Tennessee renter rights: the basics for first-time renters
Tennessee's Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (URLTA), Tenn. Code Ann. Title 66, Chapter 28, applies only in certain larger counties. Renters elsewhere are covered mostly by general landlord-tenant law and their lease. Tennessee doesn't publish its code on a free government website, so this guide relies on renter guides published by the Tennessee Department of Health (written with the Legal Aid Society, last updated July 2015) and on enacted legislation from the Tennessee General Assembly. The law may have changed since those guides were written, so check anything important with a lawyer or the court clerk.
Quick facts
| Where URLTA applies | Anderson, Blount, Bradley, Davidson, Hamilton, Knox, Madison, Maury, Montgomery, Rutherford, Sevier, Shelby, Sullivan, Sumner, Washington, Williamson, Wilson counties (per state guide) |
|---|---|
| Security deposit max | No cap stated in the state guide — check your lease |
| Deposit held | In a separate bank account just for deposits; landlord must tell you which bank |
| Late fee (URLTA counties) | Only after rent is more than 5 days late; max 10% of the rent owed |
| Month-to-month: landlord notice to end (no lease) | 30 days in writing; 10 days if you pay weekly |
| Landlord entry | Generally with your OK; showings in last 30 days need 24 hours' notice if the lease allows |
| Eviction notice for unpaid rent | Usually 14 days to pay or move, unless your lease waives notice |
| After losing in court | At least 10 days before the sheriff can remove you (per state guide) |
Quick facts are simplified. Read the sections below for exceptions, and check your city or county too.
Security deposits
- Cap: the state-published guide doesn't mention a maximum, so your lease controls. Get a receipt marked “security deposit” with the date and amount.
- Separate account: in URLTA counties, the landlord must keep deposits in a bank account used only for deposits and tell you which bank it's in. According to the state guide, a landlord who doesn't keep the deposit separate isn't entitled to keep it.
- Move-out walk-through: the guide says you can do a walk-through with the landlord to list damage, within 5 days after you move out. You lose that right if you moved without written notice, were evicted, or abandoned the unit. Don't sign a damage list you disagree with. Make your own, signed and dated.
- Wear and tear: you don't pay for normal wear and tear or for damage that was there when you moved in. A signed move-in condition list is your best proof.
- Get it back: give the landlord your new address and ask for the deposit back in writing right away. Keep a copy. If it's wrongly kept, you can go to court.
Rent increases and late fees
Tennessee doesn't cap rent. In URLTA counties, the state guide says a landlord can charge a late fee only after rent is more than 5 days late (counting from the due date; if day 5 is a Sunday or holiday, you have until the next business day), and the fee can be no more than 10% of the rent owed. Public housing has its own late-fee rules.
If you have a lease, the rent can't go up until it ends unless the lease says otherwise. Without a lease, the guide says the landlord must tell you ahead of time: a month ahead if you pay monthly, 10 days if you pay weekly.
Ending a month-to-month tenancy
Read your lease. If you move before it ends, you may owe rent for the rest of the term, and you may lose your deposit. Give any required notice in writing.
Without a lease, the state guide says a landlord can end the tenancy without a reason but must give written notice of at least 30 days (monthly rent) or 10 days (weekly rent) before going to court. The guide also describes a right for tenants who are totally disabled to end a lease early in limited circumstances, such as being approved for public housing when the landlord refuses needed accessibility changes.
When the landlord can come in
According to the state guide, the landlord usually needs your OK to come in, and you should allow entry for good reasons like repairs. The landlord can enter without permission in an emergency, if you've been gone more than 7 days without telling them, if utilities have been shut off through no fault of the landlord, or with a court order, among other situations. Showing the unit to new renters is allowed only during your last 30 days, only if the lease allows it, and with 24 hours' notice.
Repairs and living conditions
In URLTA counties, the landlord must keep the home fit to live in and in good repair, keep shared areas clean and safe, and make the repairs the lease requires. The state guide's advice:
- Ordinary repairs: write the landlord (dated, keep a copy) and wait 14 days. If the problem makes the home unsafe and isn't fixed, you may be able to move out. Get legal advice first.
