Free Tennessee Rent Increase Notice

▶ Watch overview

Tennessee has no rent control and no cap on how much you can raise the rent, and there is no statewide rent-increase notice statute – a rent increase is a change of terms. In a county the Uniform Residential Landlord & Tenant Act covers (population over 75,000), change month-to-month rent the way you end the tenancy: with at least 30 days’ written notice (T.C.A. 66-28-512), never in retaliation (T.C.A. 66-28-514). In a smaller county the lease and common law govern. Generate a clean notice below.

30-day (month-to-month) T.C.A. 66-28-512 / 66-28-514 Tennessee Free PDF

This Tennessee Rent Increase Notice raises the rent on a residential tenancy. Tennessee sets no rent control and no cap on the amount, and there is no rent-increase notice statute as such – an increase is a change of terms. Coverage depends on county size: the Uniform Residential Landlord & Tenant Act (T.C.A. 66-28-101 et seq.) applies only in counties with a population over 75,000; there, the practical floor for a month-to-month increase is the 30-day written notice under T.C.A. 66-28-512, and the increase may not be retaliatory under T.C.A. 66-28-514. In a smaller county the lease and common law govern. Our how to raise rent guide covers the timing, and the tenant screening laws by state hub helps you place reliable tenants in the first place.

Complete the fields below to generate a Tennessee rent increase notice. The new rent and effective date must give the tenant the full statutory notice period. Service should comply with applicable Tennessee law; retain proof of service.

A Tennessee rent increase notice is the written notice a landlord gives to raise the rent on a residential tenancy. Tennessee is a market-rate state: there is no statewide rent control and no statutory cap on how much the rent can go up. State law goes a step further and forbids local rent control – T.C.A. 66-35-102 bars any local governmental unit from enacting, maintaining, or enforcing an ordinance or resolution that would have the effect of controlling the amount of rent charged for private residential or commercial property, leaving room only for purely voluntary, incentive-based affordable-housing programs. So there is no rent cap to worry about anywhere in the state. What the law does regulate is when an increase can take effect and why it is being made.

The first thing that surprises landlords is that Tennessee’s main landlord-tenant statute does not apply everywhere. The Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (URLTA), T.C.A. 66-28-101 and following, applies by its own terms (T.C.A. 66-28-102) only in counties having a population of more than seventy-five thousand (75,000) according to the 2010 federal census – the more populous counties such as Davidson, Knox, Hamilton, Shelby, Rutherford, Williamson, Montgomery, Sumner, Sevier, Blount, Bradley, Madison, Maury, Anderson, Sullivan, Washington, and Wilson. In a county whose population is under that threshold, the URLTA does not apply at all, and the landlord-tenant relationship – including the notice needed to change rent on a periodic tenancy – is governed by the common law and by whatever the lease says. This is a population-based split, not a city-by-city local option, so the very first step in a Tennessee increase is to confirm which side of the line the property sits on.

Neither regime contains a rent-increase notice section of its own. In Tennessee a rent increase is treated as a change of the terms of the tenancy. On a fixed-term lease the rent is locked for the term: it cannot be raised mid-lease unless the lease itself contains an escalation clause, and any increase takes effect at renewal. On a month-to-month tenancy in a URLTA county, the landlord changes the rent the same way the tenancy itself is ended – under T.C.A. 66-28-512, the landlord or tenant may terminate a month-to-month tenancy by written notice given to the other at least thirty (30) days prior to the periodic rental date specified in the notice. The practical rule, then, is at least 30 days’ written notice to a rental date before the new rent starts, with the increase riding that change-of-terms notice. In a non-URLTA county the same month-to-month tenancy is governed by the common law and the lease, which commonly call for about 30 days’ notice as well – but the source of that rule is the lease and common law, not 66-28-512.

There is one important local layer, and it is the source of a common myth. Metro Nashville and Davidson County adopted an ordinance (Metro Code § 11.22.040, adopted 2020) requiring a landlord to give a minimum of ninety days’ written notice before increasing residential rent, with the increase not effective before the end of the rental term. That 90-day requirement applies only inside Metro Nashville/Davidson County – it is a local ordinance, not a statewide Tennessee statute, and there is no statewide 90-day rent-increase rule anywhere in the Tennessee Code. A landlord outside Nashville should not assume a 90-day obligation; a landlord inside Nashville should not assume the shorter 30-day figure. Knowing exactly where the property sits decides the number.

