent.
Eviction in Alabama
Self-help evictions are illegal in Alabama — no changing locks, no shutting off utilities, no seizing belongings. You file an unlawful detainer action (§§ 6-6-332 et seq.) and let the court process run. One critical trap: most secondary guides still say "14 days" for lease-violation notices. That was pre-2018 law. Act 2018-473 shortened both core notices to seven business days.
- Nonpayment: written notice giving at least seven business days after receipt to pay the rent and late fees owed, or the lease terminates (§ 35-9A-421(b)). The notice must specify the amount of rent and late fees owed — do the math before you serve it, not after.
- Lease violations (material noncompliance): written notice specifying the breach; the lease terminates on a date not less than seven business days after receipt, unless the tenant cures within that window (§ 35-9A-421(a)). If the nonpayment and noncompliance provisions both apply, the nonpayment subsection governs.
- Non-curable defaults — 7 days, no right to remedy (§ 35-9A-421(d)): manufacture, possession, or use of illegal drugs on the premises; illegal use or discharge of firearms or ammunition (except self-defense); criminal assault of a tenant or guest (except self-defense); and repeating substantially the same breach within six months of a prior noticed-and-cured breach. Intentional misrepresentation of a material fact in the application or lease is also non-curable.
- The two-cure limit: no breach may be cured more than two times in any 12-month period except with your express written consent. The third strike is final.- Month-to-month termination: 30 days' written notice before the periodic rental date specified in the notice, by either party (§ 35-9A-441(b)). Week-to-week: 7 days' notice.
- Drafting matters: because the notice must name exact dollar amounts and specific breaches, keep rent ledgers current and log violations with dates. Sloppy paperwork is how winnable evictions die. See our lease agreement guide.
Full process: how to evict a tenant.
Repairs and habitability
- Alabama's URLTA imposes a real habitability duty (§ 35-9A-204): you must comply with applicable building and housing codes, keep common areas clean and safe, maintain electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, and other systems in good working order, and supply running water and reasonable heat (except where controlled by the tenant).
- Tenants must give you written notice of defects needing repair. Give every tenant a written maintenance-request channel at move-in and date-stamp every report — your repair clock starts when the written notice arrives. See how to handle maintenance requests.
- Repair-and-deduct is limited: tenants have narrow repair-and-deduct rights only after proper written notice and your failure to act (§ 35-9A-401), with statutory caps — this is not a casual "fix it and dock the rent" right. If a tenant announces they're deducting, verify the written notice and every statutory step before conceding.
- Retaliation is prohibited — you cannot punish a tenant for complaining about habitability, reporting you to code enforcement, or exercising rights under the Act (§ 35-9A-501).
Entry rights
Alabama is middle-of-the-road here, with one of the most specific notice rules in the country:
- At least two days' notice before entering, at reasonable times, with entry only as permitted (§ 35-9A-303(c)). Posting a note on the primary entry door is an expressly permitted method — handy when a tenant won't answer mail.
- The tenant may consent to less notice; requesting repairs is deemed consent to entry to do that work (§ 35-9A-303(d)–(e)).- Consent-free entry is allowed only for emergencies, court order, abandonment or surrender, or the statutory move-out/inspection provisions (§ 35-9A-303(b)).
- Document every entry: notice date, delivery method, reason, time in, time out.
Discrimination
The federal Fair Housing Act applies in full, and Alabama's own fair housing law (Ala. Code §§ 24-8-1 et seq.) mirrors the federal protected classes: race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, and disability. Screen every applicant with the same written criteria and document your decisions. Our fair housing guide covers what you can and can't ask.
The bottom line
Alabama treats landlords well: a one-month deposit cap limits your exposure, seven-business-day eviction notices are among the fastest in the Southeast, rent control is affirmatively preempted statewide, and the non-curable-default list plus the two-cure limit give you decisive tools against problem tenants that URLTA states elsewhere lack. The traps are all in stale information: guides still citing 35-day deposit returns (it's been 60 since 2014) and 14-day violation notices (it's been seven business days since 2018) will cost you real cases if you follow them.
Write the lease precisely — exact late-fee terms, a clear breach-and-cure clause, a two-day entry procedure — because your eviction notices must name exact amounts and specific breaches. Serve notices by the business-day clock, log everything, mail the deposit accounting certified within weeks of vacancy, and never touch self-help. And note the 2024 short-term-rental tax law (Act 2024-334) if you run Airbnb-style units — the much-discussed 2026 HB80 and 2025 HB591 never became law.
One more Alabama-specific note for out-of-state investors: Alabama eviction practice straddles two parts of the code — URLTA (§ 35-9A-421) for the notices, Title 6 (§§ 6-6-332 et seq.) for the unlawful-detainer suit. Forms and filing procedures that work in other URLTA states may not transfer cleanly. Have an Alabama landlord-tenant attorney review your notice forms and lease before you scale.
This is general information, not legal advice. Consult an Alabama landlord-tenant attorney for specific situations.