Quick Reference: Alabama URLTA at a Glance

Most state landlord-tenant guides are written for owners. Alabama's Act makes that distinction largely irrelevant, because of one sentence in the definitions.

Under § 35-9A-141(7), "landlord" means the owner, lessor, or sublessor of the dwelling unit or the building of which it is a part, and it also means a manager of the premises.

That is not conditional. Several states fold a manager into the definition of landlord only where the manager fails to make a statutory disclosure. Alabama does it outright. If you manage the premises, the chapter's landlord obligations attach to you as a matter of definition, and the disclosure rules in § 35-9A-202 then sit on top of that rather than deciding it.

The second thing to know is that Alabama uses a statewide framework for residential landlord-tenant rights and obligations. This guide covers both, then works through the operating rules: notices, the cure limit, access, the court stage and retaliation.

Alabama Preempts Local Landlord-Tenant Regulation

Section 35-9A-121 is unusually strong, and it changes how a multi-city portfolio should be run.

The chapter "applies to and is the exclusive remedy to regulate and determine rights, obligations, and remedies under a rental agreement, wherever made, for a dwelling unit located within this state."

Then the operative sentence: no resolution or ordinance relative to residential landlords, rental housing codes, or the rights and obligations governing residential landlord and tenant relationships shall be enacted or enforced by any county or municipality, and any such resolution or ordinance enacted either before or after 1 January 2007 is superseded by this chapter.

The carve-out is narrow. A county or municipality may still enact and enforce building codes, health codes, and other general laws that affect rental property, provided those codes equally affect similarly situated owner-occupied residential property. The test is not whether the ordinance is about buildings. It is whether it applies equally to owner-occupied property.

Two practical consequences.

• For landlord-tenant rights and obligations covered by the Act, managers can generally work from one statewide framework rather than separate city-specific landlord-tenant rules.

• But building and health codes still apply, so the maintenance standard is not purely statutory. Confirm that any local requirement you are asked to meet is genuinely a code of general application rather than a rental-specific ordinance, because the latter is superseded.

The Disclosure Rule and the Manager's Exposure

Even though a manager is already a landlord by definition, § 35-9A-202 adds a specific duty and a specific consequence.

• The duty.
  A landlord, or any person authorised to enter into a rental agreement on the landlord's behalf, must disclose to the tenant in writing at or before the commencement of the tenancy the name and business address of the person authorised to manage the premises, and of an owner of the premises or a person authorised to act for the owner for service of process and receiving notices and demands. Under subsection (b), that information must be kept current and the section is enforceable against any successor landlord, owner or manager.

• The consequence.
  Under subsection (c), a person who fails to comply becomes an agent of each person who is a landlord for service of process and receiving notices and demands, and for performing the obligations of the landlord under the chapter and the rental agreement and expending or making available for that purpose all rent collected from the premises.

Read that last clause carefully. In practical terms, the provision requires the person who failed to make the disclosure to use or make available the rent collected from the premises for those landlord obligations.

The Act also provides a statutory end to the manager's future liability. Under § 35-9A-205(b), unless otherwise agreed, a manager of premises that include a dwelling unit is relieved of liability under the rental agreement and the chapter as to events occurring after written notice to the tenant of the termination of management by the manager.

That is worth building into your offboarding process. Ending the management agreement with the owner does not by itself satisfy this statutory notice requirement. Section 35-9A-205(b) ties the manager's relief to written notice to the tenant of the termination of management, and only as to events occurring afterward.

The Seven Business Day Notices

For the two primary landlord-initiated breach notices, Alabama uses a seven business day period.

• Breach of the agreement.
  Under § 35-9A-421(a), where there is a material noncompliance by the tenant with the rental agreement, an intentional misrepresentation of a material fact in a rental agreement or application, or a noncompliance with § 35-9A-301 materially affecting health and safety, the landlord may deliver a written notice to terminate specifying the acts and omissions and stating that the agreement will terminate on a date not less than seven business days after receipt. An intentional misrepresentation in the agreement or application may not be remedied or cured.

• Nonpayment.
  Under § 35-9A-421(b), if rent is unpaid when due the landlord may deliver a written notice to terminate specifying the amount of rent and any late fees owed to remedy the breach, terminating on a date not less than seven business days after receipt.

• Where both apply, the subsection is explicit: if a noncompliance occurs under both (a) and (b), the seven-day notice period for nonpayment in subsection (b) governs.

