Alaska Court System, CIV-720 Eviction Booklet

Citation: Alaska Court System, CIV-720 Eviction Booklet
Jurisdiction: Alaska (state)
Source: Official source
Original Source: https://public.courts.alaska.gov/web/forms/docs/civ-720.pdf ↗

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CIV-720 EVICTION BOOKLET (8/23) 10
 The eviction hearing is usually scheduled to happen just 2 to 4 days after you
receive the summons, so you will have to decide very quickly whether you have
any defenses. Some possible defenses are listed below.
1. Defenses for Failure to Pay Rent
The list below includes the main reasons you can defend yourself against
eviction for failure to pay rent. You can find out more about these defenses
and others in the Landlord Tenant Booklet (PUB-30) or in Alaska Statutes
34.03. The statutes listed below can be found in the back of PUB-30.
a. The landlord has failed to maintain fit premises in violation of AS
34.03.100. If the landlord’s failure to maintain the property has lowered
its fair rental value, you can get a credit for the amount of this lowered
value against the rent owed.
b. The landlord has wrongfully failed to supply heat, water, hot water, or
other essential services required by AS 34.03.100. If you gave written
notice to the landlord about this, you may get a reduction in the amount of
rent owed. See AS 34.03.180 for details.
c. The landlord has unlawfully removed or excluded you from the property,
or willfully diminished essential services. You can get money damages
from the landlord for this behavior, which can offset the amount of rent
claimed. See AS 34.03.210 & AS 34.03.170 for detail.
d. After you were given the Notice to Quit, you made a partial payment that
the landlord accepted. Under the law, this means the landlord has waived
(given up) the right to end the lease for that instance of nonpayment. AS
34.03.240.
e. The landlord increased your rent (or decreased the services provided to
you) in retaliation for a complaint about the condition of the property or
because you tried to enforce your rights under the