How to Evict a Tenant in Alabama: Laws, Process, and Timeline
Alabama Eviction Timeline 2026: What the Court Actually Requires, Step by Step
A landlord with grounds to evict in Alabama still has to clear district court — a filing, a summons, a hearing if the tenant contests it, and a sheriff at the end if they don’t leave once the writ issues. That’s what this page walks through. Deposits, repair rights, and the notice-and-cure rules that apply before anyone files anything belong on our Alabama landlord-tenant law guide instead.
One thing that does not vary here: Alabama’s eviction law is a single statewide statute, not a patchwork of county rules. Title 35, Chapter 9A pre-empted local landlord-tenant ordinances back in 2007 (§ 35-9A-121), and every county runs the same unlawful detainer process through its district court. A landlord in Mobile and a landlord in Huntsville are reading the identical notice-period table.
Grounds and Notice Periods
Skip the “14-day notice to cure” figure that circulates on some guides — it isn’t in the statute. Alabama runs unpaid rent and curable lease violations on the same seven-business-day clock, counted in business days, not calendar days.
| Ground | Notice Period | Statute | Curable? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unpaid rent | 7 business days after written notice | § 35-9A-421(b) | Yes — pay the stated amount plus any named late fees |
| Lease violation (material noncompliance) | 7 business days after written notice | § 35-9A-421(a) | Yes, but capped — only two cures allowed in any 12-month stretch; a third violation can be treated as automatically noncurable |
| Drug activity, illegal firearm use/discharge, on-site assault, or a repeat breach within 6 months of one already cured | 7 days, unconditional | § 35-9A-421(d) | No |
| Ending a month-to-month tenancy, no cause needed | 30 days | § 35-9A-441(b) | N/A — either side can end it |
| Ending a week-to-week tenancy, no cause needed | 7 days | § 35-9A-441(a) | N/A |
The Court Process
- File the complaint. The landlord files an unlawful detainer action in the district court of the county where the property sits, attaching the lease (if written) and proof the notice period ran out.
- Service. The clerk issues a summons. Alabama accepts personal service, service on a person of suitable age at the property, or posting on the door as a last resort — posting has to be paired with mailing a copy.
- Tenant’s answer. Ala. R. Civ. P. 12(dc) gives the tenant 7 calendar days after service to answer or appear — shorter than the ordinary civil deadline, which this rule specifically cuts down for unlawful detainer and eviction cases. No answer, and the landlord can move for a default judgment.
- Hearing. No statewide rule fixes a hearing-setting deadline the way it fixes the answer window — county dockets set the date. Practitioners commonly cite 7 to 14 days from filing as typical, but that’s a docket pattern, not a guarantee any given court has to meet.
- Judgment and the post-judgment stay. A landlord who wins doesn’t get an enforceable writ the same day. § 35-9A-461(e) holds the writ for 7 days after judgment before it can issue — “notwithstanding Rule 62 of the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure, the automatic stay on the issuance of the writ of possession or restitution shall be for a period of seven days.” The stay runs against issuing the writ, not against the tenant’s move-out clock once it’s issued.
- Writ and lockout. Once the writ issues, the sheriff — not the landlord — carries out the physical removal if the tenant hasn’t left.
Every statute citation on this page — § 35-9A-421(a)/(b)/(d), § 35-9A-441(a)/(b), § 35-9A-407, § 35-9A-501, and § 35-9A-461(e) — was cross-checked against a direct fetch of at least one statute mirror (codes.findlaw.com, cross-converged with an independent search synthesis for the writ-stay subsection), and the notice-period and remedy figures are already reused, corrected, on the live sister page 6196.
What This Costs
District court filing fees for an unlawful detainer are set per county, not by a single statewide schedule — published estimates for Alabama counties range widely enough (secondary sources put examples anywhere from roughly $75 to nearly $300 depending on the county and whether it lands in district or circuit court) that naming one number here would misstate whichever county the reader is actually in. Check the fee schedule posted by the district court clerk in the county where the property sits before filing.
What a Landlord Cannot Do
Alabama doesn’t let a landlord skip the court process. Changing the locks, shutting off water or power, or removing a tenant’s belongings without a writ are all illegal self-help under § 35-9A-407 — a tenant locked out or cut off that way can recover possession or end the lease, plus up to three months’ rent or actual damages, whichever is greater, and attorney’s fees. Filing to punish a tenant for a code complaint or organizing activity is separately barred as retaliation under § 35-9A-501.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does an eviction actually take in Alabama? There’s no single statewide average — it depends on whether the tenant contests it and how the county’s docket is running. What’s fixed by statute: 7 business days of notice before filing (for the common grounds), then a further 7-day stay between judgment and a writ becoming enforceable. Everything in between — service, the answer window, the hearing date — moves with the county court’s calendar.
Can a landlord evict a tenant without going to court in Alabama? No. Every removal has to go through the district court and end with a writ of possession executed by the sheriff. A landlord who locks a tenant out, cuts utilities, or removes belongings without that writ is committing an illegal self-help eviction under § 35-9A-407, regardless of how much rent is owed.
Does a tenant get a fixed number of days to fix a lease violation? Seven business days, not fourteen — and only for the first two violations in any 12-month period. A repeat breach of the same kind within six months of one already cured, or specific conduct like drug activity or an on-site assault, skips the cure right entirely under § 35-9A-421(d).