Published 2026-09-25 · 13 min read

Alaska Landlord-Tenant Law 2026: The Plain-English Guide

Alaska runs its rentals under the Alaska Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (AS 34.03.010–34.03.360) — a heavily customized version of the uniform act, with eviction mechanics that cross-reference Alaska's forcible entry and detainer statute (AS 09.45.100–09.45.110). The headline numbers: a two-month deposit cap that does not apply at all when rent exceeds $2,000 a month, a fast 14-day deposit return in the standard case, a 7-day nonpayment notice, a 10-day cure notice for other material breaches, and a 24-hour entry-notice rule. Alaska's climate and remote logistics also produced rules you will not find elsewhere — a signed premises condition statement built into the rental agreement, per-tenant deposit accounting in a trust account, and an essential-services remedy written for a state where losing heat in January is an emergency, not an inconvenience.

The short version: Charge no more than two months' rent in prepaid rent and deposits combined unless rent exceeds $2,000 a month, plus up to one extra month as a separate pet deposit. Mail the itemized accounting and refund within 14 days after termination and delivery of possession — 30 days if you deduct for tenant-caused damage, or if the tenant never gave proper termination notice. Serve nonpayment notices on a 7-day clock and other cure notices on a 10-day clock, both running from service. Give at least 24 hours' notice before entry. Raise rent freely — the Act contains no rent control — but never retaliate and never use self-help.

Alaska law at a glance

Two stale numbers cause most Alaska landlord losses, and earlier versions of this guide carried both. First, many secondary sources — and the old text here — describe curable lease violations on a 20-day termination notice with a 10-day cure window. That 20/10 pattern is real Alaska law, but it belongs to the tenant's notice against a landlord under AS 34.03.160(a). The landlord's cure notice under AS 34.03.220(a)(2) terminates on a date not less than 10 days after service, full stop. Second, the deposit return is not simply "14 days, stretching to 30 if you deduct for damages or the tenant skipped notice" as one blended fallback: AS 34.03.070(g) sets the branches out separately, and which branch you are in changes the deadline and what triggers it, as the next sections show.

When the clocks actually start

Four counting rules decide almost every Alaska deadline dispute:

The deposit clock needs termination AND possession — and the branch matters. Under AS 34.03.070(g), if either party gave notice that complies with AS 34.03.290, you mail the itemization and refund within 14 days after the tenancy terminates and possession is delivered. But if you deduct costs for damage caused by the tenant's noncompliance with AS 34.03.120, you have 30 days after the tenancy terminates to mail the refund. If the tenant did not give AS 34.03.290-compliant notice, you mail within 30 days after termination, delivery of possession, or the date you become aware the unit is abandoned — whichever the facts give you. Log all three dates for every move-out.

The eviction clocks run from service, not from mailing or drafting. AS 34.03.220 measures the nonpayment period from the tenant's receipt framework in the statute — seven days after written notice of nonpayment and intent to terminate — and the cure and serious-breach periods from service of the notice. Prove the service date: hand delivery with a witness, a signed acknowledgment, or a method that generates its own record. A forcible entry and detainer case built on an unproven service date is a dismissal waiting to happen.

The periodic-tenancy clock is anchored to a rental due date. AS 34.03.290(b) requires written notice at least 30 days before the rental due date specified in the notice — not simply 30 days after you send it. Name the due date, count back 30 full days, and send early. Week-to-week tenancies take 14 days under AS 34.03.290(a), and that track is available only while rent is current.

The tenant's clock against you runs from receipt, on a 20/10 pattern. Under AS 34.03.160(a), a tenant's notice specifies a termination date not less than 20 days after receipt, and you defeat termination by remedying within 10 days. "Receipt" is the date the notice reaches you or your agent — so date-stamp every tenant letter the day it arrives, because your 10-day remedy window is already running. Our Security Deposit Deadline Finder computes deposit deadlines from the trigger dates for you.

