Outline of the eviction process in Alabama

Alabama residential evictions are governed by the Alabama Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (Ala. Code § 35-9A-101 and following), with the court case itself, called an eviction or unlawful detainer action, running under § 35-9A-461, the older unlawful detainer statutes (§ 6-6-310 to 6-6-353) and the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure. The act applies statewide. Nearly all cases are filed in the District Court of the county where the property sits.

Three things set Alabama apart. The default notices are seven business days, not seven calendar days, since a 2018 amendment (Act 2018-473). Everything after filing moves on seven-day clocks: seven calendar days to answer, seven days to appeal, and a seven-day stay before the writ of possession can issue. A tenant who appeals keeps possession only by paying rent into court. Some county clerk pages still describe the pre-2018 notice periods; follow the statute, not the clerk page.

1. When the act applies, and the grounds for eviction

Coverage. Exclusions include transient hotel or motel occupancy, a buyer in possession under a sale contract, an employee whose occupancy depends on employment there, and a seller who stays up to 36 months after a sale (§ 35-9A-122).

Grounds. Alabama has no just-cause requirement, and state law bars any local government from adopting or enforcing rent-control rules for private property (§ 11-80-8.1). We found no city ordinance adding eviction rules. The statutory grounds are:

• Unpaid rent (§ 35-9A-421(b)).
• Material noncompliance with the rental agreement, or with the tenant’s duties in § 35-9A-301 materially affecting health and safety, and intentional misrepresentation of a material fact in the lease or application (§ 35-9A-421(a)).
• Noncurable defaults listed in § 35-9A-421(d).
• End of the term or of a periodic tenancy (§ 35-9A-441).

Retaliation. You may not bring or threaten a possession action because the tenant complained about maintenance or joined a tenants’ union. Retaliation is a defense, but you may still file if the tenant is in default on rent or has committed other material lease violations (§ 35-9A-501).

2. Notices

• Nonpayment: seven business days (§ 35-9A-421(b)). A written notice to terminate the lease that specifies the amount of rent and any late fees owed to remedy the breach, and states that the rental agreement will terminate on a date not less than seven business days after the tenant receives the notice.
• Other material noncompliance: seven business days (§ 35-9A-421(a)). A written notice to terminate the lease that specifies the breach and states that the agreement will terminate on a date not less than seven business days after receipt. The agreement does not terminate if the tenant adequately remedies the breach before that date. An intentional misrepresentation may not be cured.
• Noncurable defaults: a “seven-day notice” (§ 35-9A-421(d)). The tenant has no right to cure unless you consent. The list is: (1) possession, use, manufacture, furnishing or similar handling of illegal drugs in the unit or common areas; (2) illegal use, possession, manufacture, furnishing or discharge of a firearm or ammunition on the premises, except in self-defense, defense of a third party or as permitted by § 13A-3-23; (3) criminal assault of a tenant or guest on the premises, with the same exceptions; and (4) a breach that is substantially the same as an earlier noticed breach the tenant cured, if it happens within six months of the first. Subsection (d) says “seven-day,” not “seven business days”; giving seven business days avoids the argument.
• Cure limit (§ 35-9A-421(d)). A tenant may not cure a breach of the lease more than two times in any 12-month period without your express written consent.
• Ending a periodic tenancy (§ 35-9A-441). Week to week: written notice at least seven days before the termination date stated in the notice. Month to month: written notice at least 30 days before the periodic rental date stated in the notice, so a mid-month notice normally takes effect on a later rent date.
• Holdover (§ 35-9A-441(c)). If the tenant stays without your consent after expiration or termination, you may sue for possession. If the holdover is willful and not in good faith, you may also recover up to three months’ periodic rent or your actual damages, whichever is greater, plus reasonable attorney’s fees.

