Legal Notice - Eviction

ALABAMA RESIDENTIAL TENANCY NOTICE WORKBOOK

This is a preparation workbook for a pre-suit notice. It is not a complaint, summons, court-process form, writ, or agreement. Complete only one statutory notice path unless Alabama counsel confirms that combined grounds are appropriate. Remove unused paths, drafting notes, and internal checklists from the copy delivered to Tenant.

1. Scope Gate

This workbook is designed for a dwelling-unit tenancy governed by the Alabama Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act.

☐ Confirm the premises are used as a home, residence, or sleeping place.

☐ Confirm the arrangement is not excluded by Ala. Code § 35-9A-122, including specified institutional, purchaser, organization-member, transient lodging, employment-conditioned, condominium-owner/cooperative, agricultural, and limited seller-occupancy arrangements.

☐ Review the complete rental agreement, valid rules, amendments, payment ledger, prior notices, cure history, tenant complaints, housing-code matters, bankruptcy information, subsidized-housing requirements, and any federal or local overlay.

☐ Confirm the person issuing the notice is the landlord or an authorized agent.

2. Select One Notice Path

Path A — Unpaid Rent: Ala. Code § 35-9A-421(b)

Use this path only when rent is unpaid when due.

The rental agreement will terminate on [DATE], a date not less than seven business days after Tenant receives this notice, unless Tenant remedies the breach within that seven-business-day period by paying:

Payment must be made by [METHOD] to [PAYEE AND LOCATION / PORTAL] by [DEADLINE AND TIME]. Obtain counsel review before including utilities, damages, collection costs, attorney's fees, or other charges in the statutory cure amount.

Path B — Material Noncompliance: Ala. Code § 35-9A-421(a)

The following acts or omissions constitute a material noncompliance with the rental agreement or a noncompliance with Ala. Code § 35-9A-301 materially affecting health and safety:

[STATE DATES, PEOPLE, CONDUCT, LEASE PROVISIONS, AND SUPPORTING FACTS WITH ENOUGH DETAIL TO IDENTIFY THE BREACH]

☐ Curable breach. The rental agreement will terminate on [DATE], a date not less than seven business days after Tenant receives this notice, unless Tenant adequately remedies the breach before that date by:

[STATE THE SPECIFIC, LAWFUL CURE]

☐ Intentional material misrepresentation. Counsel has confirmed that the stated conduct is an intentional misrepresentation of a material fact in a rental agreement or application. The rental agreement will terminate on [DATE], a date not less than seven business days after Tenant receives this notice. Ala. Code § 35-9A-421(a) states that this ground may not be remedied or cured.

Path C — Noncurable Default: Ala. Code § 35-9A-421(d)

Counsel has confirmed the following statutory noncurable ground:

☐ Illegal-drug conduct described in § 35-9A-421(d)(1).

☐ Firearm or ammunition conduct described in § 35-9A-421(d)(2), after reviewing the statutory defense exceptions.

☐ Criminal assault described in § 35-9A-421(d)(3), after reviewing the statutory defense exceptions.

☐ Substantially the same acts or omissions as a breach noticed and cured within the preceding six months. Attach the prior notice and cure record.

☐ The tenant has already cured breaches more than twice within a 12-month period and the landlord has not expressly consented in writing to another cure.

Facts and statutory ground:

[____________________________________________________________]

The rental agreement will terminate on [DATE] after the seven-day notice required by § 35-9A-421(d). Tenant has no statutory right to remedy this identified default unless Landlord consents.

Path D — Periodic Tenancy Termination: Ala. Code § 35-9A-441

☐ Week-to-week tenancy. The tenancy will terminate on [DATE], at least seven days after this written notice is given.

☐ Month-to-month tenancy. The tenancy will terminate on [DATE], with this written notice given at least 30 days before the periodic rental date specified in the notice.

Periodic rental date: [________________].

This path is not a notice of breach. Confirm that the lease, subsidy program, fair-housing law, retaliation rules, and other applicable law permit the termination.

