Breaking a Lease Early in Alabama: What Are My Options?

If you leave without a legal reason

1. 1

   If you leave before your lease ends, you may owe rent for the rest of the lease. You almost always lose your security deposit (money you paid at move-in to cover damage or unpaid rent).

   Source:

   1. Ending Your Lease and Moving Out, Legal Services Alabama (AlabamaLegalHelp.org). A nonprofit group.
   Tip.

   Read your lease before you decide. Check whether it lets you end it early and what penalty you must pay.

2. 2

   If you abandon (leave for good) your home, your landlord must make reasonable efforts to rent it at a fair rent. Your landlord may rent other empty homes first. Your landlord may rent your home to a new tenant for a term that starts before your lease would end. Then your lease ends the day the new rental begins.

   Source:

   1. § 35-9A-423(c), Alabama Legislature. Law.

When you can leave early

3. 3

   Say your landlord seriously breaks the lease. Or it breaks a landlord duty in the rental law, seriously affecting health and safety. Send a written notice that says what is wrong. The law gives your landlord 14 days after they get it to fix it. If they do not, your lease ends on the date in your notice, at least 14 days out. If they fix it, your lease does not end.

   Source:

   1. § 35-9A-401(a)(1), Alabama Legislature. Law.
   Think before you call an inspector.

   You or a neighbor can ask the city to send a code inspector. Be careful: if the home is in very bad shape, the inspector can condemn it (say no one may live there). Then everyone must move out, you too, sometimes on short notice. Think about where you would go before you call.

   Tip.

   Write down each problem, every time you contacted your landlord, and the day you moved out.

   Tip.

   Keep a copy of every letter you give your landlord, and keep your mail receipt. Save the texts and emails you send your landlord, and any replies.

4. 4

   Some leases give you a right to end the lease early. Some allow it when your job transfers you.

   Source:

   1. Ending Your Lease and Moving Out, Legal Services Alabama (AlabamaLegalHelp.org). A nonprofit group.
5. 5

   You cannot end your lease over a problem that you caused on purpose or by being careless. The same goes for a problem your family or a person you allowed on the property caused.

   Source:

   1. § 35-9A-401(a)(2), Alabama Legislature. Law.

How to leave

6. 6

   You or your landlord can end a month-to-month tenancy (a rental with no end date, paid month by month) by written notice. The notice must be given at least 30 days before the rent due date you name in it. Put it in writing, date it, sign it and keep a copy. Clean up and turn in your key when you move.

   Sources:

   1. Ending Your Lease and Moving Out, Legal Services Alabama (AlabamaLegalHelp.org). A nonprofit group.
   2. § 35-9A-441(b), Alabama Legislature. Law.

After you move out

7. 7

   Your landlord can use your deposit for unpaid rent and damage you caused. The law gives your landlord 60 days after your rental ends and you hand over the home to mail you the rest, with a list. If not, your landlord must pay you double your original deposit. For example, $800 becomes $1,600. You get this money only if you win your case and your landlord pays.

   Sources:

   1. Our editorial rules.
   2. § 35-9A-201(b), Alabama Legislature. Law.
   Tip.

   Before you leave, clean the home and take photos of how you left it.

   Tip.

   This is only an example to show how the rule works. If it goes to court, a court decides the real amount.

8. 8

   When you move out, give your landlord a valid forwarding address in writing. Your landlord can mail your deposit or a list of what was taken out to that address.

   Source:

   1. § 35-9A-201(d), Alabama Legislature. Law.
9. 9

   If you end your lease because your landlord broke the lease or a landlord duty, your landlord must return the deposit money you can recover. Your landlord must also return rent you paid ahead for time you will not live there.

   Source:

   1. § 35-9A-401(d), Alabama Legislature. Law.
10. 10

    Say you leave belongings in the home more than 14 days after your lease ends. Your landlord has no duty to store or protect them. Your landlord may throw them away.

    Source:

    1. § 35-9A-423(d), Alabama Legislature. Law.
11. 11

    If your landlord says you owe more, a debt collector may call or write to you. The collector must tell you how much, who it is for and how to say it is wrong. You have 30 days after you get that notice to write back. Then the collector must stop trying to get that money until it answers you.

    Sources:

    1. Our editorial rules.
    2. What information does a debt collector have to give me, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. A government guide.
    3. What should I do when a debt collector contacts me, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. A government guide.
12. 12

    Your landlord can take money from your pay or benefits only after winning in court. The court must issue a judgment (the court's final decision) that you owe the debt. If you are sued, do not ignore it. You can lose the case if you do not go to court.

    Sources:

    1. Our editorial rules.
    2. Can a debt collector take or garnish my wages, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. A government guide.
    Tip.

    If you get court papers, do not ignore them. Go to court, or you can lose the case.

    From Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.