Selling a House With Bad Tenants in Alabama

Sort Out What You're Actually Dealing With

Start with the paperwork: the lease, the payment history, every notice you've sent, the deposit record and move-in photos. Then be specific about the problem:

• Unpaid rent, and how far behind.
• A lease violation you can document.
• Damage, or a health or safety problem.
• A lease that's ended, or a month-to-month tenant.
• Someone living there who isn't on the lease.
• A decent tenant and an owner who's done being a landlord.

Each one has a different fix, and none of them has to be completely solved before you can sell.

Selling With the Tenant Still There

The lease survives the sale. The new owner takes over the rent, the terms and the security deposit. That splits the market: someone who wants to move in needs the house empty, while a rental investor may buy it occupied, sometimes with the tenant problem still unsolved. Which buyer you're selling to drives the price and how fast it closes.

Showing an Occupied Rental

Alabama tenants can't unreasonably refuse access to show the house to buyers, but you have to give at least two days' notice and come at reasonable times. Posting a note on the main door counts as notice. (Ala. Code § 35-9A-303) A tenant who's fighting you can still make showings hard, which is one reason problem rentals often go to investors who'll buy with fewer visits.

How Eviction Works in Alabama

• 1
  Written notice

  For unpaid rent, a notice stating the rent and late fees owed and that the lease ends in no less than seven business days unless it's paid. For a lease violation, a notice describing it with the same seven business days to fix it. (Ala. Code § 35-9A-421)

• 2
  Unlawful detainer case

  If the tenant doesn't pay, fix it or leave, you file in the district court of the county where the house is.

• 3
  Seven days to answer

  The tenant has seven days to answer a complaint for possession. No answer usually means a default judgment. (Montgomery County District Court – Unlawful Detainers)

• 4
  Judgment and appeal

  Either side can appeal to circuit court within seven days. A tenant who wants to stay during the appeal has to post a bond.

• 5
  Writ of possession

  If the tenant still won't leave, the sheriff carries out the writ.

A month-to-month tenancy can be ended with written notice at least 30 days before the rent date; week-to-week, at least seven days. (Ala. Code § 35-9A-441)

No Lockouts, No Shutoffs

If a landlord removes a tenant without a court order, or shuts off heat, water, power or another essential service, the tenant can recover possession or end the lease and collect up to three months' rent or their actual damages, whichever is greater, plus attorney fees. (Ala. Code § 35-9A-407) The court process is the only safe route.

Paying a Tenant to Leave

Some tenants will move for the right deal: forgiving back rent, returning the full deposit, a moving payment or a few extra weeks. Put it in writing with the move-out date, the condition the house has to be left in, when the money is paid (usually when the keys come back) and what happens if they don't go. It's often faster and cheaper than a contested case, and the house tends to come back in better shape.

A Tenant Who's Tearing Up the Place

Take dated photos, send written notices and keep your cool in person. Call the police for anything dangerous or criminal. A serious health or safety violation can support the seven-business-day notice, and a deliberate misrepresentation on the rental application can't be cured at all. (Ala. Code § 35-9A-421)

If You Inherited the Rental

Inherited rentals often come with no written lease, no record of the deposit and a tenant who had an informal deal with the late owner. The tenancy survives the death. Nobody can sign a notice or a sale until the personal representative or the new owners have authority. (See Selling an Inherited House in Alabama.)

Your Selling Options

List It With the Tenant in Place

Makes sense if the tenant pays and the rent makes the numbers work for a rental buyer.

Wait Until It's Empty, Then Sell

Opens it up to buyers who'll live there, who usually pay more, but only worth it if that extra covers the time, the lost rent and the repairs after move-out.

Sell With the Tenant Still There

Selling as-is lets you pass the whole tenant problem to the buyer. The simplest way out is an as-is sale to a real estate investor: nobody tours the house, nothing gets repaired or hauled away, and the closing date is yours to set. That's a Dennis Buys Houses promise, not fine print. Keep what you want and walk away from the rest. If we find anything that looks personal or valuable while we're clearing it, we'll make sure it gets back to you.

Investors routinely buy occupied houses, including ones where the tenant has stopped paying. The price reflects the lost rent, the repairs and the time to get possession, so you trade some money for being finished. Compare options on what you actually keep after back rent, repairs, legal costs and months of carrying the house.

The Money at Closing

• Security depositAlabama caps deposits at one month's rent, with exceptions for pets, changes to the unit and extra liability. It moves to the buyer at closing, and whoever holds it at move-out has 60 days to return it with an itemized list, or owes double. (Ala. Code § 35-9A-201)
• RentThe current month is split between you and the buyer, and any agreement on back rent goes on the closing statement.
• An open eviction caseDisclose it to the buyer and the title company, and ask your attorney how it continues after the sale.

Common Mistakes

• Locking the tenant out or cutting the power or water.
• Counting calendar days instead of business days on the notice.
• Showing the house without two days' notice.
• Telling a buyer the house will be empty by a date you don't control.
• Keeping no written record of problems and conversations.
• Missing the 60-day deposit deadline and owing double.
• Removing a tenant's things before the court gives you possession.

Where I Fit, and Where I Don't

I'm the right call when rent has stopped, the house is taking damage, repairs are piling up, or you're simply finished being a landlord.

You won't have to clear the house out for Dennis Buys Houses, either. Leave anything you don't want, and we'll take care of it.

If your tenant pays, the house is in good shape and you can wait for it to be empty, listing it will probably bring more.

Whichever side of that line you're on, you'll hear it from me upfront.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Alabama Selling Guides

• How to Sell a House in Probate in Alabama
• Selling an Inherited House in Alabama
• Selling a Vacant House in Alabama
• Selling a House in Foreclosure in Alabama
• Selling a House With Delinquent Property Taxes in Alabama