How much can an Alaska landlord charge as a security deposit, and when must it be returned? (AS 34.03.070)

AS 34.03.070 is the section Alaska landlords get sued under most, and it is more mechanical than most guides admit.

What you may collect. Except for the pet deposit in subsection (h), you may not demand or receive prepaid rent or a security deposit, however denominated, in an amount exceeding two months' periodic rent (AS 34.03.070(a)). Prepaid rent counts toward the same cap — you cannot stack a full deposit on top of last month's rent to get around it, and relabeling deposit money as a "fee" does not help, because the cap follows the function of the money, not its name. The whole section does not apply to rental units where rent exceeds $2,000 a month — above that line, the amount is a matter of contract, though every other duty in the section (accounting, itemization, deadlines) should be treated as the working standard anyway, and a court will still read the lease strictly.

The pet deposit is separate money. You may demand an additional deposit of up to one month's periodic rent for a pet that is not a service animal (AS 34.03.070(h)). It must be accounted for separately from the deposit under subsection (a), and it may be applied only to damage directly related to the pet. Do not use pet-deposit money to cover unpaid rent or human-caused damage, and do not charge it at all for a service animal — assistance animals are not pets, and treating them as pets creates fair-housing exposure on top of a deposit violation.

Where the money must sit. All prepaid rent and deposit money must be promptly deposited, wherever practicable, in a trust account at a bank, savings and loan association, or licensed escrow agent, and you must give the tenant the terms and conditions under which money may be withheld (AS 34.03.070(c)). The statute is specific about the accounting: you may commingle prepaid rent and deposits from different tenants in a single trust account, but you must separately account for each tenant's money, you may not commingle it with your own funds, and you may never use one tenant's money to refund another tenant's deposit, pay another tenant's rent, or cover another tenant's damage. Per-tenant ledgers are not bookkeeping hygiene in Alaska; they are a statutory duty.

What you may apply it to. Accrued rent and damages from the tenant's noncompliance with the tenant duties in AS 34.03.120 (AS 34.03.070(b)). "Damages" is a defined term: deterioration of the premises or its contents, excluding deterioration from normal wear and tear and deterioration caused by your own failure to prepare for expected conditions or to meet your own obligations under the chapter. That second exclusion matters in Alaska: paint and finish damage traceable to a moisture or heating failure you were obliged to prevent is not deductible damage, however it looks in a move-out photo.

What you must send, and when. The accrued rent and damages must be itemized in a written notice mailed to the tenant's last known address, together with the amount due the tenant, within the AS 34.03.070(g) deadlines above (AS 34.03.070(b)). If you do not know the tenant's mailing address but know or have reason to know how to reach the tenant, you must make a reasonable effort to deliver the notice and refund (AS 34.03.070(g)). "We didn't have an address" is a defense only when you genuinely had no way to reach the tenant — keep the forwarding-address request, and the envelope, in the file.

What it costs when you don't. If you wilfully fail to comply with subsection (b), the tenant may recover up to twice the actual amount withheld (AS 34.03.070(d)) — measured on the amount withheld, not the whole deposit. The holder of the landlord's interest at termination is bound by the section (AS 34.03.070(f)), so a buyer who takes a property mid-tenancy inherits the deposit duties; get the deposit ledger and trust-account records at closing, in writing.

The condition statement is your evidence base. If the landlord requires it, the parties build a premises condition statement — and, for furnished units, a contents inventory — into or alongside the rental agreement, describing condition at the start of the term (AS 34.03.020(e)). The tenant acknowledges or verifies its accuracy by signature (AS 34.03.090(b)), and the statement may be used by either side to determine deposit amounts and damage claims. In practice: always require it, walk the unit together, photograph everything, and sign the same day. See our move-in/move-out inspection checklist and security deposit deductions guide. Our dedicated page is Alaska security deposit law.

Is there a cap on rent or rent increases in Alaska?

