Alabama Law - Sale Property with Existing Tenant

[K. White]

Hi All, Need help I want to sale my property and the lease expires July 2022. He is not a good tenant is frequently late. He hasn't paid rent for this month October yet. Got into and altercation with his girlfriend in July during which she claimed he pulled a gun on her and he was taken to city lock up over night. They also damaged my master bedroom door. I am not made for this. I adjusted the rent for 3 months from $1,100 to $900 and one month the month before that he only paid $600 of the $1,100. I need to sale this home its causing too much stress for me. 

Looking for advice someone one familiar with Alabama Rental law the lease is VERY basic and I now regret it. Do I have to give him 7 days to pay or move? Can I do just a 7 day to move because of the history of the tenant. I know I might need to get legal advice with the actual lease.

[Denise Evans]

If there is a police report about the assault and a conviction or a guilty plea, Alabama law says it is a non-curable default if there has been a criminal assault.  You can also terminate without the need for a Notice of Default and Opportunity to Cure if when the second similar default in six months has occurred, or when there has been the third default of any kind in twelve months.  It sounds like you might have both of those grounds. The statute is reprinted below. Feel free to reach out for a more detailed discussion, if you want.

Section 35-9A-421 Noncompliance with rental agreement; failure to pay rent.

(a) Except as provided in this chapter, if there is a material noncompliance by the tenant with the rental agreement, an intentional misrepresentation of a material fact in a rental agreement or application, or a noncompliance with Section 35-9A-301 materially affecting health and safety, the landlord may deliver a written notice to terminate the lease to the tenant specifying the acts and omissions constituting the breach and that the rental agreement will terminate upon a date not less than seven business days after receipt of the notice. An intentional misrepresentation of a material fact in a rental agreement or application may not be remedied or cured. If the breach is not remedied within the seven business days after receipt of the notice to terminate the lease, the rental agreement shall terminate on the date provided in the notice to terminate the lease unless the tenant adequately remedies the breach before the date specified in the notice, in which case the rental agreement shall not terminate.

(b) If rent is unpaid when due, the landlord may deliver a written notice to terminate the lease to the tenant specifying the amount of rent and any late fees owed to remedy the breach and that the rental agreement will terminate upon a date not less than seven business days after receipt of the notice. If the breach is not remedied within the seven business days, the rental agreement shall terminate. If a noncompliance of rental agreement occurs under both subsection (a) and this subsection, the seven-day notice period to terminate the lease for nonpayment of rent in this subsection shall govern.

(c) Except as provided in this chapter, a landlord may recover actual damages and reasonable attorney fees and obtain injunctive relief for noncompliance by the tenant with the rental agreement or Section 35-9A-301.

(d) Notwithstanding Section 35-9A-141, no breach of any of the terms or obligations of the lease may be cured by a tenant more than two times in any 12-month period except by the express written consent of the landlord. The following acts or omissions by a tenant or occupant shall constitute a noncurable default of the rental agreement, and in such cases the landlord may terminate the rental agreement upon a seven-day notice. The tenant shall have no right to remedy such a default unless the landlord consents. Such acts and omissions include, but are not limited to, the following:

(1) Manufacture, cultivation, importation, transportation, possession, furnishing, administering, or use of illegal drugs in the dwelling unit or in the common areas.

(2) Illegal use, manufacture, importation, possession, furnishing, or discharging of a firearm or firearm ammunition on the premises of the rental property, except for the use or discharge of a firearm or firearm ammunition in cases of self-defense, defense of a third party, or as permissible in Section 13A-3-23.

(3) Criminal assault of a tenant or guest on the premises of the rental property, except in cases of self-defense, defense of a third party, or as permissible in Section 13A-3-23.

(4) Any breach involving substantially the same acts or omissions as a breach for which a notice to terminate has previously been provided for by the landlord and cured by the tenant, if the second breach occurs within six months of the first breach.