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Alaska Tenant Noncompliance and Failure to Pay Rent

The Alaska Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act affords landlords the right to pursue the following remedies should a tenant fail to comply with the terms of a rental agreement or engage in illegal activity on the premises:

Substantial Damage and Illegal Activity

If the tenant or someone in the tenant’s control deliberately inflicts substantial damage to the premises or the tenant engages in or permits another to engage in prostitution or another illegal activity at the premises in breach of the conditions set forth in the section Alaska Tenant Obligations, the landlord may deliver a written notice to quit to the tenant under the section Alaska Notice to Quit Form and Laws specifying the act constituting the breach and specifying that the rental agreement will terminate upon a date that is not less than 24 hours or more than five days after service of the notice; for purposes of this paragraph, damage to premises is “substantial” if the loss, destruction, or defacement of property attributable to the deliberate infliction of damage to the premises exceeds $400;

Noncompliance Other Than Damage

If there is a material noncompliance by the tenant with the rental agreement, or if there is noncompliance with the section Alaska Tenant Obligations, other than deliberate infliction of substantial damage to the premises or other than noncompliance as to a utility service for which the provisions of subsection Utility Service Discontinued apply, materially affecting health and safety, the landlord may deliver a written notice to quit to the tenant under the section Alaska Notice to Quit Form and Laws specifying the acts and omissions constituting the breach and specifying that the rental agreement will terminate on a date not less than 10 days after service of the notice; if the breach is not remedied, the rental agreement terminates as provided in the notice subject to the provisions of this section; 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; in the absence of due care by the tenant, if substantially the same act or omission that constituted a prior noncompliance of which notice was given recurs within six months, the landlord may terminate the rental agreement upon at least five days written notice to quit specifying the breach and the date of termination of the rental agreement.

Unpaid Rent

If rent is unpaid when due and the tenant fails to pay rent in full within seven days after written notice by the landlord of nonpayment and the intention to terminate the rental agreement if the rent is not paid within that period of time, the tenancy terminates unless the landlord agrees to allow the tenant to remain in occupancy, and the landlord may terminate the rental agreement and immediately recover possession of the rental unit. Only one written notice of default need be given the tenant by the landlord as to any one default. A landlord who has given written notice to the tenant under this subsection may accept a partial payment of the rent due under the rental agreement and extend the date for the eviction accordingly.

Utility Service Discontinued

If a public utility providing electricity, natural gas, or water to the premises occupied by the tenant discontinues the service to the premises due to the failure of the tenant to pay for the utility service, the landlord may deliver a written notice to quit to the tenant advising that, notwithstanding the subsection Substantial Damage or Illegal Activity, the tenancy will terminate five days after the landlord’s service of the notice. If, within three days from the service of the notice, the tenant reinstates the discontinued service and repays the landlord for any amounts paid by the landlord to reinstate service, and if damage did not occur to the rental unit as a result of the discontinuance of service, the rental agreement will not terminate. However, in the absence of due care by the tenant, if substantially the same act or omission that constituted a prior noncompliance under this subsection for which notice was given recurs within six months, the landlord may terminate the rental agreement upon at least three days’ written notice specifying the breach and the date of termination of the rental agreement.

Damages and Injunctive Relief

Except as provided in this Act, the landlord may recover actual damages and obtain injunctive relief for any noncompliance by the tenant with the rental agreement or the section Alaska Tenant Obligations.

Note: A person whose use of premises is based solely on rights acquired by a tenant, and who has not individually acquired the rights of a tenant under this chapter, does not acquire rights under this Act as a result of being present on the premises.

Article 06. Section 34.03.220.

Return to Alaska Landlord-Tenant Laws.