• No rent control in the Act. AS Title 34.03 contains no rent-control provision and no cap on increase amounts. Rent is what the agreement says: under AS 34.03.020(c), rent is payable without demand or notice at the time and place agreed, and if the agreement is silent, at the dwelling unit, in equal monthly installments on the periodic date. Because the Act sets no increase-notice period of its own, an increase on a periodic tenancy rides on the termination-notice track: give written notice with the AS 34.03.290 lead time (30 days before the named rental due date for month-to-month) so the tenant can accept the new rent or terminate. On a fixed term, rent is locked until the term ends unless the lease provides otherwise. See how to raise rent legally.
• No mandatory grace period. Nothing in AS 34.03.020(c) or elsewhere in the chapter delays when rent is due: it is payable on the agreed date, and a grace period exists only if your lease creates one. Write any grace period explicitly into the lease, because the lease language decides when a AS 34.03.220(b) notice can go out.
• No statutory late-fee cap. The chapter does not regulate late fees. State the amount or formula, the day it accrues, and whether it repeats, in the lease — and know that in the official state guidance on the nonpayment notice, the amount that supports termination is the rent: a tenant who pays the rent in full within the 7 days cures the default, so never let a notice's arithmetic mix fees into the rent figure in a way you cannot untangle in court.
• A failed bill is not law. Commentary occasionally cites a 2024 proposal that would have required 90 days' notice before rent increases. It did not pass and creates no duty. Check any claimed Alaska rule against the current statutes before building it into a lease or a notice.
• No general rent-withholding right. The Act gives tenants specific remedies for landlord noncompliance — the AS 34.03.160 termination track and the AS 34.03.180 essential-services remedies below — but no general right to withhold rent and stay over a repair dispute. If a tenant withholds anyway, AS 34.03.220(b) is your route; see how to handle late rent.

How much notice ends a periodic tenancy in Alaska? (AS 34.03.290)

Periodic tenancies end on AS 34.03.290's clocks, which either party can start:

• Week-to-week: written notice at least 14 days before the termination date specified in the notice — and only while rent is current (AS 34.03.290(a)).
• Month-to-month: written notice at least 30 days before the rental due date specified in the notice (AS 34.03.290(b)).
• Holdover: a tenant who remains without your consent after the term expires or is terminated may be sued for possession after a notice to quit under AS 09.45.100–09.45.105 — and if the holdover is wilful and not in good faith, you may also recover up to one and one-half times your actual damages (AS 34.03.290(c)). If you consent to continued occupancy instead, the tenancy continues on the agreement's terms (AS 34.03.020 applies) — so accepting rent after termination without a written reservation of rights is a decision, not a courtesy. A tenant who leaves without proper notice also breaks the 14-day branch of the deposit clock: their silence moves you to the 30-day branch of AS 34.03.070(g), it does not erase the duty.

Termination for cause is different: it runs on AS 34.03.220's shorter service-based clocks, next, and never waits for a rental due date.

What notice must an Alaska landlord give before evicting a tenant? (AS 34.03.220)

The statute has four moving parts: the serious-breach fast track, the general cure track, the nonpayment track, and the utility track. Self-help is not a fifth part: under AS 34.03.280 you may not recover possession by any means outside the chapter, including wilfully interrupting electricity, gas, water, sanitary, or other essential services — the only exceptions are abandonment, surrender, circumstances beyond your control due to energy conditions, or what the chapter itself permits.

Serious breaches — AS 34.03.220(a)(1). If the tenant or someone in the tenant's control deliberately inflicts substantial damage to the premises — defined as loss, destruction, or defacement exceeding $400 — or the tenant engages in or permits prostitution or another illegal activity at the premises, you may deliver a written notice to quit under AS 09.45.100–09.45.105 specifying the act or activity, terminating on a date not less than 24 hours and not more than 5 days after service. There is no cure right on this track. Document the damage with dated photos and a cost basis before you serve; the $400 threshold is an element you will have to prove.