Even with proper timing, an increase can still be unlawful because of its motive. In a URLTA county T.C.A. 66-28-514 prohibits a landlord from retaliating against a tenant – including by increasing the rent or decreasing services, or by bringing or threatening an action for possession – because the tenant has complained to the landlord of a violation under T.C.A. 66-28-301, or has made use of a remedy provided under the Act. Those two grounds are what Tennessee’s statute actually lists: unlike the broader model residential landlord-tenant act several other states adopted, T.C.A. 66-28-514 does not separately enumerate complaints to a government agency or tenant-union organizing, so it is narrower than the retaliation bar you may see quoted for other states. The safe practice is still to keep any increase clear of a tenant’s recent complaint or repair request. The statute carries narrow exceptions that still let a landlord pursue possession – for example, where the code violation was caused primarily by the tenant’s own lack of reasonable care, where the tenant is in default in rent, or where compliance with a code requires alteration, remodeling, or demolition that would deprive the tenant of use of the unit. Federal and Tennessee fair housing law independently bar an increase aimed at a tenant because of a protected characteristic.

Because Tennessee sets no required method to serve a rent-increase notice, the practical standard is provable written delivery within the notice period – and the change-of-terms notice must be in writing, so a verbal increase does not count. Personal delivery to the tenant, delivery left at the premises when the tenant is absent, certified mail with a return receipt, or first-class mail all work; email or text is fine only when the lease or tenant authorizes electronic notice and you document it. Whatever the method, the notice should state the current rent, the new rent, and the effective date, and the landlord should keep a signed, dated copy with proof of delivery. Our how to raise rent guide walks through the timing, and screening applicants with verified reports keeps tenancies stable so the increases you serve actually stick. Put together, a clean Tennessee increase is exact but manageable: confirm the county and whether the URLTA applies, treat the increase as a change of terms, give at least 30 days’ written notice to a rental date in a URLTA county (90 days in Metro Nashville, or whatever the lease and common law require in a non-URLTA county), keep the timing and motive outside the 66-28-514 retaliation bar, deliver the notice in writing with proof, and never let the increase track a tenant’s protected complaint. None of this replaces the screening you do at move-in – a tenant chosen for steady income and a clean payment history is the one most likely to absorb a lawful increase without a dispute.

As often as the tenancy allows. Tennessee sets no limit on the frequency of rent increases and no annual cap, because it has no rent control – T.C.A. 66-35-102 bars local governments from controlling the amount of private rent, and no statute limits a landlord to one increase per year. On a month-to-month tenancy in a URLTA county, a landlord may raise the rent for any future rental period as long as each increase is preceded by its own written notice of at least 30 days to a periodic rental date (T.C.A. 66-28-512). There is no mandatory cooling-off period between increases.

The practical brakes are tenancy type and motive, not a frequency cap. During a fixed term the rent cannot move at all unless the lease allows it, so the frequency question only really arises on periodic tenancies. And even on a month-to-month, an increase timed to punish a protected complaint runs into the retaliation bar of T.C.A. 66-28-514. Inside Metro Nashville/Davidson County, the local 90-day notice ordinance stretches the lead time on every increase, which in practice slows how often a Nashville landlord can raise the rent.

Many Tennessee guides tell landlords to give 60 days’ notice before a yearly lease renews. That is a best practice, not a Tennessee statute. Tennessee has no law fixing a 30- or 60-day notice for the amount of a rent increase at renewal; the only hard number in the URLTA is the 30-day notice to end or change a month-to-month tenancy (T.C.A. 66-28-512). What controls at renewal is the lease itself.

On a fixed-term lease the rent is locked for the term, and an increase takes effect only when a new term begins. If the lease sets a renewal or non-renewal deadline – often 30 or 60 days before the term ends – honor that date, because a tenant who is not told of the new rent in time may be able to renew at the old figure or hold over month-to-month. Sending the new rent 60 days out is a courtesy that gives the tenant time to accept, negotiate, or move, and it heads off a dispute over whether the notice was timely. Treat 60 days as your lease’s rule or your own policy – not a statewide legal requirement.

Because a Tennessee rent increase rides the change-of-terms/termination notice, the required lead time follows the tenancy type. In a URLTA county, T.C.A. 66-28-512 sets the periods:

• Week-to-week tenancy — 10 days. Either party may end or change a week-to-week tenancy on at least ten (10) days’ written notice before the periodic rental date (T.C.A. 66-28-512(a)), so a rent increase on a weekly tenancy needs 10 days’ written notice.
• Month-to-month tenancy — 30 days. At least thirty (30) days’ written notice to a periodic rental date (T.C.A. 66-28-512(b)) — 90 days inside Metro Nashville/Davidson County by local ordinance.
• Fixed-term lease — at renewal only. The rent is locked for the term unless the lease has an escalation clause; the increase applies when a new term begins, on whatever notice the lease requires.

