Free Alabama Residential Lease Agreement
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.
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.
Alabama Lease Rules at a Glance
Security Deposit Cap
1 Month
Deposit Return
60 Days
Entry Notice
2 Days
Month-to-Month Notice
30 Days
Three Alabama Rules That Catch Landlords Out
First, the double-deposit penalty. Alabama gives the landlord sixty days after termination and delivery of possession to mail the deposit with an itemized accounting. Miss it and Ala. Code 35-9A-201(f) requires paying the tenant double the original deposit — not double the amount withheld, double the whole deposit. Second, business days. The seven-day notice for unpaid rent and the seven-day notice to cure both run in business days under Ala. Code 35-9A-421, so a notice counted in calendar days is served short and the eviction can fail on the papers. Third, the attorney-fee clause. Alabama is one of the few states that affirmatively prohibits it. A landlord who copies a generic lease into Alabama has almost certainly imported a void provision and, if they try to enforce it, a statutory damages claim against themselves.
How to Fill Out This Alabama Lease Agreement
1. Name the parties, the manager, and the owner
Alabama asks for two identifications, not one. Ala. Code 35-9A-202 requires the written name and business address of the person authorized to manage the premises and of an owner, or someone authorized to act for the owner, for service of process and for receiving notices and demands.
2. Describe the premises and choose the term
Enter the full address, county, and property type, then choose a fixed term or a periodic tenancy. A lease running longer than one year must be in writing to satisfy the Alabama Statute of Frauds at Ala. Code 8-9-2(5).
3. Set rent, the due day, and any late fee
Rent is payable without demand or notice at the beginning of each period unless the parties agree otherwise. Alabama sets no statutory grace period and no cap on late fees, so if you want either, the lease must create it.
4. Set the deposit within the one-month cap
Alabama forbids security above one month’s periodic rent. If you are taking more, you must be relying on one of exactly three statutory exceptions — pets, changes to the premises, or increased liability risks — and the form makes you name which.
5. Allocate every utility
Assign electricity, gas, water, sewer, trash, internet, and yard care. Remember that the landlord’s duty to supply running water, hot water at all times, and reasonable heat comes from Ala. Code 35-9A-204(6) and is not shifted by a utility allocation.
6. Check the two disclosures Alabama requires
Manager and owner identification, and federal lead paint for pre-1978 housing. That is the entire list. If your template is asking about radon, flood zones, or bed bugs, it was written for another state.
7. Generate, sign, and calendar the 60-day deadline
Download the multi-page PDF and sign. No witnesses and no notary are required in Alabama. Then put the 60-day deposit accounting deadline in your calendar the day the tenant hands back the keys, because missing it doubles the deposit.
Build Your Alabama Residential Lease Agreement
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 (the federal lead-based paint disclosure follows the year built: it prints for housing built before 1978, never for 1978 or later, and only if ticked when the year is left blank), 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 Residential Lease Agreement Builder
1. Parties
2. Premises
3. Term
4. Rent
5. Security Deposit — capped at one month’s rent
Ala. Code 35-9A-201(a) forbids security in excess of one month’s periodic rent, with only three exceptions. If you are taking more than one month, you must select the statutory reason.
6. Utilities & Services
Assign each utility. Every selection below is written into the generated lease.
7. Alabama Disclosures
Alabama requires only manager and owner identification. Lead paint is federal. Alabama does not mandate radon, flood, bed bug, asbestos, methamphetamine, ordnance or sex-offender disclosures — templates that print them are drawn from another state’s law.
8. Other Provisions
There is deliberately no attorney-fee option here. Ala. Code 35-9A-163(a)(3) makes a tenant’s agreement to pay the landlord’s attorney fees or cost of collection a prohibited provision, and knowingly enforcing one exposes the landlord to actual damages plus one month’s rent plus the tenant’s fees.
What Types of Alabama Lease Agreement Are There?
Alabama recognizes the standard range of residential arrangements