How much notice must a landlord give before entering in Alabama?

No-notice entry is limited to an exclusive list: emergencies, court orders, statutory extended-absence situations, reasonable cause to believe the tenant has abandoned the premises, and — only if the tenant signed a separate general access notice — showings to prospective tenants or buyers within four months of lease expiration, in the prospect's company. Two practical shortcuts are built in: a schedule or general notice issued more than two days ahead covers recurring work like pest control without fresh per-entry notice, and a tenant who requests a repair is deemed to have consented to the entry that performs it. There are no clock-hour limits, only 'reasonable times,' and the landlord may not use access rights to harass the tenant.

Alabama entry notice at a glance

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, Alabama Landlord Entry Notice Laws (verified October 1, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/entry-notice/alabama/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified). Everything above is cited in the citations section below.

Notes and caveats

• The pre-expiration showing right is commonly misstated — The § 35-9A-303(b)(4) right to show the unit without per-entry consent requires a SEPARATE signed general access notice — a lease clause is not enough — operates only within four months of lease expiration, still requires the two days' notice, and the landlord must be accompanied by the actual prospect.
• 'Two days,' not '48 hours' — The statute phrases the requirement as 'at least two days' notice' (§ 35-9A-303(c)), and the period is shown here in days. Under § 35-9A-141(3) those are calendar days, with a period ending on a weekend or official holiday running to the next business day.
• Door-posting counts as notice — Posting a note on the primary door of entry stating the intended time and purpose of the entry is a statutorily permitted notice method — an unusual one. The 2006 Alabama Comment frames it as a fallback after attempted personal notice.
• Emergency entry needs neither consent nor notice — Emergencies sit on the exclusive no-consent list in § 35-9A-303(b) and require no advance notice.
• Who is covered — Chapter 9A applies statewide with no county-population carve-out (§ 35-9A-121); the only scope limits are the § 35-9A-122 exclusions — hotels, agricultural leases, employment housing, condominium owners, post-sale seller occupancy up to 36 months, and similar.

Common questions: Alabama entry notice

Each answer is the verified value from the table above, restated as a direct answer. Free to quote with a link to this page.

How many hours' notice must a landlord give before entering in Alabama?

2 days. The statute phrases this as at least two days' notice of intent to enter, and entry may take place only at reasonable times (§ 35-9A-303(c)). The notice need not be handed over personally: posting a note on the primary door of entry stating the intended time and purpose of the entry is a statutorily permitted method.

What reasons allow a landlord to enter a rental in Alabama?

With the tenant's consent, which the tenant may not unreasonably withhold, a landlord may enter for inspection, necessary or agreed repairs, decorations, alterations, or improvements, supplying necessary or agreed services, or exhibiting the unit to prospective or actual purchasers, mortgagees, tenants, workmen, or contractors (§ 35-9A-303(a)).

Can a landlord enter without notice in an emergency in Alabama?

Yes — Alabama recognizes an emergency exception to the entry-notice requirement.

Are there time-of-day limits on when a landlord can enter in Alabama?

No clock hours — entry is limited to 'reasonable times' only, both for noticed entry and for signed-general-notice showings.

Changes since last full verification

The Verified date above (October 1, 2026) marks the last time every figure on this page was verified end-to-end against official sources. The changes below were published since then, each verified against the official source it names (what these dates mean).

• Correction, October 2, 2026 — Notice periods now print in the unit each statute uses (correction). Entry notice: the statutes of Alabama, Arizona, Hawaii, Kentucky, Rhode Island and Washington say two days and Oklahoma's says one day, and those pages show days; Delaware's and Vermont's say 48 hours, and their pages, which had shown 2 days, now show 48 hours. Eviction notice for unpaid rent: California, Florida and Utah give three days that leave out Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, and their pages now show 3 business days, as does California's lease-violation notice; Nevada's shows 7 judicial days; Alabama's two notices show 7 business days. Each statute was read on its official site on October 1, 2026. No period changed.
• Correction, October 2, 2026 — Alabama (correction): the eviction page had shown the notices for unpaid rent and for a lease violation as 7 days. The statute gives seven business days after the tenant receives the notice (Ala. Code 35-9A-421(a) and (b)), and the page now shows business days. The business-day wording dates from Act 2018-473, effective June 1, 2018, not from the 2014 act the late fee page had named. Also corrected: a tenant who appeals holds off the writ by paying the circuit court clerk the rent that has come due since the case was filed, not all rent owed (35-9A-461(d)); a sheriff or constable who neglects or refuses to execute the process forfeits $200 to the party aggrieved, which the page had called a fine (6-6-333); the circuit court may hear a case from the start where a money claim joined with it exceeds $6,000 (12-11-30); the notice for a default that cannot be cured is a seven-day notice the statute does not require to be written (35-9A-421(d)); the bar on local rent control leaves a local government free to manage property in which it has a property interest (11-80-8.1). The entry page now says that the sentence setting two days' notice speaks of showing the premises, and that a general notice or schedule given more than two days ahead covers repairs, maintenance and pest control (35-9A-303(c) and (d)).

Citations

• Ala. Code § 35-9A-303 (official ALISON code viewer) · (a)-(e) (verified 2026) Official source
• HB 287 / Act 2006-316 (official as-enacted text; § 303 later amended by Acts 2009-633 and 2011-700) (verified 2026) Official source

How this record was verified: Every section these answers rest on was read on October 1, 2026 on the Legislature's Code of Alabama service at alison.legislature.state.al.us, which includes the acts of the 2026 Regular Session: all of Title 35, chapter 9A; sections 35-9-6 and 35-9B-9; Title 6, chapter 6, article 8; sections 12-11-30 and 12-12-30; and section 11-80-8.1, each with its credit line. The history of the 60-day deposit deadline and the seven-business-day notices was read in the enrolled Acts 2014-279 and 2018-473 on the Secretary of State's acts roll, and in Act 2006-316 with its Alabama Comments on the state judiciary's site. The district court provisions of the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure (Rules 6, 12, 55 and 62) were read on judicial.alabama.gov and the eviction complaint form C-59 on eforms.alacourt.gov. No act from 2019 through 2026 amended a section cited here: each section's credit line, the 2026 table of code sections affected and the 2025 and 2026 act lists were searched, and the 2026 special session dealt only with redistricting. Negative answers (no late-fee cap, no grace period, no deposit interest, no separate account, no rent-increase notice) rest on the full text of chapter 9A and a search of the whole code for each subject; the manufactured-home chapters (Title 35, chapter 12A and Title 24, chapters 5 and 6) hold no tenancy terms on these subjects.