Rental agreements in Alaska are legally binding so if a landlord signs a lease and doesn’t hand over the keys by the time tenancy is supposed to begin, a tenant may use the following remedies:
Terminate or Demand Performance
If the landlord fails to deliver possession of the dwelling unit to the tenant, rent abates until possession is delivered and the tenant may:
- Upon at least 10 days written notice to the landlord, terminate the rental agreement and upon termination the landlord shall return all prepaid rent and security deposits; or
- demand performance of the rental agreement by the landlord and if the tenant elects, maintain an action for possession of the dwelling unit against the landlord and any person wrongfully in possession and recover the damages sustained.
Damages
If a person’s failure to deliver possession is willful and not in good faith, an aggrieved tenant may recover from that person an amount not to exceed one and one-half times the actual damages.
Article 05. Section 34.03.170.
Return to Alaska Landlord-Tenant Laws.