Alabama tenant screening laws

The Act sets no limit on application or screening fees and no refund rule for them. An intentional misrepresentation of a material fact in a rental application is a breach you may end the lease for, and it cannot be cured (Ala. Code §§ 35-9A-101 to 35-9A-603; Ala. Code § 35-9A-421(a)).

• Screening must not treat applicants differently because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin or disability (the statute says handicap) (Ala. Code § 24-8-4).See Fair housing on the Alabama page
• Alabama's fair housing law lets an application ask the number, age, sex and familial relationship of the applicants and intended occupants and whether any intended occupant was convicted of illegally manufacturing or distributing a controlled substance, and it does not bar acting on such a conviction (Ala. Code § 24-8-7(f), (l)).

Alabama's fair housing law makes it unlawful to refuse to rent after a bona fide offer, refuse to negotiate, or otherwise make a dwelling unavailable, or to set different terms, conditions or services, because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status or national origin, or because of a handicap (disability) of the renter, someone who will live there, or anyone associated with the renter. Advertising that indicates a preference, limitation or discrimination on any of those grounds is also unlawful (Ala. Code § 24-8-4).

• Falsely telling someone, on one of those grounds, that a dwelling is not available to inspect or rent is unlawful (Ala. Code § 24-8-4(4)).
• Familial status protects households with children under 18 and anyone who is pregnant or securing legal custody of a child (Ala. Code § 24-8-3(5)).
• Narrow exemptions cover rooms or units in an owner-occupied building of four or fewer units and some single-family houses rented by an owner of no more than three, but the advertising ban still applies, and the house exemption is lost if a broker or a discriminatory advertisement is used (Ala. Code § 24-8-7(a) to (c)).
• Refusing a disabled tenant's reasonable accommodation in rules, policies, practices or services, or refusing reasonable modifications of the unit at the tenant's expense, is unlawful discrimination; for a rental you may, where reasonable, require the tenant to restore the interior at move-out, reasonable wear and tear excepted (Ala. Code § 24-8-7(g)(1), (2)).
• Denying anyone access to, or membership or participation in, a multiple listing service, brokers' organization or other service or facility relating to the business of renting dwellings, on any of those grounds, is also unlawful (Ala. Code § 24-8-5).
• For an assistance-animal request to make an exception to a no-animal housing policy, Alabama permits reliable documentation of the disability only when it is not readily apparent or known, and of the disability-related need for the animal only when that need is not readily apparent or known. The chapter defines reliable documentation as permitted accommodation documentation from the requester's medical provider and applies to landlords enforcing policies in covered housing. Keep all documentation obtained under this section confidential. An obvious or known fact does not trigger a new documentation requirement under this rule (Ala. Code 24-8A-2, 24-8A-3).