In a county under 75,000 the URLTA does not apply, so the lease and common law — not 66-28-512 — set the notice for a periodic tenancy, though about 30 days is the common practice.

Tennessee’s biggest cities all sit in counties over 75,000, so the URLTA and its 30-day month-to-month rule apply in each – and none except Nashville adds a special rent-increase ordinance, because T.C.A. 66-35-102 blocks local control of the rent amount:

• Memphis (Shelby County), Knoxville (Knox), Chattanooga (Hamilton), Murfreesboro (Rutherford), Franklin (Williamson), and Clarksville (Montgomery): the URLTA applies — at least 30 days’ written notice for a month-to-month increase (T.C.A. 66-28-512), with no local cap.
• Nashville / Metro Davidson County: the only Tennessee jurisdiction with an extra step — a local ordinance (Metro Code § 11.22.040, adopted 2020) requires at least 90 days’ written notice before a residential rent increase, and the increase may not take effect before the rental term ends. That is a notice rule, not a cap; it does not limit the amount.

Outside the large metros, confirm the county’s population: below 75,000 the URLTA drops out and the lease plus common law govern the notice. Wherever the property sits, a rent increase in Tennessee is served on the tenant only – it is not filed with a court, a rent board, or any state agency.

• No statewide cap on the amount of a rent increase, and no rent control – T.C.A. 66-35-102 bars any local government from enacting rent control on private property.
• URLTA applies only in counties over 75,000 in population (T.C.A. 66-28-102); in a smaller county the lease and common law govern instead.
• No separate notice statute for increases — an increase is a change of terms; in a URLTA county give at least 30 days’ written notice to a periodic rental date (T.C.A. 66-28-512).
• Written notice required — a verbal rent increase does not satisfy the change-of-terms notice; state the new rent and the effective date.
• No mid-term increase on a fixed-term lease unless the lease expressly allows it; the increase applies at renewal.
• No retaliatory increase after a protected tenant action (T.C.A. 66-28-514, URLTA counties).
• No discriminatory increase based on a protected class (federal Fair Housing Act and the Tennessee Human Rights Act).
• Metro Nashville/Davidson County requires 90 days’ written notice by local ordinance (Metro Code 11.22.040) — that 90-day figure is Nashville-only, not statewide.

• Tennessee sets no required method to serve a rent-increase notice, but the change-of-terms notice must be written — verbal notice does not satisfy it.
• Personal delivery to the tenant, or delivery left at the rental premises if the tenant is absent.
• Certified mail with a return receipt, or U.S. first-class mail, gives a dated paper trail; allow added days for receipt when you mail.
• Email or text works only if the lease or tenant authorizes electronic notice and you document it; keep the send record either way.

• Giving less than 30 days’ written notice on a month-to-month tenancy in a URLTA county, or setting the effective date before a periodic rental date (T.C.A. 66-28-512).
• Treating the 90-day Metro Nashville figure as a statewide rule — it is a Davidson County ordinance (Metro Code 11.22.040), not Tennessee state law, and there is no statewide 90-day rent-increase rule.
• Assuming the URLTA applies everywhere — it covers only counties over 75,000 in population; in a smaller county the lease and common law govern.
• Raising the rent mid-term on a fixed-term lease that does not allow it.
• Raising the rent right after a tenant’s code complaint or tenants’-union activity — T.C.A. 66-28-514 treats that as retaliation in a URLTA county.
• Relying on a verbal notice with no written record or proof of delivery.

• Confirm the county first — whether the URLTA applies (population over 75,000) decides which notice rule controls.
• Read the lease — a notice period or escalation clause there controls, and may require longer than the statutory floor.
• Give written notice at least 30 days before the next rental date for a month-to-month tenancy in a URLTA county (90 days in Metro Nashville).
• State the current rent, the new rent, and the effective date plainly, deliver by a method you can prove, and keep the increase out of the 66-28-514 retaliation bar.

Published by Tenant Screening Background Check

Established 2004 · 20+ Years · All U.S. States & Territories · Statute-Based · Attorney-Reviewed

A Private Eye Reports™ service trusted by landlords, property managers, and attorneys.