• Follow the unit the section specifies.
  The seven-day period in § 35-9A-421 is expressly stated as seven business days. Other provisions use "day" differently: under § 35-9A-141(3), "day" means calendar day notwithstanding Rule 6 of the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure, though where a period's last day falls on a weekend or official holiday it moves to the next official business day when the court is open. Follow the time unit named in the applicable section rather than applying one counting rule across the chapter.

• Do not apply the general receipt rules to a termination notice.
  Section 35-9A-144 sets out general notice rules, including that a tenant presumptively receives a notice when it is delivered in hand or three days after mailing. But subsection (e) excludes the notice required to terminate a tenancy or evict a tenant. The termination provisions themselves control the required notice and its timing.

• And seven business days is the notice period, not the eviction timeline.
  If the tenant does not vacate, the landlord must still proceed through the court process under § 35-9A-461.

The Two-Cure Limit and the Noncurable Defaults

This is the provision most likely to change how a manager handles a repeat problem, and it was added in 2018.

Under § 35-9A-421(d), notwithstanding § 35-9A-141, no breach of any of the terms or obligations of the lease may be cured by a tenant more than two times in any 12-month period, except by the express written consent of the landlord.

The same subsection then lists acts that constitute a noncurable default, where the landlord may terminate on a seven-day notice and the tenant has no right to remedy unless the landlord consents. The list is expressly non-exhaustive, and includes:

1. Manufacture, cultivation, importation, transportation, possession, furnishing, administering or use of illegal drugs in the dwelling unit or common areas

2. Illegal use, manufacture, importation, possession, furnishing or discharging of a firearm or ammunition on the premises, except in self-defence, defence of a third party, or as permissible under § 13A-3-23

3. Criminal assault of a tenant or guest on the premises, subject to the same exceptions

4. Any breach involving substantially the same acts or omissions as a breach for which a notice to terminate was previously given and cured by the tenant, if the second breach occurs within six months of the first

Item 4 is particularly important for managers, because it makes a substantially similar repeat breach within six months noncurable when the statutory conditions are met: the first breach must have been the subject of a notice to terminate, and must have been cured.

That makes the notice history the operative record. Without a retrievable log of prior notices and what was cured, the two-cure limit and the six-month rule are unavailable in practice even where the facts would support them.

Two Provisions That Cut in Opposite Directions

The tenant cannot withhold rent. Section 35-9A-164 is one sentence: the tenant may not withhold payment of rent to the landlord, while in possession, to enforce any of the tenant's rights under the chapter. Instead, the Act provides other remedies for qualifying tenant claims, including statutory termination under § 35-9A-401, damages, injunctive relief and counterclaims.

Under § 35-9A-405(a), in an action for possession or for rent where the tenant is in possession, the tenant may counterclaim for any amount recoverable, and shall pay into court rent accrued and thereafter accruing. If no rent remains due after the court determines the net amounts, judgment is entered for the tenant in the possession action. Where the defence or counterclaim is without merit and not raised in good faith, the landlord may recover reasonable attorney's fees.

But accepting rent waives the breach. Section 35-9A-424 is equally short and runs the other way: acceptance of rent with knowledge of a default by the tenant, or acceptance of performance that varies from the terms of the agreement, constitutes a waiver of the landlord's right to terminate for that breach, unless otherwise agreed after the breach has occurred.

The two together produce a clear operational rule. A tenant in arrears must keep paying. A manager who takes a payment knowing of a default has given up the termination unless a written reservation is agreed after the breach.

Access: Two Days, and Posting Counts

Under § 35-9A-303(c), except as provided in the section or unless impracticable, the landlord may show the premises at any reasonable time by giving the tenant at least two days' notice of intent to enter, and may enter only at reasonable times.

Alabama then permits a method many states do not: posting a note on the primary door of entry stating the intended time and purpose of the entry is a permitted method of notice for the right of access.

Three further provisions ease the operational burden. Under subsection (d), a general notice or advance schedule in excess of two days for repairs, maintenance, pest control or health and safety service means no additional day's notice is required, and a tenant may consent to shorter notice. Under subsection (e), a tenant who requests repairs or improvements is deemed to have granted consent to entry to carry them out. Under subsection (b), entry without consent is limited to an emergency, a court order, §§ 35-9A-422 and 35-9A-423(b), showing the unit on the stated conditions, or reasonable cause to believe the premises are abandoned.

The Court Stage

• Priority.
  Under § 35-9A-461(b), district and circuit courts have jurisdiction over eviction actions, venue lies in the county where the property is located, and eviction actions are entitled to precedence in scheduling over all other civil cases.

