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    This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License< The posts to this blog are the intellectual property of Kira Fonteneau. However, you are authorized to make certain use of them pursuant to a Creative Commons License. Under the terms of that license, you can copy or republish any post, for any non-commercial purpose, so long as you attribute the post to this blog. However, you are not authorized to make any commercial use of this blog without first obtaining express written permission from Kira Fonteneau.
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Landlord/Tenant

Landlord Tenant Law in 2007
Alabama landlord tenant law underwent a significant change in 2007. Until this year, landlords had a significant advantage over tenants when it came to protecting their property rights. Before this year, Alabama relied on traditional principles of contract law to govern interactions between landlords and tenants. With the adoption of changes to the landlord and tenant laws, came new safeguards for tenants which can drastically effect how landlords and tenants will interact in the future. It is extremely important for landlords to review and update their leases this year because many landlord-friendly provisions in leases are no longer enforceable and could result in increased liability to the tenant in the event of litigation. If you are interested in a review of your lease to determine if it complies with the Alabama’s new landlord tenant law send an email to info@thefonteneaufirm.com.

Alabama Evictions
The Alabama code defines an unlawful detainer as a situation where one who has lawfully entered into possession of lands as tenant fails or refuses, after the termination of the possessory interest of the tenant, to deliver possession of the premises to anyone lawfully entitled or his or her agent or attorney. That means that a tenant who once had the right to possession of property refuses to leave even after their right to be in possession ends. This can occur in a number of ways. First, a tenant can remain in possession after the lease expires. This is also known as “holding over”. Second, the tenant can violate the terms of the lease, either by failing to pay rent or following the rules set forth in the lease. In either case, the landlord must initiate a legal process commonly known as an eviction to have a tenant removed from the property.

The eviction process for a breach of a lease signed in 2007 is outlined in Ala. Code § 35-9A-421. That code section requires a landlord whose tenant has breached any of the terms of the lease to give the tenant a written notice that explains the conduct that gave rise to the breach and provide 14 days for the tenant to remedy the breach. If however, the tenant fails to pay rent that is due, the landlord is only required to provide the tenant 7 days to cure the breach. If the tenant fails to remedy the breach within the time specified in the notice, the lease terminates. Once the lease is terminated the landlord may seek eviction in the district court of the county where the property is located.

Eviction Services

The Fonteneau Firm is pleased to offer eviction services to landlords in Alabama.

Uncontested Eviction - Landlords $550.00 plus filing and service fees
Initiation of the Unlawful Detainer process and filing the appropriate pleadings in District Court.

Contested Eviction - Landlords $1000.00 plus filing and service fees
Initiation of the Unlawful Detainer process, filing the appropriate pleadings in District Court and representing the landlord at trial.

The Fonteneau Firm also represents tenants who have been wrongfully evicted.

Alabama law allows tenants who have been wrongfully evicted to sue their landlords for damages.  If you believe that you have been wrongfully evicted, give the Fonteneau Firm a call today or send us an email at info@thefonteneaufirm.com

The following language is required pursuant to Rule 7.2, Alabama Rules of Professional Conduct. No representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers. This web site is designed for general information only. The information presented at this site should not be construed to be formal legal advice nor the formation of a lawyer/client relationship.