Free Alabama Residential Lease Agreement

▶ Watch walk-through

A configurable Alabama residential lease agreement that generates a signable multi-page PDF. Built to the Alabama Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act — the one-month deposit cap, the 60-day accounting that costs double if you miss it, and the attorney-fee clause Alabama prohibits.

Alabama Ala. Code ch. 9A 1-Month Deposit Cap Free PDF 2026 Edition

An Alabama residential lease agreement is the written contract governed by the Alabama Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, codified at Ala. Code Title 35, Chapter 9A. Alabama adopted the uniform act relatively late, in 2006, and the version it adopted is unusually landlord-friendly in some places and unusually strict in others — which is exactly why a generic lease template goes wrong here. Alabama caps the security deposit at one month’s rent, and it backs the 60-day return deadline with a double-deposit penalty. It requires only two days’ notice to enter, and lets the landlord give that notice by taping a note to the door. Its eviction notices run in business days, not calendar days. And most importantly, Alabama prohibits the attorney-fee clause that nearly every lease template in circulation includes by default. The generator below builds a lease that reflects each of those rules as the statute actually reads.

Complete the fields below to generate an Alabama residential lease agreement as a signable multi-page PDF. Every field you fill is written into the document, including the utility allocations and each disclosure you check, and the generated lease cites the controlling Alabama section at each point. Before you hand keys to anyone, run proper tenant screening — the lease governs the relationship, screening decides whether you want it. Pair the signed lease with an Alabama move-in / move-out checklist so the 60-day accounting rests on documented condition rather than memory.

Alabama recognizes the standard range of residential arrangements, and the type determines how the tenancy ends. A fixed-term lease runs for a stated period and expires on its own terms. A periodic tenancy renews each period until one side gives notice. Under Ala. Code 35-9A-161(d), when a rental agreement does not fix a definite term, the tenancy is week-to-week if the tenant pays weekly rent and month-to-month in every other case. That default is why an informal arrangement to pay monthly rent creates a month-to-month tenancy by operation of law, with all of Chapter 9A attached to it, even when nothing was signed.

Beyond those, a room or roommate agreement covers a tenant renting one room in an occupied dwelling; a sublease transfers the tenant’s interest to a subtenant while leaving the original tenant liable to the landlord, and is only available where the lease permits it; and a lease-to-own agreement bolts a purchase option onto a tenancy and should be drafted with counsel, since the purchase terms sit outside Chapter 9A. Two categories fall outside this form entirely: a commercial lease is not governed by Chapter 9A at all, and Chapter 9A also excludes several residential situations by its own terms, including occupancy in a hotel or motel, occupancy by a purchaser under a contract of sale, and residence in an institution incident to detention or medical care.

One drafting point specific to Alabama: because Ala. Code 8-9-2(5) is the Statute of Frauds provision covering leases longer than one year, an oral agreement for an eighteen-month tenancy is not enforceable for its full term. Landlords sometimes assume a handshake extension carries the original written lease forward. It does not, and the tenancy usually reverts to month-to-month under Ala. Code 35-9A-161(d), which changes the notice required to end it.

No more than one month’s periodic rent. Ala. Code 35-9A-201(a) prohibits a landlord from demanding or receiving money as security in an amount in excess of one month’s periodic rent. That is a hard statutory cap, and it is one of the sharpest differences between Alabama and states like Florida, which sets no cap at all.

The statute then carves out exactly three exceptions, and they are narrow. Security above one month may be taken for pets, for changes to the premises, or for increased liability risks to the landlord or the premises. Nothing else qualifies. A landlord asking for a large deposit because the applicant’s credit is thin, or because the market is tight, is outside the exceptions. This is why the form above makes you select which exception you are relying on rather than silently accepting any number: if the deposit exceeds one month, the lease should say on its face why the statute permits it.