• Service.
  Under subsection (c), service follows the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure, but where the defendant cannot be served personally, service may be made on any person sui juris residing on the premises, or, if after reasonable effort none is found, by posting a copy on the door plus first class mail to the premises or the defendant's last known address on the same day or by the close of the next business day. Service by posting is complete as of the date of mailing.

• Appeal.
  Under subsection (d), any party may appeal a district court eviction judgment to circuit court within seven days of entry, and a timely post-judgment motion suspends that time. On appeal, the clerk schedules the action as a preferred case, set for trial within 60 days of filing.

  Critically, an appeal by a tenant does not prevent issuance of a writ of restitution or possession unless the tenant pays to the clerk all rents properly payable since the filing of the action and continues paying as rent comes due during the appeal. If the tenant fails to pay, the court shall issue the writ on motion.

• The writ.
  Under subsection (e), a writ of possession issues on application by the landlord, and notwithstanding Rule 62, the automatic stay on issuance is seven days. A tenant who re-enters without just cause may be held in contempt. Under subsection (f), if the judgment is later reversed, the circuit court may restore the tenant to possession as against the landlord, though not as against a third party.

Retaliation, Prohibited Lease Terms and Liens

• Retaliation.
  Under § 35-9A-501(a), a landlord may not retaliate by discriminatorily increasing rent, decreasing services, or bringing or threatening a possession action because the tenant complained to a governmental agency about a code violation materially affecting health and safety, complained to the landlord of a § 35-9A-204 violation, or organised or joined a tenant's union. The tenant is entitled to the remedies provided in § 35-9A-407, which can include up to three months' periodic rent or actual damages, whichever is greater, plus reasonable attorney's fees, and retaliation is a defence to a possession action. Subsection (c) preserves four routes for the landlord, including where the tenant is in default in rent or has committed other material violations of the lease.

• Prohibited lease terms.
  Under § 35-9A-163(a), a rental agreement may not have the tenant waive rights under §§ 35-9A-204, 35-9A-401 or 35-9A-404 or the security deposit requirements, authorise confession of judgment, agree to pay the landlord's attorney's fees or cost of collection, or agree to exculpation, limitation of liability or indemnity. Such a provision is unenforceable, and a landlord who seeks to enforce a provision known to be prohibited exposes itself to actual damages plus up to one month's periodic rent and reasonable attorney's fees.

• Liens and self-help.
  Under § 35-9A-425, a landlord's lien in the tenant's household goods is unenforceable unless perfected before 1 January 2007, and distraint for rent is abolished. Under § 35-9A-427, a landlord may not recover or take possession by action or otherwise, including willful diminution of services by interrupting essential services, except on abandonment, surrender, or as permitted in the chapter.

• Deposits. 
  It sits at § 35-9A-201, with a one month cap subject to three exceptions and a 60-day return deadline carrying a double-deposit penalty. We cover those rules in detail in our Alabama security deposit guide.

What the Chapter Does Not Cover

Section 35-9A-122 excludes eight categories unless created to avoid the chapter, including certain institutional residences, occupancy under a contract of sale, fraternal and social organisation housing, transient hotel and motel arrangements, employee housing tied to employment about the premises, condominium and cooperative arrangements, agricultural rentals, and post-sale occupancy by the seller or the seller's family for not more than 36 months. Confirm the tenancy falls within the Act before relying on its notice and remedy provisions.

Under § 35-9A-102(c), the chapter applies only to the residential relationship and does not create any duties or causes of action in tort, nor deprive anyone of tort claims existing apart from it.

Common Alabama Compliance Mistakes

1. Assuming manager obligations depend on disclosure. Under § 35-9A-141(7) a manager of the premises is a landlord by definition.

2. Building a city-by-city compliance layer. Section 35-9A-121 supersedes county and municipal ordinances on landlord-tenant rights and obligations.

3. Treating any local rule as valid because it concerns buildings. The carve-out requires the code to equally affect similarly situated owner-occupied property.

4. Counting the notice period in calendar days. Section 35-9A-421 uses seven business days.

5. Omitting the rent and late fee amounts. Subsection (b) requires the notice to specify the amount of rent and any late fees owed.

6. Offering a cure on a third breach in twelve months. Subsection (d) limits cures to two in any 12-month period absent express written consent.

7. Treating a repeat breach as curable. A substantially similar breach within six months of a noticed and cured breach is a noncurable default.

8. Accepting rent with knowledge of a default. Section 35-9A-424 waives the right to terminate for that breach.

9. Ending management without telling the tenant. Section 35-9A-205(b) relieves a manager only after written notice to the tenant.