Material noncompliance — AS 34.03.220(a)(2). For other material noncompliance with the rental agreement, or noncompliance with AS 34.03.120 materially affecting health and safety, deliver a written notice to quit specifying the acts and omissions constituting the breach, terminating on a date not less than 10 days after service. If the breach is remediable — by repairs, payment of damages, or otherwise — and the tenant adequately remedies it before the date specified in the notice, the agreement does not terminate. "Specifying" means facts — dates, conduct, lease clauses — not conclusions like "lease violation." This is the provision the stale 20-day figure distorts: serve a 20-day termination date and you have given away ten days the statute does not require; serve a 10-day date on a tenant's AS 34.03.160 theory and you have no defense problem — but build a landlord notice on the wrong section and a court will measure it against AS 34.03.220 anyway.

The repeat rule — still inside (a)(2). In the absence of due care by the tenant, if substantially the same act or omission that was the subject of a prior notice recurs within six months, you may terminate on at least 5 days' written notice specifying the breach and the termination date. Note the number: it is 5 days, not the 10 days some guides (and the earlier text here) attach to repeat violations. The rule helps only landlords who count — keep a cure log per tenancy: breach, notice date, service proof, cure date.

Nonpayment — AS 34.03.220(b). If rent is unpaid when due and the tenant fails to pay in full within 7 days after written notice of nonpayment and your intention to terminate if it is not paid, the tenancy terminates — unless you agree to let the tenant remain — and you may recover possession. Only one written notice of default is needed for any one default. Two practical points: partial payment does not cure, but the statute expressly lets you accept a partial payment and extend the eviction date accordingly — if you do, put the extension in writing, because an undocumented acceptance invites a waiver argument; and verify the rent arithmetic before serving, because an overstated amount hands the tenant a defense and an understated one caps your demand.

Utility shutoff — AS 34.03.220(e). If a public utility discontinues electricity, natural gas, or water because the tenant failed to pay for the service, you may serve a notice to quit terminating the tenancy 5 days after service. The tenant defeats termination by, within 3 days of service, reinstating the service, repaying any amount you paid to reinstate it, and showing no damage resulted from the discontinuance. If substantially the same failure recurs within six months in the absence of due care, the repeat notice period is at least 3 days. In Alaska, a water or heat shutoff is also a freeze-risk event for the building itself — protecting the pipes and documenting the condition of the unit are legitimate, urgent concerns that run in parallel with the notice, not instead of it.

After termination. A tenant who neither cures nor leaves still holds possession. Your remedy is a forcible entry and detainer action under AS 09.45, plus actual damages and injunctive relief for noncompliance (AS 34.03.220(c)). See how to evict a tenant and our eviction process guide.

The court case: forcible entry and detainer

The notice terminates the lease; only a court restores possession. Alaska eviction suits are forcible entry and detainer (FED) actions under AS 09.45.100–09.45.110, filed after the AS 34.03.220 or AS 34.03.290 notice period runs.

• The notice to quit is part of the case. The AS 34.03.220 notices and the holdover notice under AS 34.03.290(c) are served under AS 09.45.100–09.45.105. Keep the original notice, the service record, and the rent ledger together — the court will want all three, and a gap in any one of them is the most common reason an Alaska FED case stalls.
• Execution is by officers, not landlords. A judgment for possession is enforced through the court's process. Until it is executed, possession — however wrongful — is not yours to take back by hand, and AS 34.03.280's ban on service interruption applies with full force while the case is pending.
• Damages ride along. Termination does not end the money claims: accrued rent, AS 34.03.120 damage amounts, and the holdover enhancement in AS 34.03.290(c) are all pleading decisions to make with the filing, not after it.

Alaska practice straddles two titles (Title 34.03 for the tenancy rules, Title 09.45 for the suit): have an Alaska landlord-tenant attorney review your forms and lease before scaling here.

