Alaska: Eviction Notice Requirements
The short answer
Before filing to evict for unpaid rent, an Alaska landlord must serve a 7-day written notice to pay or quit — paying the rent in full within those 7 days stops the eviction. A curable lease violation that affects health and safety gets a 10-day notice to fix the problem; deliberate serious damage or illegal activity at the unit can be a 24-hour to 5-day unconditional quit with no cure. To end a month-to-month tenancy for no reason takes 30 days' written notice, and Alaska has no statewide just-cause requirement. If any notice is mailed, add 3 days.
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This is the general rule in Alaska. Ezel applies current Alaska law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law | Alaska adopted the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (URLTA), AS 34.03. Tenant-fault notices are in AS 34.03.220 — nonpayment in (b); other noncompliance, illegal activity, and utility default in (a) and (e). No-cause termination of a periodic tenancy is AS 34.03.290. The eviction suit is a Forcible Entry and Detainer under AS 09.45.060–09.45.160: AS 09.45.090 lists what counts as unlawful holding, and AS 09.45.100 governs the notice to quit. Retaliation is barred by AS 34.03.310 |
|---|---|
| Notice for unpaid rent | 7 days to pay or quit. If rent is unpaid when due, the landlord serves written notice of nonpayment and intent to terminate; the tenancy terminates only if the tenant 'fails to pay rent in full within seven days' (AS 34.03.220(b)). Paying in full within the 7 days stops the eviction. Only one notice per default is required, and the landlord may accept a partial payment and extend the date. Calendar days — but add 3 days if mailed (AS 09.45.090(c)) |
| Notice for a lease violation | 10 days to cure. For a material noncompliance with the lease or the tenant's statutory duties (AS 34.03.120) 'materially affecting health and safety,' the landlord serves a notice to quit specifying the breach and a termination date 'not less than 10 days after service'; if the tenant 'adequately remedies the breach before the date specified,' the tenancy continues (AS 34.03.220(a)(2)). Add 3 days if mailed (AS 09.45.090(c)) |
| Unconditional quit (no cure allowed) | 24 hours to 5 days, no cure, for the most serious conduct: deliberately inflicting substantial damage (loss or defacement over $400) or engaging in/permitting prostitution or other illegal activity at the premises lets the landlord set termination 'not less than 24 hours or more than five days after service' (AS 34.03.220(a)(1)). A repeat of substantially the same noncompliance within six months = at least 5 days, no cure (AS 34.03.220(a)(2)). A tenant-caused utility shutoff = 5-day notice, curable within 3 days by reinstating service and repaying the landlord (AS 34.03.220(e)) |
| Ending a month-to-month tenancy | 30 days for a month-to-month tenancy — either party may terminate 'by a written notice given to the other at least 30 days before the rental due date specified in the notice' (AS 34.03.290(b)). A week-to-week tenancy takes 14 days' written notice (AS 34.03.290(a)). No reason is required |
| Just cause to evict required? | No statewide just-cause requirement — a month-to-month tenancy may be ended for any reason on 30 days' notice (AS 34.03.290(b)). AS 34.03.310(c) lists grounds on which a landlord may recover possession despite a retaliation defense, but it does not require cause to end an ordinary periodic tenancy. Local rules (e.g., the Municipality of Anchorage) may add protections outside this survey's state-law scope |
| How the notice must be served | A notice to quit must be in writing and served by (1) personal delivery to the tenant, (2) leaving it at the premises if the tenant is absent, or (3) registered or certified mail (AS 09.45.100(c)). For nonpayment, the AS 34.03.220(b) written notice itself 'constitutes notice to quit' — no separate notice is needed (AS 09.45.100(b)). Each fault notice must specify the acts or omissions constituting the breach and the termination date. If served by mail, 3 days are added to the period (AS 09.45.090(c)) |
| Tenant's right to cure/reinstate | Reinstatement: paying the overdue rent in full within the 7-day period keeps the tenancy (AS 34.03.220(b)); curing a health-and-safety noncompliance before the 10-day termination date does the same (AS 34.03.220(a)(2)). Retaliation is both barred and a defense — a landlord may not bring or threaten a possession action after the tenant complained of a habitability violation (AS 34.03.100), enforced URLTA rights, joined a tenants' union, or complained to a housing agency (AS 34.03.310(a),(b)) — but that defense does not apply if the tenant 'is in default in rent' (AS 34.03.310(c)(1)) |
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Requirements one by one
Governing law
Alaska is a Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (URLTA) state. The rental
rules live in AS 34.03, and the notice a landlord must give before evicting a
tenant is spread across a few sections: nonpayment of rent is AS 34.03.220(b),
other tenant misconduct is AS 34.03.220(a) and (e), and ending a periodic
(month-to-month or week-to-week) tenancy for no fault is AS 34.03.290. The court
case itself is a Forcible Entry and Detainer (F.E.D.) under AS 09.45.060 through
09.45.160 — AS 09.45.090 defines when a tenant is "unlawfully holding" (which is
what lets the landlord sue), and AS 09.45.100 sets how the notice to quit is
served. A separate section, AS 34.03.310, bars retaliatory evictions.