10. Assuming a tenant appeal stops the writ. It does not, unless the tenant pays rent into court under § 35-9A-461(d).

11. Planning around Rule 62. The automatic stay on the writ is seven days under § 35-9A-461(e).

12. Keeping an attorney fee or collection cost clause in the lease. Section 35-9A-163 makes it unenforceable and exposes the landlord to a month's rent plus fees.

Keeping the Notice History Retrievable

Alabama's two most valuable landlord provisions both depend on records a manager either has or does not have.

• The two-cure limit needs a notice log.
  To refuse a third cure in twelve months, or to treat a repeat breach as noncurable, you need to show what the earlier notice said, when it was served, and that the tenant cured. A file that records only the current dispute cannot support either.

• The waiver rule needs payment discipline.
  Because accepting rent with knowledge of a default waives the termination, the question of who accepted what, and when, becomes decisive. That is a payments question before it is a legal one.

RIOO is a property management platform built on NetSuite. Rent records sit in Collecting Rent & Payments, lease terms and management agreements in Contracts & Renewals, and repair history in Service Request & Task Management. Keeping them together makes a notice history retrievable when you need it.

Conclusion

Alabama's Act gives property managers several rules that make disciplined record-keeping especially important.

The two structural facts to absorb are that you are a landlord by definition under § 35-9A-141(7), and that the Act largely preempts local landlord-tenant regulation under § 35-9A-121. Together they create a largely statewide framework for residential landlord-tenant obligations, while placing managers within the Act's definition of "landlord" rather than treating them as an outside service provider.

The operating rules reward record-keeping over speed. Seven business days on both main breach notices. A cure limit of two in twelve months, and a repeat within six months that becomes noncurable. A tenant who cannot withhold rent, and a landlord who waives the breach by accepting it. Two days' notice for access, with posting permitted. And a court stage giving eviction actions scheduling precedence, a seven-day appeal, and a seven-day stay on the writ.

For managers in Birmingham, Montgomery, Huntsville, Mobile and Tuscaloosa, the sequence is: make the § 35-9A-202 disclosure in writing at or before commencement and keep it current; audit the lease template against § 35-9A-163; build a searchable notice history so the two-cure limit and the six-month repeat rule are usable; never accept rent on a known default without an agreement made after the breach; and give the tenant written notice when management ends.

This blog is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The Alabama Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act has been amended, including by Act 2018-473, and individual circumstances differ. Building and health codes of general application continue to apply alongside the chapter. Confirm the current text with the Code of Alabama and consult a licensed Alabama attorney on a specific notice, lease or filing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. Is a property manager a landlord under Alabama law?
Yes. Section 35-9A-141(7) defines "landlord" as the owner, lessor or sublessor, and states that it also means a manager of the premises.

Q2. Can Alabama cities pass their own landlord-tenant rules?
No. Section 35-9A-121 makes the chapter the exclusive remedy and supersedes county and municipal ordinances on residential landlords, rental housing codes and landlord-tenant rights.

Q3. Can a city still enforce building codes on rental property?
Yes, provided the code equally affects similarly situated owner-occupied residential property. Rental-specific ordinances are superseded.

Q4. How much notice is required to evict in Alabama?
For the primary breach and nonpayment notices under § 35-9A-421, the statutory notice period is seven business days, and where both apply the nonpayment period governs. Other termination situations can have different rules.

Q5. How many times can an Alabama tenant cure a breach?
No more than twice in any 12-month period, except by the landlord's express written consent, under § 35-9A-421(d).

Q6. What counts as a noncurable default in Alabama?
Illegal drug activity, illegal firearm use or discharge, criminal assault on the premises, and a breach involving substantially the same acts as a previously noticed and cured breach occurring within six months. The list is not exhaustive.

Q7. Can an Alabama tenant withhold rent for repairs?
No. Section 35-9A-164 prohibits withholding rent while in possession to enforce rights under the chapter. Counterclaims under § 35-9A-405 require rent to be paid into court.

Q8. Does accepting rent waive an eviction in Alabama?
Under § 35-9A-424, accepting rent with knowledge of a default waives the right to terminate for that breach, unless otherwise agreed after the breach occurred.

Q9. How much notice before entering a unit in Alabama?
At least two days under § 35-9A-303(c), and posting a note on the primary entry door stating the time and purpose is a permitted method.

Q10. Does an appeal automatically stop an Alabama eviction?
No. Under § 35-9A-461(d), an appeal does not prevent issuance of a writ of restitution or possession unless the tenant pays the rents properly payable into court and continues making those payments during the appeal.

Q11. When is a manager released from liability in Alabama?
Under § 35-9A-205(b), as to events occurring after written notice to the tenant that the manager's management has terminated.