How days are counted. Under the act a “day” is a calendar day, and when the last day of a period falls on a weekend or official holiday it moves to the next business day the court is open (§ 35-9A-141). The act does not define “business day”; the safe reading excludes weekends and official holidays. The period runs from the tenant’s receipt of the notice, not the day you mail or deliver it.

How the notice is served. Section 35-9A-421 says only that the landlord may “deliver” a written notice, and measures time from receipt. The act’s general notice section, which presumes receipt three days after mailing, expressly does not apply to a notice to terminate a tenancy or evict (§ 35-9A-144(e)). The statute lists no approved posting or mail method for this pre-suit notice. Hand delivery with a witness is least open to challenge; if you post it, also mail a copy and expect to have to prove receipt.

Waiver (§ 35-9A-424). Accepting rent with knowledge of a default, or accepting nonconforming performance, waives your right to terminate for that breach unless otherwise agreed after the breach.

Federally backed or subsidized properties may also be subject to the federal CARES Act 30-day notice for nonpayment.

3. Filing

Unlawful detainer is heard in the District Court of the county where the property is located (§ 6-6-330; venue under § 35-9A-461(b)). Clerk pages describe circuit court jurisdiction as concurrent, with claims for injunctive relief going to circuit court. Do not file until the termination date in your notice has passed: the action lies only after the tenant’s possessory interest has terminated (§ 35-9A-141).

The Mobile and Lee County clerk pages identify the complaint as Form C-59 and list a $350 filing fee plus a per-defendant service charge; fees are set by county, so confirm the current amount with your clerk. After termination you have a claim for possession and rent, and a separate claim for actual damages and reasonable attorney’s fees (§ 35-9A-426).

Who may file. Those clerk pages state that actions may be filed by “individuals representing themselves or an attorney licensed to practice law in the State of Alabama.” We did not verify a specific rule or case on entity landlords; an LLC or corporation should plan on using an attorney.

4. Service, the answer and the hearing

Service (§ 35-9A-461(c); § 6-6-332). Service follows the Rules of Civil Procedure, by the sheriff, a constable or a process server, at least six days before the return day. If the defendant cannot be served personally, the papers may go to any person who is sui juris (a legally competent adult) residing on the premises. If, after reasonable effort, no one is found residing there, the server may post a copy on the door and, the same day or by the close of the next business day, mail a copy first class to the premises address (or the last known address if none). Posted service is complete on the date of mailing, but supports a judgment for possession only; a money judgment needs personal or certified-mail service.

Seven-day answer. In an unlawful detainer or eviction action in district court the defendant must serve an answer within seven calendar days after service, instead of the usual 14 (Ala. R. Civ. P. 12(dc)). Clerk pages note that a rent claim filed with it keeps the 14-day period. If no answer is filed, you may apply for a default judgment and a writ. A postponement for good cause is limited to 15 days (§ 6-6-335).

Counterclaims and rent into court (§ 35-9A-405). The tenant may counterclaim for amounts recoverable under the lease or the act. The tenant must then pay into court rent accrued and rent that comes due, and whether the tenant stays in possession is in the court’s discretion.

5. Judgment and appeal

Seven days to appeal (§ 35-9A-461(d)). Any party may appeal a district court eviction judgment to the circuit court within seven days after it is entered. A timely post-judgment motion suspends that clock until the motion is ruled on or denied by operation of law. The circuit court must set the appeal for trial as a preferred case within 60 days of filing.

Rent into court. A tenant’s appeal does not stop the writ of possession unless the tenant pays the clerk all rent properly payable under the lease since the date the action was filed, and keeps paying rent as it comes due during the appeal. If the amount is disputed, the court determines it. If the tenant misses a payment, the court must, on your motion, issue the writ and put you in full possession. (§ 35-9A-461(d); see also § 6-6-351).

The only pay-and-stay right we found is the cure period inside the notice. No statewide right to counsel, mandatory mediation or record-sealing law.

6. The writ of possession and the lockout

Timing (§ 35-9A-461(e)). After a judgment for the landlord, the writ of possession issues on the landlord’s application; it is not automatic. The automatic stay on issuing the writ is seven days, in place of the longer stay under Rule 62.

