Alabama Section 8 Rules: No State Ban on Refusing Vouchers

By Steve Levine · Updated November 3, 2026

Short answer: Alabama Section 8 rules give voucher holders no state protection against a landlord who says “no Section 8.” The Alabama Fair Housing Law, Ala. Code § 24-8-4, lists race, color, religion, sex, familial status and national origin (and handicap in parts of the section), but not source of income, and Ala. Code § 35-9A-121 bars cities and counties from passing their own landlord-tenant ordinances.

So in Alabama, a voucher is only as useful as the landlords willing to take it. The program itself, from the waiting list to the rent formula, is run by local housing authorities under federal rules, and that is where most of your effort should go.

Alabama Section 8 rules at a glance

Rule	Alabama	Statute
Statewide ban on refusing vouchers	None. Source of income is not a listed protected class	Ala. Code § 24-8-4
Local ordinances	Counties and cities may not enact landlord-tenant ordinances; building and health codes still allowed	Ala. Code § 35-9A-121
Notice before a lease ends for unpaid rent or a breach	Not less than 7 business days after receipt	Ala. Code § 35-9A-421
Owner may end an assisted tenancy only for	Serious or repeated lease violations, law violations, or other good cause	24 CFR 982.310
Your base rent share	Highest of 30% of monthly adjusted income, 10% of monthly income, and other listed amounts	24 CFR 5.628

Who runs vouchers in Alabama

There is no single statewide voucher office. Each local public housing agency (PHA) keeps its own waiting list and its own Administrative Plan. HUD keeps a PHA contact directory where you can pick Alabama and see every agency. Four of the larger city agencies:

Birmingham: the Housing Authority of the Birmingham District lists an HCV (Section 8) program and routes residents and landlords to an online portal.
Montgomery: the Montgomery Housing Authority says 3,068 households use its Housing Choice Voucher Program, and applicants start by creating an online account.
Mobile: the Mobile Housing Authority runs a “Housing Choice Voucher Program (Section 8)” and has an online application link.
Huntsville: the Huntsville Housing Authority runs a Housing Choice Voucher Program and takes online or in-person applications.

Smaller towns and many counties have their own authorities, so the agency closest to where you want to live may not be one of these four.

How Alabama waiting lists actually move

Lists open for short windows and then close. Federal rule 24 CFR 982.206 requires a PHA to publish public notice in a local newspaper when it opens a list, and lets it stop taking applications once it has an adequate pool. Watch the agency’s website and local news, because a window can be only a few days long.

It pays to apply in more than one place. 24 CFR 982.205(b)(2) forbids a PHA from refusing to list you, or dropping you, because you applied for or received other housing help. Your position depends on your application date and any local preferences the agency has adopted.

Keep your mailing address current. Under 24 CFR 982.204(c), an agency’s plan can remove applicants who do not answer update requests, though a household whose silence was caused by a disability must be reinstated to its former place.

Can an Alabama landlord refuse Section 8?

Yes, in practice. Section 24-8-4 makes it unlawful to refuse to rent “because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, or national origin,” and nothing in that list covers how you pay. Because § 35-9A-121 says no county or municipality may enact or enforce an ordinance on “the rights and obligations governing residential landlord and tenant relationships,” a Birmingham or Huntsville renter cannot point to a local source-of-income ordinance either.

What a landlord cannot do is use “no vouchers” as cover for a protected-class reason. If a landlord accepts vouchers from some applicants and not others, or the refusal tracks race, disability or children in the household, that is a fair housing question, not a voucher question.

The federal rules, in short

Your share of the rent starts with 24 CFR 5.628: the highest of 30% of monthly adjusted income, 10% of gross monthly income, or the other amounts listed there. When you first move into a unit priced above the payment standard, 24 CFR 982.508 caps your share at 40% of adjusted monthly income.

The PHA inspects before the lease starts and at least every two years after that (24 CFR 982.405). It re-checks income and household size at least once a year (24 CFR 982.516). You can generally move your voucher out of state through portability (24 CFR 982.353), though a household that did not live in the agency’s area when it applied can be held in that area for the first 12 months.

Where Alabama eviction law meets the voucher

An Alabama landlord who wants a voucher tenant out has to satisfy two sets of rules at once. Federal 24 CFR 982.310(f) says the owner “may only evict the tenant from the unit by instituting a court action,” and only for the grounds the rule lists. The same rule says the housing authority’s failure to pay its share is not grounds to terminate you.

State law then sets the notice. Under Ala. Code § 35-9A-421, a written termination notice for unpaid rent or a material breach must give a date not less than seven business days after you receive it. A breach you fix within that window generally ends the matter, but an intentional misrepresentation on a rental application “may not be remedied or cured.”

A worked example: Renee in Montgomery

Renee, a home health aide, has adjusted income of $1,500 a month after her deductions. Thirty percent of that is $450, which is her baseline share under 5.628. She finds a two-bedroom renting for $1,250 including utilities. Assume, purely for illustration, that her agency’s payment standard for that size is $1,100.

Because the rent is $150 above the standard, Renee pays $450 plus $150, or $600. That is exactly 40% of $1,500, the ceiling in 982.508, so the agency can approve it. At $1,260, the unit would push her past 40% and could not be approved at move-in.

Months later, Renee pays her $600 share late. The landlord’s notice reaches her on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, the day after Labor Day. Counting seven business days, the earliest termination date is Thursday, September 17. If she pays the full amount owed before then, the lease does not end, and even an unfixed default still has to go through district court.

How to apply and what to gather

Pick two or three agencies from the HUD Alabama list, including at least one smaller county authority, and check each one’s open or closed status.
Create the online account each agency uses, so you can apply the moment a window opens.
Gather what HUD says agencies typically request: pay stubs and bank records, SSI or SNAP paperwork, Social Security cards and proof of citizenship or eligible immigration status.
Estimate your likely share with our Section 8 rent calculator before you start touring units.

New to the program? Our guide to how Section 8 works walks through the briefing and lease-up steps.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a Birmingham or Huntsville city council ban voucher discrimination?

Not under current state law. Ala. Code § 35-9A-121 supersedes any county or municipal ordinance on residential landlord and tenant rights. Cities may still enforce building and health codes that apply equally to owner-occupied homes.

Does the 7-business-day notice apply if my housing authority stops paying?

The federal rule is clear that an agency’s failure to pay its share is not grounds for the owner to end your tenancy. Your own share is different: if you fall behind on it, the landlord can use the Alabama notice in § 35-9A-421.

Will an Alabama landlord’s “no Section 8” ad break the law?

On its own, no state statute is broken. An ad would cross the line under § 24-8-4(3) if it signaled a preference based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin.

Can I apply to the Mobile and Montgomery authorities at the same time?

Yes. Federal rules bar an agency from refusing to list you because you applied elsewhere. If you did not live in an agency’s area when you applied, expect to rent inside that area for your first 12 months.

Is my security deposit treated differently with a voucher?

No. The same state rules apply; see our Alabama security deposit law page.

If you are facing an eviction case or a refusal that looks discriminatory, Legal Services Alabama takes applications through its website. This page is general information, not legal advice. Next, read our Alabama eviction process guide and compare other states on the Section 8 rules by state hub.

Sources

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