Can a Tuscaloosa Landlord Retaliate for Complaining? Alabama’s Retaliation Rule (2026)

Can a Tuscaloosa Landlord Retaliate for Complaining? Alabama’s Retaliation Rule

The most common reason a UA student does not report a broken lock, a black-mould bathroom or a dead water heater is not laziness. It is the fear that the complaint will come back as a rent increase, a stack of sudden fees, or a notice to vacate three weeks before finals.

Alabama has a section for this. It is § 35-9A-501, it is four subsections long, and it is worth reading closely rather than trusting the summary — because it protects less than students hope and more than they fear, and the difference is entirely in the wording.

What the Statute Prohibits

Subsection (a) opens: “Except as provided in this section, a landlord may not retaliate by discriminatorily increasing rent or decreasing services or by bringing or threatening to bring an action for possession because…” and then lists the protected acts.

Pull that sentence apart before the list, because it has two halves that both matter.

The prohibited methods are three: discriminatorily increasing rent, decreasing services, and bringing or threatening to bring an action for possession. Note that threatening is in there — the landlord does not have to actually file anything. A leasing manager who says “keep complaining and we’ll start the eviction paperwork” has arguably already done the thing the statute names.

And the protected acts are three, in a closed list:

• 01The tenant “has complained to a governmental agency charged with responsibility for enforcement of a building or housing code of a violation applicable to the premises materially affecting health and safety.”
• 02The tenant “has complained to the landlord of a violation under Section 35-9A-204.”
• 03The tenant “has organized or become a member of a tenant’s union or similar organization.”

Item 2 is the one that covers most student situations, and it carries a cross-reference you have to follow. § 35-9A-204 is the landlord’s duty to maintain the premises. So a complaint to the landlord is protected when it is about the landlord’s maintenance obligations — not about anything you happen to be unhappy with. Complaining that the pool closed early, that parking enforcement is aggressive, or that a fee feels unfair is not a § 35-9A-204 complaint, and the retaliation section does not reach it.

Item 1 is the stronger route, and the one students almost never use: a complaint to a government agency enforcing a building or housing code, about something materially affecting health and safety. In practice that means putting the problem in front of the city rather than only the leasing office. It is a bigger step, and it buys a clearer protection.

What You Get If They Do It Anyway

Subsection (b): “If a landlord acts in violation of subsection (a), the tenant is entitled to the remedies provided in Section 35-9A-407 and has a defense in any retaliatory action against the tenant for possession.”

Two separate things, and it is worth keeping them apart.

The shield

A defense in a possession action. If the landlord takes you to court to evict, retaliation is something you can raise as a reason the eviction should not succeed.

The sword

The remedies in § 35-9A-407 — which is the lockout-and-utility-shutoff section, and it carries real numbers. Under it a tenant may recover possession or terminate the rental agreement and, either way, recover “an amount equal to not more than three months’ periodic rent or the actual damages sustained by the tenant, whichever is greater, and reasonable attorney’s fees.” If the agreement is terminated, the landlord must return all security recoverable under § 35-9A-201 and all unearned prepaid rent.

The attorney’s fees clause is the part that makes this practically usable. It is why a retaliation claim is one of the few tenant disputes a lawyer may take on for a renter with no money, and it is a good reason to talk to one rather than to argue it yourself at the leasing office.

The Four Exceptions That Give It All Back

Subsection (c) is where most retaliation claims actually die. It provides that notwithstanding subsections (a) and (b), a landlord may still bring an action for possession if:

Exception 2 deserves a paragraph of its own. Being in default in rent is a complete off-ramp. A tenant who is two weeks behind and then reports a mould problem has handed the landlord a basis to proceed that does not require them to explain the timing at all. If you are going to complain about conditions — and you should — be current. That single habit does more to protect you than knowing the statute does.

Exception 4 is broad enough to matter too. “Other material violations of the lease” covers the unauthorized pet, the extra occupant, the noise citations. Tuscaloosa student leases are long, and most tenants are in technical breach of something. Read yours — our Tuscaloosa student lease guide walks through the clauses that come up most.

And subsection (d) adds a real limit on the exceptions: “The maintenance of an action under subsection (c) does not release the landlord from liability under subsection (b) of Section 35-9A-401.” Section 35-9A-401(b) lets a tenant “recover actual damages and reasonable attorney fees and obtain injunctive relief for noncompliance by the landlord with the rental agreement or Section 35-9A-204.” In plain terms: the landlord being entitled to pursue possession under an exception does not wipe out your separate claim about the condition of the unit. They can be right about the eviction and still owe you for the mould.