Note also what the cap covers. It reaches money held “as security” for the tenant’s obligations, which is why a refundable pet deposit sits inside the analysis while genuinely non-refundable fees for a service actually rendered generally do not. The safest drafting is to state the deposit, state any pet deposit separately, and name the exception. The deeper treatment lives in our Alabama security deposit laws guide.

The landlord pays double the tenant’s original deposit. This is the single most consequential deadline in Alabama residential tenancy law, and it is worth stating precisely because it is routinely misdescribed.

Ala. Code 35-9A-201(b) requires that, on termination of the tenancy, money held as security may be applied to accrued rent and to damages the landlord suffered from the tenant’s noncompliance with Ala. Code 35-9A-301 — all as itemized by the landlord in a written notice delivered to the tenant together with the amount due, sixty days after termination of the tenancy and delivery of possession. Subsection (c) adds that if the landlord does not refund the entire deposit, the landlord must within that same 60-day period give the tenant an itemized list of the amounts withheld. Subsection (e) confirms that mailing by first class mail to the address the tenant provided in writing, within sixty days, is sufficient compliance.

Then subsection (f): if the landlord fails to mail a timely refund or accounting within the 60-day period, the landlord shall pay the tenant double the amount of the tenant’s original deposit. Not double the amount improperly withheld — double the whole deposit. A landlord who was entitled to keep every dollar for genuine damage, but who mails the accounting on day sixty-one, can owe twice what they held. Nothing in the section makes the penalty discretionary.

Two mechanics soften the edges slightly. Under subsection (d), the tenant must give a valid written forwarding address on vacating; if the tenant does not, the landlord mails to the tenant’s last known address or to the property itself, and a deposit or check left unclaimed for ninety days is forfeited by the tenant. And under subsection (g), the section does not preclude either party from recovering other damages they are owed. Use the Alabama security deposit itemization form to build the itemized statement, and send it early.

Rent is payable without demand or notice at the time and place the parties agreed. Ala. Code 35-9A-161(c) supplies the defaults where the lease is silent: rent is payable at the dwelling unit, periodic rent is payable at the beginning of any term of one month or less and otherwise in equal monthly installments at the beginning of each month, and rent is uniformly apportionable day to day. That last clause is what makes a prorated first or final month lawful.

Alabama sets no statutory grace period. If rent is due on the first, it is late on the second unless the lease creates a grace period. And Alabama sets no cap on late fees — there is no residential late-fee statute in Chapter 9A at all. The practical limits are contractual and judicial: the fee must be in the lease to be chargeable, and a fee wildly out of proportion to the landlord’s actual loss invites a challenge as an unenforceable penalty rather than a genuine estimate of damages. Our Alabama late fee laws guide covers the drafting in more detail.

Alabama also has no rent-control statute and no rent-increase notice statute. On a fixed-term lease, rent cannot change mid-term unless the lease says so. On a periodic tenancy, a rent change is accomplished by giving the notice that would end the tenancy — thirty days for month-to-month — and offering new terms. That is a meaningful difference from states with a dedicated rent-increase notice period, and it is a common source of confusion for landlords operating in several states.

Two days, and the notice may be a note taped to the door. Ala. Code 35-9A-303 lets the landlord enter to inspect, make necessary or agreed repairs, decorations, alterations or improvements, supply necessary or agreed services, or exhibit the unit to prospective or actual purchasers, mortgagees, tenants, workers or contractors. The tenant may not unreasonably withhold consent.

For showing the premises, the landlord must give at least two days’ notice, and the statute expressly provides that posting a note on the entry door stating the time and purpose of the intended entry satisfies the notice requirement. Where notice of repairs or maintenance was already given more than two days in advance, no further notice is needed. The tenant may agree to a shorter period.

The landlord may enter without consent or notice in case of emergency, under court order, as permitted by Ala. Code 35-9A-422 and 35-9A-423(b), or where the landlord reasonably believes the tenant has abandoned the unit. A tenant’s request for repairs is itself consent to enter and perform them. What the landlord may not do is abuse the right of access or use it to harass the tenant, which the statute states in terms. Our Alabama notice to enter form produces a dated notice that documents compliance, which matters because a door note leaves no record unless you photograph it.