Who executes it. The writ commands the sheriff or a constable to put the plaintiff in possession (§ 6-6-337). We found no statute fixing how quickly the officer must act after the writ issues; scheduling depends on the sheriff’s office. A tenant who re-enters without just cause can be held in contempt, and successive writs may issue (§ 35-9A-461(e)). If you take possession and the judgment is later reversed on appeal, the circuit court may restore the tenant to possession as against you, though not as against a third party (§ 35-9A-461(f)).

Tenant property (§ 35-9A-423(d)). If the tenant leaves property in the unit more than 14 days after termination under the act, the landlord has no duty to store or protect it and may dispose of it without obligation. A unit is considered abandoned if electric service has been terminated for seven consecutive days (§ 35-9A-423(e)).

Self-help is prohibited. A landlord may not recover possession by action or otherwise, including by willfully interrupting heat, running water, hot water, electric, gas or other essential service, except in case of abandonment, surrender or as the act permits (§ 35-9A-427). A tenant who is unlawfully removed or excluded, or whose services are willfully cut, may recover possession or terminate, and either way recover up to three months’ periodic rent or actual damages, whichever is greater, plus reasonable attorney’s fees (§ 35-9A-407).

Recent law changes landlords should know

• October 1, 2026 (Jefferson County only). HB 234, enacted February 24, 2026, lets the Jefferson County sheriff appoint certified special reserve deputies to execute writs for real property when more writs are pending than the sheriff can execute in a reasonable time. A fee of up to $250 goes directly to the deputy.
• 2026 and 2025: no other enacted eviction change that we found. HB 80 (2026), on notice to tenants about property disposal and officer immunity, passed the House and died in the Senate. The codified text of § 35-9A-421 shows no amendment later than 2018.
• June 1, 2024. Act 2024-237 (HB 182) created a sworn-affidavit procedure for an owner to have law enforcement remove squatters. It excludes a tenant holding over in a periodic tenancy under § 35-9A-441; it is not a shortcut around eviction.

What actually goes wrong

• Counting calendar days. The notices are seven business days from receipt. Filing on the eighth calendar day is premature.
• A nonpayment notice without the numbers. State the rent and late fees owed and the termination date.
• Taping the pre-suit notice to the door and nothing more. The posting-plus-mail rule in § 35-9A-461(c) is for court papers. The termination notice must be delivered and received.
• Taking rent after the notice period. It can waive the termination (§ 35-9A-424).
• Not applying for the writ. The writ issues only on application, after the seven-day stay.
• Clearing out the unit too early. Wait out the 14 days in § 35-9A-423(d) and document.

When to bring in an attorney

An individual owner with a clean nonpayment notice can often handle a district court case alone. Use counsel if the owner is an entity, the tenant counterclaims, raises retaliation or fair housing, or appeals, the housing is subsidized, or you rely on a noncurable default you will have to prove. The Alabama attorneys listed below represent landlords in eviction cases.

Sources

• Alabama Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, Ala. Code § 35-9A-101 and following, sections as cited above (2025 code).
• Ala. Code § 6-6-310, 6-6-330, 6-6-332, 6-6-335, 6-6-337, 6-6-350 and 6-6-351 (forcible entry and unlawful detainer); § 11-80-8.1 (rent control preemption).
• Ala. R. Civ. P. 12(dc) (judicial.alabama.gov).
• Circuit clerk unlawful detainer pages for Mobile and Lee Counties (alacourt.gov).
• 2026 HB 234 (enrolled text, Alabama Legislature) and 2026 HB 80 (LegiScan history); Alabama Realtors 2025 and 2026 session recaps; Act 2024-237 summary, Alabama League of Municipalities.

This guide is general information about Alabama procedure, not legal advice. Local practice varies and statutes change; confirm current text before relying on any deadline.