3. Notice to Tenant

Date: [__/__/____]

To: [TENANT FULL LEGAL NAME(S)]

Premises: [FULL ADDRESS AND UNIT]

From: [LANDLORD / AUTHORIZED AGENT]

This notice is given under the statutory path selected and completed above. Only that completed path is incorporated into this notice.

If the rental agreement terminates and possession is not surrendered, Landlord may file an eviction action. An eviction is a civil court action; this notice does not itself remove Tenant, authorize a lockout, transfer possession, or permit removal of Tenant's property.

Questions about payment or cure logistics may be directed to:

Contact: [________________________________]

Address / approved delivery point: [________________________________]

Telephone / email: [________________________________]

Nothing in this notice waives a defense, claim, protection, or remedy that cannot lawfully be waived.

4. Deadline Calculation Record

Ala. Code § 35-9A-141(3) defines “day” as a calendar day notwithstanding Alabama Rule of Civil Procedure 6 and moves the last day to the next official business day when a chapter deadline lands on a weekend or official holiday. Sections 35-9A-421(a) and (b), however, expressly use business days. Counsel should calculate each deadline from the governing subsection and actual receipt facts.

Do not reuse a generic “exclude the service day and include the last day” formula without confirming it for the selected path.

5. Delivery and Receipt Record

Sections 35-9A-421(a) and (b) make receipt important. Ala. Code § 35-9A-144(e) says § 35-9A-144's general notice rules do not apply to a notice required to terminate a tenancy or evict a tenant. Do not import the lawsuit-service alternatives in § 35-9A-461(c) into this pre-suit step. Select a delivery method only after reviewing the rental agreement and applicable law.

☐ Personal delivery to Tenant.

☐ Delivery by [MAIL / COURIER] with tracking or receipt evidence.

☐ Delivery to another person: [NAME, RELATIONSHIP, AUTHORITY].

☐ Posting plus another method, used only after counsel confirmed it is valid for this pre-suit notice.

☐ Other counsel-approved method: [________________________________].

Delivery details:

I certify that the delivery facts recorded above are true and correct based on my personal knowledge.

Signature: ______________________________

Printed name: [________________________________]

Date: [__/__/____]

6. Pre-Suit Compliance Review

☐ The notice states the acts and omissions with sufficient factual detail.

☐ The nonpayment path states unpaid rent and late fees owed to remedy the breach, without unverified add-ons.

☐ The correct seven-business-day, seven-day, seven-day periodic, or 30-day periodic path was selected and calculated.

☐ Prior cures were documented before relying on § 35-9A-421(d).

☐ All known rent payments, tenders, agreements, and landlord consents were reviewed before filing suit.

☐ Retaliation was screened under Ala. Code § 35-9A-501, including tenant complaints to government, complaints to the landlord under § 35-9A-204, and tenant-organization activity.

☐ Disability, fair-housing, domestic-violence, military-service, bankruptcy, subsidy, and local-law issues were screened as applicable.

☐ No lockout, utility interruption, or other self-help removal is planned; Ala. Code § 35-9A-407 supplies remedies for unlawful ouster, exclusion, or willful diminution of essential services.

☐ Any request for attorney's fees relies on applicable law, not a rental-agreement term prohibited by Ala. Code § 35-9A-163(a)(3).

☐ If suit becomes necessary, the caption and filing route will follow the selected court's current forms and rules. Ala. Code § 35-9A-461 gives district and circuit courts jurisdiction according to their established jurisdictions and places venue in the county where the leased property is located.

7. Electronic Delivery Warning

Do not assume that email, an electronic portal, an electronic signature, or an electronic copy satisfies delivery or receipt requirements. Ala. Code § 8-1A-3(c)(2)b excludes from Alabama's Uniform Electronic Transactions Act a notice of default, eviction, or right to cure under a rental agreement for an individual's primary residence. Use electronic delivery only if counsel identifies other controlling authority and preserves adequate proof.

Sources and References

• Alabama Legislature, Code of Alabama, Ala. Code §§ 35-9A-122, 35-9A-141, 35-9A-144, 35-9A-163, 35-9A-407, 35-9A-421, 35-9A-441, 35-9A-461, and 35-9A-501.
• Alabama Legislature, Code of Alabama, Ala. Code § 8-1A-3(c)(2)b.