Ala. Code 35-9A-204 places six duties on the landlord: comply with applicable building and housing codes materially affecting health and safety; make all repairs and do whatever is necessary to put and keep the premises in a habitable condition; keep all common areas clean and safe; maintain in good and safe working order all electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating, air-conditioning and other facilities and appliances supplied by the landlord, including elevators; provide and maintain receptacles for garbage and arrange for its removal; and supply running water and reasonable amounts of hot water at all times and reasonable heat, except where the building is not required by law to be equipped for that purpose. Where the code duty is greater than any other listed duty, the code duty controls. The tenant gets no rights under the section for a condition the tenant, a family member, or a guest caused.

Ala. Code 35-9A-301 sets the tenant’s seven duties: comply with code obligations materially affecting health and safety; keep the occupied part of the premises as clean and safe as its condition permits; dispose of ashes, garbage, rubbish and other waste in a clean and safe manner; keep plumbing fixtures as clean as their condition permits; use all electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating, air-conditioning and other facilities reasonably; not deliberately or negligently destroy, deface, damage, impair or remove any part of the premises, nor knowingly permit anyone else to; and conduct themselves, and require guests to conduct themselves, so as not to disturb neighbors’ peaceful enjoyment.

When the landlord does not repair, the tenant follows Ala. Code 35-9A-401: deliver written notice specifying the breach and stating that the lease terminates on a date not less than fourteen days after receipt if the breach is not remedied within that period. If the landlord adequately remedies it in time, the lease continues. The tenant may also recover actual damages, reasonable attorney fees, and injunctive relief — note that this is a statutory fee award to the tenant, which exists independently of any lease clause. On termination under this section the landlord returns all security and unearned prepaid rent. And under Ala. Code 35-9A-405, a tenant who counterclaims in a possession or rent action while still in possession must pay accruing rent into court as it comes due. A dated habitability record is what makes that notice credible.

For a tenancy without a fixed term, Ala. Code 35-9A-441 sets the notice periods. Either party may terminate a week-to-week tenancy by written notice given at least seven days before the termination date stated in the notice, and a month-to-month tenancy by written notice given at least thirty days before the periodic rental date stated in the notice. The phrasing matters: the thirty days runs to the periodic rental date, not to an arbitrary date the landlord picks.

If the tenant remains in possession without the landlord’s consent after expiration or termination, the landlord may bring an action for possession. Where the holdover is willful and not in good faith, the landlord may recover the greater of up to three months’ periodic rent or actual damages, plus reasonable attorney fees. That fee award, again, comes from the statute rather than from a lease clause — which is how Alabama can prohibit fee-shifting clauses while still awarding fees in defined situations. If the landlord consents to continued occupancy, the arrangement is governed instead by Ala. Code 35-9A-161(d), and typically becomes a month-to-month tenancy.

Alabama has no early-termination-fee statute of the kind Florida provides, and no servicemember termination provision inside Chapter 9A — military tenants rely on the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act instead. Both points are worth knowing because multi-state templates frequently carry a state-specific early-termination addendum that has no Alabama authority behind it. Our Alabama breaking-lease laws guide covers when a tenant may leave without liability, and Alabama lease termination laws covers the notice mechanics.

Seven business days — and the word “business” is the part that gets missed. Ala. Code 35-9A-421 governs both tracks. If rent is unpaid when due, the landlord may deliver a written notice specifying the amount of rent and any late fees owed to remedy the breach, and stating that the rental agreement terminates on a date not less than seven business days after receipt of the notice. For a material breach other than nonpayment, the landlord delivers written notice specifying the acts and omissions constituting the breach and stating that the agreement terminates on a date not less than seven business days after receipt if the breach is not remedied in that period.

