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Alabama residential lease agreement

Answer the questions, download the lease. Free, no account, and it holds your figures to what Alabama allows.

What Alabama law does to your lease

These are the figures the builder holds you to. Each one is the statute's, not ours, and the citation is there so you can read it yourself.

RuleAlabamaWhere it says so
Most a landlord may take as a deposit1 month's rentOne month is the ceiling on the ordinary deposit. Alabama allows more on top of it for pets, for changes the tenant wants made to the premises, and for an increased liability risk.Ala. Code 35-9A-201(a)
Earliest a late fee may be chargedThe day after it is dueAla. Code 35-9A-101 to 35-9A-603
Most a late fee may beNo statutory limit, but it has to be reasonableAlabama's Act says nothing about late fees, which leaves the common-law rule: the fee has to be a reasonable estimate of what the late payment costs, not a penalty.Ala. Code 35-9A-101 to 35-9A-603
Notice before the landlord may enter48 hoursTwo days. A note posted on the tenant's primary door stating the intended time and purpose counts as notice.Ala. Code 35-9A-303(c)
Notice to end a month-to-month tenancy30 daysThe notice runs to the periodic rental date named in it.Ala. Code 35-9A-441(b)

What Alabama makes you disclose

Who manages and who owns
At or before the start of the tenancy the landlord must disclose in writing the name and business address of the person authorized to manage the premises and of an owner or someone authorized to act for the owner in accepting service of process and receiving notices and demands, and keep it current. Ala. Code 35-9A-202

The clause most landlords get wrong

Rent stated as a base figure with mandatory fees bolted on beside it. If a fee is not optional, it is rent, and several states now say so outright: the lease has to carry one total figure that the landlord may not charge above. The builder asks for the total and then asks how much of it is fees, which is the same information in the order the law wants it.

The second is the assistance animal. A no-pets clause that does not carve one out is a fair-housing problem, not a pet problem, and no pet rent or pet deposit may be charged for one. Your lease says so whether or not you allow pets.

After it is signed

Download the PDF and it is yours, account or not. If you want the tenant to sign it without printing anything, a free Kouzr account sends it for signature, files the executed copy against the tenancy, and keeps it beside the listing, the rent record and the deposit accounting, so the paperwork for that home is in one place when the tenancy ends.

Is this Alabama lease legally binding?

A written lease signed by the landlord and every adult tenant is a contract, and this one is built to say what Alabama requires a residential lease to say. What it is not is legal advice, and no lawyer has reviewed it. It is a form you complete yourself, the same category as the fill-in-the-blank lease sold in an office supply shop, and it is worth having a lawyer in your state read it before you rely on it, especially on a property you will hold for years.

How much can a landlord charge as a security deposit in Alabama?

Alabama caps every deposit taken together at 1 month's rent (Ala. Code 35-9A-201(a)). That is the total of the security deposit, any pet deposit, and any last month's rent held as a deposit, not each of them separately. The builder holds your figure to that ceiling and tells you when it has. One month is the ceiling on the ordinary deposit. Alabama allows more on top of it for pets, for changes the tenant wants made to the premises, and for an increased liability risk.

Can a landlord charge a late fee in Alabama?

Yes. Alabama sets neither a grace period nor a ceiling (Ala. Code 35-9A-101 to 35-9A-603), which leaves the common-law rule: the fee has to be a reasonable estimate of what a late payment costs you, not a penalty, or a court will not enforce it. A few days' grace and a fee in the range of 5% of the rent is the shape that holds up.

How much notice does a landlord have to give before entering in Alabama?

48 hours for anything that is not an emergency, at a reasonable hour (Ala. Code 35-9A-303(c)). A lease cannot shorten it, so the builder raises your figure if you enter a smaller one. Genuine emergencies need no notice anywhere. Two days. A note posted on the tenant's primary door stating the intended time and purpose counts as notice.

How much notice ends a month-to-month tenancy in Alabama?

30 days of written notice from either side (Ala. Code 35-9A-441(b)). The builder writes that figure into the term clause. A lease may agree on longer notice than the statute; one that gives less is unenforceable to that extent, and the statutory period governs instead. The notice runs to the periodic rental date named in it.

Do I have to include a lead-based paint disclosure?

Only if the home was built before 1978, and then yes, everywhere in the country. Federal law requires the landlord to disclose known lead-based paint, hand over any report they have, and give the tenant the EPA pamphlet before the tenant is committed to the lease (42 U.S.C. 4852d). Enter the year built and the builder attaches it for you.

Can I have the tenant sign it online?

Yes. Download the PDF and sign it however you like, or make a free Kouzr account and send it to the tenant for signature from here: they get a link, sign on a phone, and the executed copy files itself against the tenancy alongside rent and the deposit record. The PDF is free either way and does not require an account.

Kouzr is not a law firm and this is not legal advice. The builder produces a form you complete yourself, and no lawyer has reviewed the document it assembles. Have one admitted in Alabama read it before you rely on it.