Most owners who buy a rental in Phenix City are Georgia people. They bought it the way they'd buy a house in Columbus, they lease it the same way, and they assume that if they ever have to evict a tenant in Phenix City, the process works the same way too.
It doesn't. Phenix City is in Russell County, Alabama. Alabama runs its own eviction law, on its own clock, in its own court. Here's what that law requires of you as a Phenix City owner, and roughly how long each step takes.
How long does it take to evict a tenant in Phenix City, AL?
Plan on at least a month. For unpaid rent, Alabama requires a written notice giving the tenant seven business days to pay before the lease ends. After you file and the tenant is served, they get seven days to answer, and the writ of possession is automatically held for seven days after judgment. Service and the court's calendar add time.
That is more notice than Georgia gives. Across the river, the pay-or-vacate notice is three business days — we walked through the Columbus, GA eviction timeline separately. In Phenix City it's seven, and they are business days. A notice handed over on a Thursday does not run out the next Thursday. Count weekdays.
The seven-business-day notice, and what it has to say
Alabama's statute (Ala. Code § 35-9A-421) is specific. The notice has to be in writing. It has to state the rent and any late fees owed. And it has to give a termination date at least seven business days after the tenant receives it. If the tenant pays what the notice says before that date, the lease stands. If they don't, the lease ends — and only then do you file.
Owners get two things wrong here. They leave the dollar amount off, or round it, or pile in charges the lease doesn't support. And they count calendar days. A defective notice is a case you file twice, and the second time the tenant knows exactly how the process works.
Other lease violations get the same seven-business-day notice and a chance to fix the problem. But a tenant can't cure the same breach forever. If substantially the same breach happens again within six months of one they already cured, Alabama lets you end the lease on a seven-day notice with no second chance.
The clock in Russell County, step by step
| Step | What Alabama requires |
|---|---|
| Notice for unpaid rent | In writing, states the amount owed, gives at least seven business days to pay |
| File the eviction (unlawful detainer) | Russell County District Court, at the Russell County Judicial Center, 501 14th Street, Phenix City. The case is filed in the county where the house sits. |
| Serve the tenant | In person, or posted on the door and mailed first-class the same day or by the next business day. Posted service is complete on the mailing date. |
| Tenant's answer | Seven days after service to answer the complaint for possession |
| Hearing and judgment | Set by the court's calendar, not by you |
| Writ of possession | Issues when you apply, after an automatic seven-day stay |
| Appeal | Either side can appeal to circuit court within seven days. The tenant only stays in the house by paying the rent into court as it comes due. The appeal is set for trial within 60 days. |
Add the legal clock up and you're at roughly a month before a writ can issue — and that assumes the tenant is served quickly and never answers. A contested hearing, slow service or an appeal stretches it. The court's calendar is the variable, and nobody can honestly promise it to you.
What you can't do in Alabama
Don't change the locks. Don't shut off the water, the power or the gas. Alabama law says a landlord may not take back the house “by action or otherwise,” including by interrupting heat, water, electric, gas or other essential services, except where the law allows it (§ 35-9A-427).
And Alabama puts a price on it. A tenant who is locked out or has an essential service cut can get back in or end the lease, and recover up to three months' rent or their actual damages, whichever is greater, plus attorney's fees (§ 35-9A-407). The tenant who owed you one month can end up being owed three. The writ is the only way the house comes back.
After they're out: the deposit clock
Alabama caps a security deposit at one month's rent, with exceptions for pets, changes to the property and added liability risk (§ 35-9A-201). Once the tenancy ends and you have the house back, you have 60 days to refund the deposit or mail an itemized list of what you kept, to the forwarding address the tenant gave you in writing.
Miss that window and you owe the tenant double the original deposit. Whatever they owe you is a separate claim. Don't let an eviction make you late on this one.
Why this matters if you live in Columbus
Phenix City and Columbus are one housing market — same employers, same commute to Fort Benning, a bridge apart. But a Phenix City lease lives under Alabama law, the case is filed in Russell County, and the clock runs longer than the one Georgia owners are used to. Own on both sides of the river and you are running two systems. We laid out the full comparison in Georgia vs. Alabama landlord law.
This is general information about Alabama law as it applies in Phenix City and Russell County, not legal advice — laws change, and a specific situation deserves a specific answer from a lawyer.
If you own in Phenix City and would rather not learn Alabama's unlawful detainer process personally, start with our Phenix City property management page and send us the address.
More reading: managing a Russell County rental from another state, whether to rent or sell in Phenix City, what full-service management covers for owners, and the rest of our Columbus property management guides.
Written by Carlos Alex Rozwadowski, Premier Realtors of Columbus Property Management. Former U.S. Army Ranger, 75th Ranger Regiment. Managing Columbus rentals since 2007.
