Eviction Notice Requirements in Alabama

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Alabama's residential notice rules are part of the Alabama Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, the short title stated in § 35-9A-101. An eviction that follows an uncured notice is a court action governed by § 35-9A-461, not a landlord self-help remedy.

Notice for unpaid rent

If rent is unpaid when due, the landlord may "deliver a written notice to terminate the lease" stating the rent and late fees owed and that the tenancy "will terminate upon a date not less than seven business days after receipt of the notice" (§ 35-9A-421(b)). Pay the full amount within those 7 business days and the tenancy does not terminate. The count is in business days, so weekends and legal holidays don't count — a "7-business-day" notice is a longer real deadline than a flat seven-calendar-day one.

Notice for a lease violation

For a material lease breach — or a noncompliance materially affecting health and safety — the landlord's written notice must specify "the acts and omissions constituting the breach" and set termination "not less than seven business days after receipt" (§ 35-9A-421(a)). Fixing the problem before the stated date preserves the tenancy. One breach cannot be cured: "an intentional misrepresentation of a material fact in a rental agreement or application may not be remedied or cured."

Unconditional quit (no cure allowed)

Alabama singles out serious conduct as a "noncurable default." Illegal drugs in the unit or common areas, illegal use or discharge of a firearm, criminal assault of a tenant or guest, or repeating substantially the same breach within six months all let the landlord "terminate the rental agreement upon a seven-day notice," and "the tenant shall have no right to remedy such a default unless the landlord consents" (§ 35-9A-421(d)). Note the day count here is a flat seven-day notice, not the seven-business-day clock used for ordinary breaches.

Ending a month-to-month tenancy

Either party may end a month-to-month tenancy by written notice "at least 30 days before the periodic rental date specified in the notice," and a week-to-week tenancy on at least 7 days' notice (§ 35-9A-441(a),(b)). No reason is required.

How the notice must be served

Alabama has a trap here. The Act's general notice-delivery rule — the one that says a mailed notice is received three days after mailing — expressly does not apply to eviction: "notice provided in this section does not apply to the notice required to terminate a tenancy or evict a tenant" (§ 35-9A-144(e)). Instead, the termination statute measures its deadlines from the tenant's actual "receipt" of the written notice (§ 35-9A-421(a),(b)). The Act does not prescribe a single method — personal delivery, posting, or certified mail are all used in practice — so what matters is that the tenant actually receives it and that the count runs from receipt. The summons for the eviction lawsuit itself is served under the court rules.

Tenant's right to cure/reinstate

Pay the rent within the 7 business days, or fix a lease breach in that window, to stop the termination — unless the ground is one of the § 35-9A-421(d) noncurable defaults. And Alabama caps curing: "no breach... may be cured by a tenant more than two times in any 12-month period" without the landlord's written consent (§ 35-9A-421(d)). Separately, retaliation is a defense: a landlord may not bring or threaten to bring an action for possession because the tenant complained to a housing-code agency, complained to the landlord, or organized or joined a tenants' union (§ 35-9A-501).

What trips people up

"7 business days" is not "7 days." Both the nonpayment and the ordinary lease-breach notices run on business days, excluding weekends and holidays, and the clock starts when the tenant receives the notice — not when the landlord mails or posts it. That makes the real deadline meaningfully longer than the number suggests.

Two cures and you're out. Even for otherwise-curable breaches, the same tenant cannot cure more than twice in any 12-month period without the landlord's written consent (§ 35-9A-421(d)). A third violation in a year can be treated as noncurable.

The general "mailed = received in 3 days" rule does not apply to eviction notices. Section 35-9A-144(e) carves eviction notices out of the Act's delivery presumptions, so a landlord cannot rely on the three-day mailing presumption to prove the tenant "received" a termination notice; actual receipt controls.

Common questions

How long do I have to pay before an Alabama eviction? At least 7 business days from when you receive the written notice (§ 35-9A-421(b)). Weekends and holidays don't count toward the seven.

Can my landlord evict me with no chance to fix it? Only for the specific "noncurable" grounds — illegal drugs, illegal firearm use, criminal assault of a tenant or guest, or repeating the same violation within six months — on a 7-day notice (§ 35-9A-421(d)). Ordinary breaches get a cure period.

Can my landlord end my month-to-month lease for no reason? Yes — with at least 30 days' written notice tied to the rental date (§ 35-9A-441(b)). Alabama has no statewide just-cause requirement.

Does it matter how the notice reaches me? Yes. The deadline runs from your actual receipt of the notice, and the Act's usual "mailed = received in three days" shortcut does not apply to eviction notices (§ 35-9A-144(e)).

Statutes and sources

• Ala. Code § 35-9A-421 — landlord's termination notices: 7-business-day lease-breach cure (a); 7-business-day nonpayment notice (b); two-cure cap and the seven-day noncurable-default list (d). https://law.justia.com/codes/alabama/title-35/chapter-9a/article-4/division-2/section-35-9a-421/ (accessed 2026-07-10)
• Ala. Code § 35-9A-441 — periodic tenancy: 30-day month-to-month and 7-day week-to-week termination notice. https://law.justia.com/codes/alabama/title-35/chapter-9a/article-4/division-3/section-35-9a-441/ (accessed 2026-07-10)
• Ala. Code § 35-9A-144 — general notice rule, which by subsection (e) does not apply to a notice to terminate a tenancy or evict a tenant. https://law.justia.com/codes/alabama/title-35/chapter-9a/article-1/division-3/section-35-9a-144/ (accessed 2026-07-10)
• Ala. Code § 35-9A-501 — retaliatory conduct prohibited; possession action barred after a code complaint, a complaint to the landlord, or tenant-union activity, available as a defense. https://law.justia.com/codes/alabama/title-35/chapter-9a/article-5/section-35-9a-501/ (accessed 2026-07-10)