Two Things the Section Does Not Say

This is the part most online summaries get wrong by rounding up, so we are going to be exact about it.

It does not name non-renewal

The three prohibited methods in subsection (a) are increasing rent discriminatorily, decreasing services, and bringing or threatening an action for possession. Declining to renew a fixed-term lease is not among the methods that sentence lists. That distinction matters enormously in Tuscaloosa, where almost every student lease is a fixed 12-month term that simply ends. We are not going to tell you how a court would treat a non-renewal that plainly followed a complaint — that is exactly the question to put to an Alabama attorney. We are telling you that the protection you may be imagining is not written in the text of this section.

It does not set a presumption window

Some states’ retaliation statutes say that a rent increase or eviction within, say, 90 days of a protected complaint is presumed retaliatory, which shifts the burden onto the landlord. Nothing in the four subsections of § 35-9A-501 does that. The practical consequence is that the timeline is yours to prove, which turns this from a legal question into a record-keeping one.

How to Keep the Protection Worth Having

• 01Complain in writing, always. Email or the resident portal, never a hallway conversation. A protected act you cannot date is not much use. Keep your own copy outside the portal — access to it ends when your lease does.
• 02Name the condition, not your mood. “The bathroom exhaust fan does not work and there is visible mould on the ceiling” is a § 35-9A-204 maintenance complaint. “This place is a dump” is not.
• 03Stay current on rent. Exception (c)(2) is the one that ends most claims. If you are also disputing something, pay and dispute — withholding rent is not a remedy Alabama’s chapter gives tenants.
• 04Build the timeline as you go. Date of complaint, date of the landlord’s response, date of the rent increase or notice. Photograph conditions. The move-in checklist you filled out on day one is the anchor of that timeline.
• 05Escalate to the city for health and safety issues. Item (1) of subsection (a) protects complaints to the code-enforcement agency, and that route exists precisely for conditions the office keeps ignoring.
• 06Get advice before you move out. Leaving may look like the simple answer and can complicate both a retaliation claim and your deposit. Read what breaking a lease in Tuscaloosa actually involves and how to get your security deposit back before you decide.

One more note for students who are furthest from home: if English is not your first language or you are on a visa, put every complaint in writing and keep copies off-campus. Our international students’ guide to renting in Tuscaloosa covers the rest of the paperwork side, and renters insurance is what actually covers your belongings when a condition problem damages them.

The Section at a Glance

Where This Sits in the Chapter

Retaliation is the back half of a pair. The front half is § 35-9A-204, the landlord’s duty to maintain the premises — that is what you are complaining about. Section 35-9A-501 is what is supposed to stop the complaint from costing you. If the landlord’s response goes as far as a lockout or shutting off utilities, § 35-9A-407 applies directly and on its own terms.

Worth knowing, as with the rest of this chapter: Alabama’s anti-waiver clause, § 35-9A-163(a)(1), bars a lease from making a tenant waive rights under §§ 35-9A-204, 35-9A-401 and 35-9A-404 and the security deposit requirements. Section 35-9A-501 is not named in that list — but § 35-9A-401 is, and subsection (d) of the retaliation section routes you straight into § 35-9A-401(b). If a lease you are handed tries to sign away complaint rights, that is a question for an attorney and a reason to look hard at the property before committing. Our guide to apartments near UA and the broader off-campus housing guide are the places to start comparing, and resident reviews mentioning how the office handles maintenance tickets are the most predictive thing in them.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Rest of the Alabama Tenant-Law Series

This guide is one part of our plain-language series on the Alabama Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (Alabama Code Title 35, Chapter 9A) for University of Alabama students. The rest of the series:

• 01Lease clauses that can’t be enforced — The rights § 35-9A-163 says a lease may not sign away, however the paperwork is worded.
• 02Security deposit limits and the 60-day rule — What a landlord may charge, what may be deducted, and the deadline for returning the balance.
• 03What your landlord must repair — The duty to maintain the premises under § 35-9A-204, and what to do when a ticket goes unanswered.
• 04When your landlord may enter — The two-day notice rule in § 35-9A-303, and the situations that do not require notice at all.
• 05Late rent and the seven-day notice — How Alabama’s seven-day notice to pay or quit works, and where the eviction timeline actually starts.
• 06Lockouts and seized belongings — Why self-help eviction is unlawful in Alabama, and what § 35-9A-407 lets a tenant recover.
• 07Leaving the apartment empty for a semester or summer — The 14-day absence notice in § 35-9A-423, and the seven-day electric rule that makes a unit “abandoned.”