What must an Alaska landlord maintain under the habitability law? (AS 34.03.100)

The habitability duty is real, detailed, and — given Alaska winters — unforgiving in practice. Under AS 34.03.100(a), a landlord shall, in summary:

1. Make all repairs and do whatever is necessary to put and keep the premises in a fit and habitable condition.

2. Keep all common areas clean and safe.

3. Maintain in good and safe working order all electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating, air-conditioning, kitchen, and other facilities and appliances, including elevators, that the landlord supplies or must supply.

4. Provide receptacles and conveniences for ashes, garbage, rubbish, and other waste, and arrange for removal.

5. Supply running water and reasonable amounts of hot water and heat at all times, insofar as energy conditions permit — with narrow exceptions for tenant-controlled installations on direct utility connections, and for premises with no well or utility water connection where the agreement specifically waives the water duty.

6. Provide and maintain locks and furnish keys, if the tenant requests them, reasonably adequate for the tenant's safety.

7. Provide smoke and carbon monoxide detection devices as required by AS 18.70.095.

Two qualifications matter. There is a limited rural exception: a landlord of a single-family residence in an undeveloped rural area, or where public sewer or water has never been connected, is not liable for the systems and water/heat duties if the unit had no such private systems at the start of the agreement (AS 34.03.100(b)) — the classic dry-cabin pattern, and a fact pattern to document at signing, not to assert later. And duty-shifting is allowed only in the statute's forms: for a one- or two-family residence the parties may agree in writing that the tenant performs specified listed duties, and for other units specified repairs and maintenance require a separate signed writing supported by adequate consideration that does not diminish duties to other tenants (AS 34.03.100(c), (d)). A lease clause that simply declares the tenant "responsible for all repairs" does none of this work. Give every tenant a written maintenance-request channel and date-stamp every report; see how to handle maintenance requests.

Tenant remedies: the 20/10 notice, and why AS 34.03.180 is not a general repair-and-deduct

Tenants have two distinct remedy tracks, and confusing them is how landlords misread a tenant's letter.

The general track — AS 34.03.160. For material noncompliance with the rental agreement, or noncompliance with AS 34.03.100 materially affecting health and safety, the tenant may deliver written notice specifying the breach, terminating on a date not less than 20 days after receipt if the breach is not remedied in 10 days. A timely remedy defeats termination. If substantially the same breach recurs within six months in the absence of due care by the landlord, the tenant may terminate on at least 10 days' written notice. The tenant may also recover damages and obtain injunctive relief (AS 34.03.160(b)), and on termination you must return prepaid rent and deposits recoverable under AS 34.03.070 (AS 34.03.160(d)). A tenant may not terminate over a condition the tenant's side caused. Note the direction of these numbers one more time: 20/10 is the tenant's track; 10 days is the landlord's cure-notice track. The earlier version of this guide put the tenant's numbers in the landlord's section — the single most consequential error on the old page.

The essential-services track — AS 34.03.180. This section is routinely mislabeled "repair-and-deduct." It is narrower and faster: if, contrary to the agreement or AS 34.03.100, the landlord deliberately or negligently fails to supply running water, hot water, heat, sanitary facilities, or other essential services, the tenant may give written notice specifying the breach and immediately elect one of three remedies — procure reasonable amounts of the services and deduct the actual and reasonable cost from rent; recover damages based on the diminution in fair rental value; or procure reasonable substitute housing during the noncompliance, excused from rent for that period and able to recover the excess cost over rent. Rights arise only after written notice, never for a condition the tenant's side caused, and a tenant who proceeds under this section may not also proceed under AS 34.03.160 for the same breach (AS 34.03.180(b), (c)). There is no general repair-and-deduct statute in the chapter for ordinary defects — the tenant's route for those is the AS 34.03.160 notice. If a tenant announces a deduction, ask which section, demand the written notice, and check every statutory step before conceding anything.

Failure to deliver possession — AS 34.03.170. If you fail to deliver possession as required by AS 34.03.090, rent abates until possession is delivered, and the tenant may terminate on at least 10 days' written notice (with all prepaid rent and deposits returned) or demand performance and sue for possession and damages. A wilful, bad-faith failure exposes the responsible party to up to one and one-half times actual damages.