Notice for unpaid rent
Unpaid rent gets a 7-day notice. If rent is not paid when due, the landlord
serves "written notice... of nonpayment and the intention to terminate," and the
tenancy terminates only if the tenant "fails to pay rent in full within seven
days" (AS 34.03.220(b)). Two practical features come straight from the statute:
the landlord need give "only one written notice of default... as to any one
default," and a landlord who takes a partial payment "may accept a partial payment
of the rent due... and extend the date for the eviction accordingly." Because the
notice is measured in days, mailing it adds three days (AS 09.45.090(c)) — a
mailed 7-day notice effectively runs 10.
Notice for a lease violation
A curable, non-rent breach gets 10 days to fix. When the tenant materially
breaks the lease, or breaks a statutory tenant duty in AS 34.03.120 in a way
"materially affecting health and safety," the landlord serves a notice to quit
that specifies the breach and sets a termination date "not less than 10 days after
service" (AS 34.03.220(a)(2)). The tenant keeps the tenancy by fixing the problem:
"if the breach is remediable by repairs or the payment of damages or otherwise and
the tenant adequately remedies the breach before the date specified in the notice,
the rental agreement will not terminate." Mailing this notice also adds three days.
Unconditional quit (no cure allowed)
Alaska reserves a fast, no-cure track for the most serious conduct. If the tenant
"deliberately inflicts substantial damage to the premises" — "substantial" meaning
loss or defacement "exceeds $400" — or "engages in or permits another to engage in
prostitution or another illegal activity at the premises," the landlord may set a
termination date "not less than 24 hours or more than five days after service"
(AS 34.03.220(a)(1)). No cure is offered. Two related no-cure tracks: a repeat
of substantially the same noncompliance within six months lets the landlord
terminate on "at least five days' written notice to quit" (AS 34.03.220(a)(2)),
and a utility shutoff caused by the tenant's own nonpayment triggers a 5-day
notice that the tenant can undo only by reinstating service and repaying the
landlord within three days (AS 34.03.220(e)).
Ending a month-to-month tenancy
To end a month-to-month tenancy with no fault, "the landlord or the tenant may
terminate... by a written notice given to the other at least 30 days before the
rental due date specified in the notice" (AS 34.03.290(b)). A week-to-week tenancy
takes 14 days' written notice (AS 34.03.290(a)). Note the month-to-month clock
runs to a "rental due date," so the 30 days is counted back from a rent day, not
from any arbitrary date the landlord picks.
How the notice must be served
A notice to quit "shall be in writing" and served one of three ways: "delivered to
the tenant or person," "left at the premises in case of absence from the
premises," or "sent by registered or certified mail" (AS 09.45.100(c)). For a
nonpayment eviction there is a shortcut — the AS 34.03.220(b) written notice "may"
double as the notice to quit, so "service of a separate notice to quit is not
required" (AS 09.45.100(b)). Whatever the ground, the statute makes the notice
specify the acts or omissions that are the breach and the termination date. And
the mail rule is load-bearing: serving by mail adds three days to the period
(AS 09.45.090(c)).