Two further limits sit inside the same section and are frequently overlooked. First, the two-cure limit: no breach of any term or obligation of the lease may be cured by a tenant more than two times in any twelve-month period except by the landlord’s express written consent. A tenant who has already cured twice has no statutory right to cure a third time. Second, certain defaults are not curable at all — illegal drug activity, illegal use of a firearm, criminal assault, and a substantially identical breach recurring within six months — and the landlord may terminate without offering an opportunity to remedy. Our Alabama seven-day notice to pay rent or quit and notice to cure or quit handle each track.

What a landlord may never do is take possession outside the court process. Ala. Code 35-9A-407 provides that if the landlord unlawfully removes or excludes the tenant, or willfully diminishes services by interrupting heat, running water, hot water, electric, gas or other essential service, the tenant may recover possession or terminate the lease and, either way, recover the greater of up to three months’ periodic rent or actual damages, plus reasonable attorney fees. Alabama also prohibits retaliation under Ala. Code 35-9A-501 — a landlord may not discriminatorily raise rent, cut services, or bring or threaten a possession action because the tenant complained to a code enforcement agency, complained to the landlord about a Section 35-9A-204 violation, or organized or joined a tenant organization.

Alabama is markedly more landlord-friendly here than most states, and the timing is unusual enough to state carefully. Under Ala. Code 35-9A-423, if the lease requires the tenant to notify the landlord of an anticipated absence in excess of fourteen days and the tenant does not, the landlord may recover actual damages. During any absence exceeding fourteen days, the landlord may enter the unit at times reasonably necessary. If the tenant abandons the unit, the landlord must make reasonable efforts to rent it at a fair rental.

Then the provision that has no analogue in many states: if the tenant leaves property in the unit more than fourteen days after termination, the landlord has no duty to store or protect the tenant’s property and may dispose of it without obligation. There is no statutory notice-and-reclaim procedure of the kind Florida provides. Landlords should still document what was left and photograph it, because the protection depends on the tenancy having actually terminated and on the fourteen days having run.

Finally, subsection (e) supplies a bright-line abandonment indicator: in addition to any other means by which a landlord determines that a property has been abandoned, a property shall be considered abandoned if the electric service to the property has been terminated for seven consecutive days. That is a useful, checkable fact rather than a judgment call — but it is an indicator of abandonment, not a licence to skip the possession process where the tenant is plainly still in occupation.

Ala. Code 35-9A-163 lists four provisions a rental agreement may not contain, and this is where most imported templates fail. A rental agreement may not provide that the tenant:

• Waives or forgoes rights or remedies under Ala. Code 35-9A-204 (landlord’s duty to maintain), 35-9A-401 (tenant’s remedy for landlord noncompliance), or 35-9A-404.
• Authorizes any person to confess judgment on a claim arising out of the rental agreement.
• Agrees to pay the landlord’s attorney fees or cost of collection. This is the one that catches almost everyone.
• Agrees to the exculpation or limitation of any liability of the landlord arising under law, or to indemnify the landlord for that liability.

Provisions prohibited by the section are unenforceable. And subsection (b) adds a penalty with real teeth: where a landlord attempts to enforce a provision the landlord knew was prohibited, the tenant may recover, in addition to actual damages, an amount up to one month’s periodic rent and reasonable attorney fees. So the fee-shifting clause a landlord copied in to protect themselves becomes the basis of a fee award against them.

It is worth being precise about what this does not mean, because the rule is often overstated. Alabama does award attorney fees in residential disputes — it simply awards them by statute rather than by contract. A tenant recovers fees under Ala. Code 35-9A-401 for landlord noncompliance and under 35-9A-407 for unlawful ouster or utility cutoff. A landlord recovers fees under 35-9A-441 on a willful bad-faith holdover, and under 35-9A-405 where a tenant’s defense or counterclaim is without merit and not raised in good faith. Those awards survive; a lease clause purporting to create fee-shifting does not. The lease this page generates therefore contains no attorney-fee clause at all, and says so expressly.