How much notice must an Alaska landlord give before entering the unit? (AS 34.03.140)

Alaska's access rule is short and genuinely two-sided:

• At least 24 hours' notice of intention to enter, entry only at reasonable times and with the tenant's consent, except in an emergency or when giving notice is impracticable (AS 34.03.140(c)). The tenant may not unreasonably withhold consent for the listed purposes: inspection, necessary or agreed repairs and improvements, supplying services, removing landlord property not covered by the agreement, and showing the unit to prospective purchasers, mortgagees, tenants, workers, or contractors (AS 34.03.140(a)).
• No other right of access exists except as the section permits, by court order, under AS 34.03.230(b), or after abandonment or surrender (AS 34.03.140(d)). Emergency entry without consent is expressly allowed (AS 34.03.140(b)) — a burst pipe or a furnace failure in a cold snap is exactly the case — but document the emergency and confine the entry to it.
• Remedies run both ways (AS 34.03.300). A tenant who refuses lawful access faces injunctive relief compelling access or termination of the agreement on at least 10 days' written notice, plus recovery of the greater of actual damages or one month's periodic rent. A landlord who makes an unlawful entry, enters unreasonably, or makes repeated lawful demands that unreasonably harass faces the mirror image: injunction or termination on the tenant's 10 days' written notice, plus the greater of actual damages or one month's rent, court costs, and reasonable attorney's fees. Repeated unannounced entries are therefore not a management style; they are a priced liability.

Document every entry: notice date and method, reason, time in, time out. In a state with small court communities, reputation and paper trails both matter.

Retaliation and self-help: the two bans

Retaliation (AS 34.03.310). You may not retaliate by raising rent, decreasing services, or bringing or threatening a possession action after the tenant has complained to you about an AS 34.03.100 violation, sought to enforce rights under the chapter, organized or joined a tenant organization, or complained to a government agency enforcing housing, wage, price, or rent controls. A tenant facing retaliation has the remedies in AS 34.03.210 and a defense in a possession action. The practical rule: after any complaint, any rent change, service change, or notice you issue will be read against the complaint date — so document the independent, pre-existing reason for it, or do not issue it.

Self-help (AS 34.03.280). Possession may be recovered only as the chapter permits. Lockouts, door and lock removal, property seizure, and wilful interruption of essential services are prohibited — including the "soft" version of turning down or off a service to encourage departure. The abandonment and surrender exceptions are factual, not labels: a unit is not "abandoned" because you believe the tenant has left; it is abandoned when the facts the chapter requires are present and documented.

Discrimination

The federal Fair Housing Act applies in full — race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, and disability — and Alaska's Human Rights Law (AS 18.80) adds state-protected characteristics in housing, including marital status among others. Two Alaska-specific cautions follow from the sections above: an assistance animal is not a pet, so the AS 34.03.070(h) pet deposit may never be charged for one, and screening criteria must be applied uniformly and documented for every applicant. Screen every applicant with the same written criteria and keep the file. Our fair housing guide covers what you can and cannot ask.

Worked examples

Deposit return — know your branch. Rent is $1,400 a month; the deposit is $2,800 (the two-month cap). The tenancy terminates and the tenant delivers possession on Tuesday, September 1, 2026, after AS 34.03.290-compliant notice. If there are no damage deductions, the itemized notice and any refund are due in the mail by Tuesday, September 15, 2026 — 14 days after termination and possession. If instead you deduct $475 for AS 34.03.120 damage (a broken window and wall repair, photographed against the signed condition statement), the damage-deduction branch gives you 30 days after termination: mail the itemization and the $2,325 balance by Thursday, October 1, 2026. Miss the mailing wilfully and the exposure is up to twice the amount withheld — on a fully withheld $2,800, up to $5,600 — not a slap on the wrist for a two-week clock.

