Housing & Tenant · Landlord Entry
Landlord Entry Notice in Alabama
How much warning a landlord must give before entering your home in Alabama, the hours entry is allowed, and what to do if they walk in unannounced, cited to the statute.
The rules and your rights in Alabama
The notice, the allowed hours, the reasons a landlord may enter, and what to do about an unlawful entry.
| Advance notice | 48 hours before entry |
| Allowed entry hours | Reasonable times. The statute does not fix clock hours. |
| Reasons a landlord may enter | To inspect the premises, make necessary or agreed repairs, decorations, alterations, or improvements, supply necessary or agreed services, and show the unit to prospective tenants, purchasers, mortgagees, or contractors. |
| Emergency entry | A landlord may enter without your consent in a genuine emergency. The statute does not define emergency, so a fire, a gas leak, or a burst pipe is the kind of situation it covers. Separately, when you have asked for a repair, that request is treated as your consent for the landlord to come in and make it. |
| Local ordinance | The entry section sets no local carve-out. A city or county code may add its own rule, so check your local ordinance where you live. |
| Statute | Ala. Code §35-9A-303 |
If the landlord enters unlawfully
The entry section itself sets the rule but not the remedy. The provisions a tenant would use against a landlord who ignores it sit elsewhere in Alabama Chapter 9A, so document the entries and ask a local legal aid office which claim fits before you rely on a specific one.
What you can do right now
Concrete, neutral steps if a landlord keeps entering your Alabama home without proper notice. This is legal information, not legal advice.
- Ask for notice by a method that reaches you
Alabama lets a landlord post a note on your door, so you may not get a call or text. Tell your landlord in writing which method reaches you and ask for advance notice each time, and keep a copy of the request.
- Keep a dated log of every entry
Write down the date, the time, who came in, and whether a note was posted or you were warned in advance. A clear log is your best evidence if the entries become a pattern.
- Put your objection in writing and cite the statute
If a landlord enters without the two days of notice, send a short written note pointing to Ala. Code 35-9A-303 and asking them to follow it going forward.
- Get local help
Because the entry section does not spell out your remedy, contact a local Alabama legal aid office to find the right claim under the landlord-tenant chapter. Search for legal aid in your area.
This is general legal information, not legal advice. Read your own lease and check for a local ordinance, since either can change what applies to your home.
What Alabama renters get wrong
Alabama is unusually specific about the one thing most states leave to argument. Under Ala. Code 35-9A-303 a landlord must give at least two days' notice before showing the home, and the statute says in plain words that a note taped to your front door, stating the intended time and purpose, is a valid way to give that notice. That settles the most common dispute in this whole area, which is whether you actually received the warning. In Alabama the landlord does not have to reach you, only your door. The two days is a floor, entry is limited to reasonable times, and the landlord may still enter without notice in a genuine emergency. If you asked for a repair, your request counts as consent to come in and do it. What the entry section does not do is spell out your remedy when a landlord ignores these rules, because those provisions sit elsewhere in Alabama's landlord-tenant chapter.
Common questions
Does a note on my door count as notice in Alabama?
Yes. Ala. Code 35-9A-303 expressly allows posting a note on your primary door of entry, stating the intended time and purpose, as a permitted method of giving notice. The landlord does not have to hand it to you or reach you by phone.
What must the note actually say in Alabama?
It must state the intended time of the entry and the purpose. A note that gives a date and time and says why the landlord is coming, for example to show the unit, meets the statute. A vague note with no time or reason does not.
Is the two days counted in business days or calendar days?
The statute says two days and does not limit it to business days, so treat it as two calendar days. It is a floor for entry, and only a genuine emergency lets the landlord skip it.
Can my landlord enter if I asked for a repair in Alabama?
Generally yes. When you have requested repairs, Alabama treats your request as consent for the landlord to enter and make them, so you may not get a separate two-day notice for work you asked for.
What can I do if my Alabama landlord keeps entering without notice?
The entry section sets the rule but not the remedy, which sits elsewhere in Alabama Chapter 9A. Keep a dated log of each entry, put your objection in writing citing Ala. Code 35-9A-303, and contact a local legal aid office to identify the right claim.
Not legal advicePlainStatute provides plain-language summaries of public law for general information only. This is not legal advice. Statutes change; always confirm current requirements with the official source linked above before acting.