Alaska Eviction Process: Notice Periods, Timeline, and Costs

AS 34.03.220(b) terminates the tenancy if rent is unpaid when due and the tenant fails to pay in full within seven days after written notice of the nonpayment and of the landlord's intention to terminate if the rent is not paid in that time. These are calendar days: day one is the day after you hand the notice to the tenant, and Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays all count, so a landlord may file on the eighth day. The notice must state what the tenant can do to fix the problem and give a deadline by both date and time. Under AS 09.45.100(c) it must be delivered to the tenant, left at the premises if the tenant is absent, or sent by registered or certified mail; the Alaska Court System publishes form CIV-725 for this notice.

For material noncompliance with the rental agreement, AS 34.03.220(a)(2) requires a written notice to quit that specifies the acts or omissions and sets termination no less than ten days after service, and the tenancy survives if the tenant adequately remedies the breach before that date. If substantially the same act or omission recurs within six months, the landlord may terminate on at least five days' written notice with no cure right. Deliberate property damage over $400 and illegal activity on the premises fall under AS 34.03.220(a)(1), which sets termination not less than 24 hours nor more than five days after service.

AS 34.03.290(b) lets either the landlord or the tenant end a month-to-month tenancy by written notice given at least 30 days before the rental due date specified in the notice. Alaska imposes no statewide just-cause eviction requirement and no longer notice period for long-term tenants, and there is no state rent control. Alaska also has no winter eviction ban, contrary to a widespread belief; the forcible entry and detainer procedure runs year-round.

Forcible entry and detainer actions are filed in the district court closest to the rental property, using complaint form CIV-730, and the Alaska Court System charges a $150 filing fee to open the case. Expect additional costs for process service and for law enforcement to enforce a writ of assistance, which agencies may bill separately.

The Alaska FED summons (form CIV-105) does two things at once: it orders the tenant to appear at an eviction hearing on a date the clerk sets when the case is filed, and it requires a written answer to all other claims, such as back rent and damages, within 20 days after the summons was served. Possession is therefore decided at the hearing, not by the 20-day answer, and a tenant who never files an answer can still contest the eviction itself by simply showing up.

Alaska moves relatively fast: Civil Rule 85 requires the eviction hearing to be held at least two days after the tenant is served and not more than 15 days after the case is filed, so a seven-day notice plus filing and hearing often produces a possession judgment within three to six weeks. It runs longer when the tenant contests the case, when service is difficult in a rural or off-road community, or when the money-damages portion is tried separately after the 20-day answer window.

Alaska prohibits self-help eviction outright. A landlord may not change the locks, shut off utilities or other essential services, take the tenant's belongings, or retake the unit by force without a court hearing, and these protections cannot be waived in the lease. Under AS 34.03.210 a tenant who is unlawfully removed, excluded, or whose services are wilfully diminished may recover possession or terminate the rental agreement and, in either case, recover up to one and one-half times actual damages, plus the return of prepaid rent and security deposits under AS 34.03.070. Using a criminal trespass complaint to get police to remove a tenant instead of filing an FED is an abuse of the process, and officers should decline.

The Alaska Court System's Eviction Diversion Program, which offered free mediation to landlords and tenants in eviction cases, ended June 30, 2025, so that settlement option is no longer available through the courts. The court has since issued a new Eviction Summons Information Sheet (form MED-601, dated December 2025) served with the summons under Civil Rule 100 and Administrative Bulletin 98.

The trap that sinks the most small-landlord cases in Alaska is who signs the complaint. Per the court system's CIV-720 eviction booklet, an individual owner may sign and represent themselves at every hearing, but a corporation, an LLC, a property manager, or someone acting under a power of attorney must have an attorney sign the complaint and appear in court. If you hold your rental in an LLC, budget for a lawyer before you file. Also count the notice period correctly: day one is the day after delivery, weekends and holidays are included, and you may file on the eighth day. Serve the notice to quit only the three ways AS 09.45.100(c) allows, and make sure whoever delivered or posted it is available to testify at the hearing.

• AS 34.03.220
• AS 34.03.290
• AS 34.03.210