If you’re looking at this form, the situation at your rental property somehow went horribly wrong. It happens sometimes, despite your best efforts. We know. We’ve been there. Whether you’re evicting your tenant because of failure to pay the rent or because of another lease violation, this document will allow you to take possession of the property and claim, if applicable, any past or future unpaid rent, late charges and attorney’s fees. When you’re ready to get the eviction ball rolling, the Alabama Statement of Claim Eviction/Unlawful Detainer is the form to use.
Before you forge ahead, we want to make sure you first used either the Alabama 7 Day Notice for Failure to Pay Rent OR the Alabama 7 Day Notice to Terminate the Lease, which is used to end the lease for a reason other than nonpayment of rent. If you missed that step, go ahead and create one of those documents pronto – we’ve conveniently included the links to both. Remember that both of those forms give the tenant an opportunity to fix the situation, so don’t use the Alabama Statement of Claim Eviction/Unlawful Detainer until the required amount of time has passed.
This document serves two purposes – to remove the unwanted tenant from the property (that’s the "eviction/unlawful detainer" part) and to make a claim for any damages or money owed to you (that’s the "statement of claim" part). You may be entitled to unpaid rent and late charges as well as attorney’s fees. Keep in mind that you will be initiating court proceedings when you submit this document. Give it to your jurisdiction’s clerk of court with any required fees, but check in with your local courts before you file it so that you can obtain special instructions that may apply.
Once you’ve done all of that, creating this official court document is easy – all you have to do is click "Download/Print" and it’s ready to go. The PDF has fields that may be filled in on your computer. Simply type in the necessary information, save and print. While having to deal with an eviction is never fun, making sure you use the right forms will help it go as smoothly as possible.
Because evictions can be overwhelming, we’d like to point you to some articles that will help you understand the process, including our Overview of the Eviction Process: A Step-by-Step Guide. Just look to the right.