Nonpayment — the 7-day clock. Rent of $1,400 is due Tuesday, September 1, 2026, and is not paid. You serve the written AS 34.03.220(b) notice on Wednesday, September 2, 2026. The tenant must pay in full within 7 days after the notice — by Wednesday, September 9, 2026 — or the tenancy terminates. A $700 partial payment on September 8 does not cure; if you accept it and extend the date, write the extension down the same day.

Cure notice — the corrected 10-day clock. A material, curable breach (an unauthorized occupant, say) is noticed on Monday, March 2, 2026, specifying the acts and omissions. The earliest lawful termination date in the notice is Thursday, March 12, 2026 — not less than 10 days after service. If the tenant adequately remedies before March 12, the agreement does not terminate. If the same breach recurs without due care within six months, your repeat notice needs only 5 days. Contrast the mirror image: if the tenant serves you an AS 34.03.160 notice received Monday, March 2, 2026, you have 10 days — to Thursday, March 12 — to remedy, and the tenant's earliest termination date is Sunday, March 22, 2026, 20 days after receipt. Same calendar, opposite directions: file the two tracks separately in your forms.

Alaska compliance checklist

1. At signing: keep prepaid rent plus deposit at or under two months' rent (unless rent exceeds $2,000/month), charge any pet deposit separately at or under one month, and never charge a pet deposit for a service animal.

2. Same day: deposit the money promptly in a trust account, open a per-tenant ledger, and hand the tenant the written withholding terms AS 34.03.070(c) requires.

3. At move-in: complete and sign the premises condition statement (and contents inventory, if furnished) with the tenant, and photograph every room.

4. In the lease: state the rent due date and any grace period expressly, state the late-fee amount and trigger, and write the 24-hour entry procedure into the lease.

5. For every notice: use the right clock — 7 days nonpayment, 10 days curable breach, 24 hours–5 days serious breach, 5/3 days utility, 30 days to a named due date for month-to-month — and keep proof of service.

6. For maintenance: date-stamp every request, treat heat, water, and hot water as AS 34.03.180 emergencies, and log completion dates; a tenant's AS 34.03.160 letter starts a 10-day remedy window on receipt.

7. For entry: give at least 24 hours' notice, enter only at reasonable times with consent, and log notice, reason, and times in and out.

8. After any complaint: pause before raising rent, cutting services, or serving notice — AS 34.03.310 will frame how the sequence reads.

9. At move-out: decide your AS 34.03.070(g) branch on day one (14 days standard, 30 days for damage deductions or no proper tenant notice), build the itemization from the condition statement and photos, and mail it to the last known address — with a reasonable-effort delivery attempt if you have another way to reach the tenant.

10. Never: change locks, interrupt services, or remove belongings to force a departure. Possession moves only through an AS 09.45 forcible entry and detainer judgment.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much security deposit can an Alaska landlord charge?

Up to two months' periodic rent in prepaid rent and deposits combined, under AS 34.03.070(a) — and the section does not apply at all to units renting for more than $2,000 a month. On top of the cap you may charge a separate pet deposit of up to one month's rent under AS 34.03.070(h), but never for a service animal. Check a planned deposit against Alaska's two-month base cap with the Security Deposit Max Checker, which returns a compliant or over-the-limit verdict for the amount and state you enter.

How long does an Alaska landlord have to return a security deposit?

It depends on the branch of AS 34.03.070(g). If either party gave AS 34.03.290-compliant notice, mail the itemized notice and refund within 14 days after termination and delivery of possession. You have 30 days after termination if you deduct for tenant-caused damage, and 30 days after termination, possession, or discovery of abandonment if the tenant never gave proper notice.

What happens if an Alaska landlord misses the deposit deadline?

If the failure to comply with AS 34.03.070(b) is wilful, the tenant may recover up to twice the actual amount withheld under AS 34.03.070(d) — measured on the amount withheld, not the full deposit. Other damages either side may have under the chapter are preserved by AS 34.03.070(e).

