What can a landlord do with a tenant’s belongings left behind in Alabama?

In Alabama, a landlord has no duty to store or protect property a tenant leaves in the unit more than 14 days after the rental agreement terminates and may dispose of it without obligation. A property is also considered abandoned by the tenant if the electric service to it has been terminated for seven consecutive days. This is Ala. Code § 35-9A-423.

WhatAlabama
Belongings left behindMay dispose of it 14 days after termination
What the statute requires firstNotice, a waiting period or storage before disposal

What the statute says

“If a tenant leaves property in the unit more than 14 days after termination pursuant to this chapter, the landlord has no duty to store or protect the tenant’s property in the unit and may dispose of it without obligation.”

Quoted word for word from the section’s text.

Source

Ala. Code § 35-9A-423

Read the statute in the Code of Alabama (Alabama Legislature): alison.legislature.state.al.us.

Checked against the statute on November 15, 2026.

This is a summary of a published statute, not legal advice. Rules change, local ordinances can add to them, and the terms of a specific lease may differ. Check the citation and speak to a lawyer before acting.

How Seayora uses this rule

Seayora keeps a lease’s end date and every notice sent through it, with the date it went out, in the lease record — so the dates a rule like this one counts from are on file rather than remembered.

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