Alabama Evictions 5 Steps to follow.

Default for Non-payment of Rent Alabama 

Step One: The Termination Notice

Under Alabama law, the first thing you must do is serve, or have served by your attorney, a seven day notice to the tenant stating that if the past due rent, and all appli­cable charges, are not paid, the lease is terminated after the expiration of seven days from the date of service of the notice. The termination notice is served by mailing it to the tenant and by either personally serving it on the tenant or posting it on the door of the residence. It is absolutely imperative that you not accept rent after the service of the termination notice. If any rent – no matter how small – is accepted, the process has to begin over with a new termination notice. Therefore, if you accept rent after the termination notice is served, make sure that the ten­ant has paid in full all that is due. The best practice is to accept only a certified check or money order at this point to ensure that there is no problem with the tenant’s check.

If the tenant has defaulted on the lease by failing to comply with any other term of the lease, by commit­ting a criminal act, or by failing to observe the rules of the community, the steps are only different with regard to the type of notice required and what must be shown at trial. In material non-compliance situations, you must serve the tenant a fourteen day notice stating that if con­dition is not cured, the lease is terminated after expira­tion of fourteen days from date of service of notice. The notice should describe with as much particularity as possible what the condition is, when it was breached, and what is required to rectify the situation. If condi­tion is not cured (or cannot be cured) after fourteen days, then you must file an unlawful detainer action in court.

Continue reading →