How much notice is required to evict for nonpayment of rent in Alaska?

A written notice under AS 34.03.220(b) giving the tenant 7 days after the notice to pay the rent in full. If the tenant does not pay in full in that window, the tenancy terminates and the landlord's route is a forcible entry and detainer filing — not a lock change. Accepting a partial payment extends the eviction date only as you agree, so put any extension in writing. To run these same dates for your own case — the 7-day pay-in-full window under AS 34.03.220(b), then the forcible entry and detainer filing under AS 09.45 — use the Eviction Timeline Calculator.

How much notice is required for a curable lease violation in Alaska?

A written notice to quit under AS 34.03.220(a)(2) specifying the acts and omissions, terminating on a date not less than 10 days after service. If the tenant adequately remedies the breach before that date, the agreement does not terminate. The 20-day termination / 10-day remedy figures found in many guides are the tenant's notice against a landlord under AS 34.03.160(a), not the landlord's notice. A repeat of substantially the same breach within six months, in the absence of due care, takes only 5 days' notice.

Does Alaska have rent control?

No. The Alaska Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act contains no rent-control provision and no cap on increases. Rent is set by the agreement under AS 34.03.020; on a periodic tenancy, an increase should be delivered with the AS 34.03.290 notice lead time — at least 30 days before the named rental due date for a month-to-month tenancy — so the tenant can accept it or terminate.

How much notice must an Alaska landlord give before entering a rental?

At least 24 hours' notice of intention to enter, at reasonable times and with the tenant's consent, under AS 34.03.140(c) — except in an emergency or when notice is impracticable. A tenant who refuses lawful access faces termination on at least 10 days' written notice and damages exposure under AS 34.03.300(a); a landlord who enters unlawfully or harasses faces the mirror-image remedy, plus court costs and attorney's fees, under AS 34.03.300(b).

Can an Alaska tenant repair and deduct the cost from rent?

Not as a general remedy. The chapter has no ordinary repair-and-deduct right. AS 34.03.180 lets a tenant, after written notice, procure essential services the landlord has deliberately or negligently failed to supply — heat, water, hot water, sanitary facilities — and deduct the actual and reasonable cost, or elect diminution damages or substitute housing instead. For other defects, the tenant's remedy is the AS 34.03.160 notice: remedy in 10 days or the agreement terminates on a date at least 20 days after receipt.

Read the rules yourself

• AS 34.03.020, Terms and conditions of rental agreement — Justia (law.justia.com)
• AS 34.03.070, Security deposits and prepaid rent — Justia (law.justia.com)
• AS 34.03.100, Landlord to maintain fit premises — Justia (law.justia.com)
• AS 34.03.140, Access — Justia (law.justia.com)
• AS 34.03.160, Noncompliance by the landlord — Justia (law.justia.com)
• AS 34.03.180, Wrongful failure to supply essential services — Justia (law.justia.com)
• AS 34.03.220, Noncompliance with rental agreement; failure to pay rent — Justia (law.justia.com)
• AS 34.03.290, Periodic tenancy and holdover — Justia (law.justia.com)
• AS 34.03.300, Remedies for abuse of access — Justia (law.justia.com)
• Alaska Statutes, official database — Alaska State Legislature (akleg.gov)
• The Fair Housing Act — U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (hud.gov)

More landlord-tenant law guides

• Landlord-tenant law by state
• Alaska security deposit law
• Alabama landlord-tenant law
• Arizona landlord-tenant law
• Arkansas landlord-tenant law

Own rentals in more than one state? Get the 50-State Landlord Law Dataset — security deposit rules, eviction timelines, and notice requirements for all 50 states in one spreadsheet.

Last verified: October 16, 2026. This is general information about Alaska landlord-tenant law, not legal advice. Statutory deadlines, notice periods, and remedies change by amendment and depend on your facts — verify yours against the current Alaska Statutes sources above, or confirm with a licensed Alaska landlord-tenant attorney, before acting.