One under state law, plus one federal. That is the complete list, and it is far shorter than most templates suggest.

Manager and owner identification — Ala. Code 35-9A-202. The landlord must disclose in writing, at or before the commencement of the tenancy, the name and business address of the person authorized to manage the premises, and of an owner of the premises or a person authorized to act for and on behalf of the owner for the purpose of service of process and for receiving and receipting for notices and demands. The information must be kept current, and the requirement extends to and is enforceable against any successor landlord, owner or manager. Note that Alabama asks for two identifications where many states ask for one, which is why the form above has separate manager fields.

Lead-based paint — federal, 42 U.S.C. 4852d. Any dwelling built before 1978 requires the federal disclosure, the EPA pamphlet, and any known records or reports. Not an Alabama rule, but it applies in Alabama and carries federal penalties. Our Alabama lead-based paint disclosure form handles it.

Alabama does not require a radon disclosure, a flood-risk disclosure, a bed bug disclosure, a mold disclosure, an asbestos disclosure, a methamphetamine contamination disclosure, a military ordnance proximity disclosure, a shared-utility disclosure, a demolition notice, or a sex-offender registry notice in a residential lease. Every one of those comes from another state’s statute book. Including a voluntary disclosure does no harm, but citing an Alabama section for it does, because it signals a document nobody has checked against Chapter 9A.

• Including an attorney-fee clause. Ala. Code 35-9A-163(a)(3) prohibits it. The clause is void, and knowingly enforcing it costs actual damages plus up to one month’s rent plus the tenant’s fees.
• Taking more than one month’s security without naming an exception. Only pets, changes to the premises, or increased liability risks justify exceeding the cap.
• Counting the seven-day notice in calendar days. Both the nonpayment notice and the cure notice run in business days under Ala. Code 35-9A-421.
• Mailing the deposit accounting on day sixty-one. The penalty is double the entire deposit, not double the amount withheld, and the statute gives the court no discretion.
• Forgetting the manager identification. Alabama requires the manager and the owner or the owner’s process agent, not just one of them.
• Importing radon, flood, or bed bug disclosures. None are required in Alabama, and citing an Alabama section for them is a tell that the lease was never checked against Chapter 9A.
• Assuming an unlimited right to cure. Two cures in any twelve-month period is the statutory limit without the landlord’s written consent.
• Adding an indemnity or exculpation clause. Prohibited by Ala. Code 35-9A-163(a)(4), and it carries the same statutory penalty as the fee clause.
• Relying on an oral extension of a long lease. A lease longer than one year must be written under Ala. Code 8-9-2(5); an informal extension usually leaves a month-to-month tenancy instead.
• Treating the door-note entry rule as universal. The two-day notice and the note-on-the-door method apply to showing the premises; emergencies, court orders, and reasonable belief of abandonment are separate paths.
• Disposing of a tenant’s property too early. The no-duty-to-store rule applies only to property left more than fourteen days after the tenancy has actually terminated.
• Using a residential lease for a commercial tenancy. Chapter 9A does not govern commercial leases, and it excludes hotel occupancy, purchasers in possession, and institutional residence as well.

A well-drafted lease decides who wins a dispute; screening decides whether there is a dispute at all. Alabama gives a landlord a relatively fast path to possession compared with many states, but it also removes the fee-shifting clause landlords elsewhere rely on to make a marginal tenancy survivable — so the cost of placing the wrong tenant lands more squarely on the landlord here. Verifiable income, a clean payment history, and no prior eviction filings remain the strongest predictors of a quiet tenancy. Our tenant screening report covers credit, eviction filings, criminal background, and employment verification. Screen first, then paper the tenancy with this lease.

Published by Tenant Screening Background Check

Established 2004 · 20+ Years · All U.S. States & Territories · Statute-Based · Attorney-Reviewed

A Private Eye Reports™ service trusted by landlords, property managers, and attorneys.