- Essential services (lights, heat, gas, water, sewer, plumbing): after written notice, if they're not fixed right away and it wasn't your fault, the guide says you can pay for the repair from rent (send the bill with the rest of the rent), sue for damages, stay elsewhere and skip rent until you move back, or give 14 days' notice and move out.
- Don't skip rent over ordinary repairs. That can get you evicted.
Contact your county or city codes or health department about unsafe or unhealthy conditions.
Write it all down from day one. The 12-page First Apartment Move-In Kit has a first-week timeline, lease and building facts, a utilities board, room-by-room unpacking, and a first-month money sheet — so your lease facts, notice dates, and move-in notes live in one place. $9.99 on Etsy. Undated.
Get the kit — $9.99 on EtsyEviction basics
Notice: for unpaid rent or other lease violations, the state guide says the landlord usually must give you written notice with 14 days to pay or fix the problem, or move. A lease can waive the notice for unpaid rent, in which case the landlord can go straight to court. A 2014 law (Public Chapter 593) set a 7-day notice when the same breach happens again within six months. If you did something dangerous, the guide says the notice can be as short as 3 days.
Court: you'll be served a detainer warrant with the court date or, according to the guide, at least 6 days until the hearing in most counties. Keep paying rent during the case. If you lose, the guide says you have at least 10 days before the sheriff can remove you, and you can ask a lawyer about an appeal during that time.
Utilities: the state guide says a landlord can cut off utilities only in limited cases, such as after you move out, or if your lease requires you to put utilities in your name and you don't after a 3-day warning. Removal after an eviction judgment is carried out by the sheriff.
Retaliation and discrimination
Retaliation: the state guide says a landlord generally can't evict you for asking for repairs or reporting problems to the health or codes department, unless you're behind on rent, you or your guests caused the problem, or fixing it would require tearing down or remodeling the home.
Discrimination: fair housing laws ban treating renters differently because of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, having children, or disability, and landlords must make reasonable accommodations for disabilities. The Tennessee Human Rights Commission takes complaints.
City and county rules
Whether the URLTA applies depends on your county. Check the county list above, and ask your county clerk or a legal aid office if you're unsure. Local codes and health departments enforce housing conditions. If you live outside the URLTA counties, the Department of Health also published a separate guide for rural renters.
Move-in checklist for Tennessee renters
- ☐ Get a written lease and read all of it before signing
- ☐ Get a receipt for the deposit and any move-in money
- ☐ Photograph every room, dated, before you unpack
- ☐ Fill out (or write your own) move-in condition list and keep a copy
- ☐ Note the rent due date, grace period, and late fee
- ☐ Write down how to request repairs, and do it in writing
- ☐ Save the landlord's legal name and address for notices
- ☐ Put your notice deadline for moving out in your calendar
Still apartment hunting? Our list of questions to ask a landlord before signing a lease covers deposits, fees, repairs, and move-out rules you will want answered in writing.
Where to get help in Tennessee
- Tennessee Human Rights Commission — housing discrimination complaints.
- Tennessee Courts — Eviction Resources — list of eviction help compiled by the Access to Justice Commission and the courts.
- Find free legal aid near you — the federal Legal Services Corporation's directory of local legal aid offices.
- File a housing discrimination complaint with HUD — the federal fair housing agency.
More help
Nonprofit and legal aid resources (not government sources):
- Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands — free legal help and renter booklets (nonprofit); 1-800-238-1443.
Official sources
These are the official state law and government pages we checked for every fact on this page. The law itself controls if anything here differs.
- Tennessee Department of Health — “If You Rent a Place, Know Your Legal Rights and Duties” (URLTA counties; with Legal Aid Society, 7/2015, PDF)
- Tennessee Department of Health — Rights and Duties guide for renters outside URLTA counties (PDF)
- Tennessee General Assembly — SB 1787 / HB 1573 (2014, Public Chapter 593), amending Tenn. Code 66-28-505 notice periods
Not legal advice; laws change and cities may add rules. Check the official sources below or a local legal aid office. This page is a plain-language summary written by First Apartment Kit, not the law itself. Last reviewed: October 2026.