Tenant's right to cure/reinstate
The tenant's clearest right is reinstatement by paying or fixing in time: pay the
overdue rent in full within the 7-day window and the tenancy survives
(AS 34.03.220(b)); cure a health-and-safety breach before the 10-day date and it
survives too (AS 34.03.220(a)(2)). Alaska also gives tenants a retaliation
defense. A landlord "may not retaliate... by bringing or threatening to bring an
action for possession" after the tenant complained about a habitability violation
(AS 34.03.100), tried to "enforce rights and remedies" under URLTA, joined "a
tenant's union or similar organization," or "complained to a governmental agency"
about housing conditions — and a tenant facing a retaliatory eviction "has a
defense in an action... for possession" (AS 34.03.310(a), (b)). One important
limit: that defense does not apply if "the tenant is in default in rent"
(AS 34.03.310(c)(1)), so it cannot be used to sit on unpaid rent.
What trips people up
A mailed notice buys three extra days. AS 09.45.090(c) adds three days to the
notice period whenever the landlord serves by mail. A 7-day pay-or-quit becomes a
10-day one; a 10-day cure notice becomes 13. A tenant who counts from the mailing
date without adding those days can misjudge the real deadline.
The 24-hour notice is a range, not a flat 24 hours. AS 34.03.220(a)(1) lets
the landlord set termination "not less than 24 hours or more than five days" for
deliberate serious damage or illegal activity. The landlord picks a date in that
window; it is not automatically the next day, and the conduct that unlocks it is
narrow — over-$400 deliberate damage, or prostitution/illegal use of the unit.
Paying rent doesn't rescue you from a retaliation problem, and a retaliation
defense doesn't rescue you from unpaid rent. The retaliation bar is powerful, but
AS 34.03.310(c)(1) carves out a tenant "in default in rent" — you can't withhold
rent and then claim any resulting eviction is retaliatory.
Common questions
How many days do I get if I'm behind on rent? Seven days from a written
pay-or-quit notice — ten if the landlord mailed it. Paying the full amount due
within that window keeps your tenancy (AS 34.03.220(b); AS 09.45.090(c)).
Can my landlord evict me immediately for one late payment? No. Even for
nonpayment the landlord must serve the 7-day written notice first and let the seven
days run; only then can an F.E.D. action be filed (AS 34.03.220(b),
AS 09.45.090(a)(1)).
Does Alaska make my landlord have a "good reason" to end my month-to-month
lease? No. Alaska has no statewide just-cause law — either side can end a
month-to-month tenancy for any reason on 30 days' written notice
(AS 34.03.290(b)). Some municipalities add their own rules.
My landlord is trying to evict me right after I reported a broken furnace to the
city. Is that allowed? Generally not. Bringing a possession action after you
complained about habitability or to a housing agency is retaliation, and you have a
defense (AS 34.03.310(a), (b)) — unless you are also behind on rent
(AS 34.03.310(c)(1)).
Statutes and sources
- AS 34.03.220 — the 7-day nonpayment notice (b); the 24-hour-to-5-day unconditional quit and 10-day cure notice (a); and the 5-day utility-shutoff notice (e).
https://law.justia.com/codes/alaska/title-34/chapter-03/article-6/section-34-03-220/ (accessed 2026-07-11) - AS 34.03.290 — 30 days to end a month-to-month tenancy; 14 days for week-to-week.
https://law.justia.com/codes/alaska/title-34/chapter-03/article-7/section-34-03-290/ (accessed 2026-07-11) - AS 09.45.100 — notice to quit must be written and served by delivery, leaving at the premises, or registered/certified mail; the nonpayment notice doubles as the notice to quit.
https://codes.findlaw.com/ak/title-9-code-of-civil-procedure/ak-st-sect-09-45-100/ (accessed 2026-07-11) - AS 09.45.090 — defines unlawful holding by force (the 7-day nonpayment default in (a)(1)) and adds three days to any period when the notice is mailed (c).
https://codes.findlaw.com/ak/title-9-code-of-civil-procedure/ak-st-sect-09-45-090/ (accessed 2026-07-11) - AS 34.03.310 — retaliatory eviction prohibited; tenant has a defense to a possession action, except when in default in rent.
https://law.justia.com/codes/alaska/title-34/chapter-03/article-8/section-34-03-310/ (accessed 2026-07-11)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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