A Tennessee Security Deposit Itemization is the written itemized list of damages a landlord must prepare under Tenn. Code Ann. §66-28-301 — part of Tennessee’s Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (URLTA) — before applying any portion of a security deposit to charges. It is the line-item accounting: the original deposit, each deduction with a specific description and dollar amount, and the resulting refund balance owed to the tenant (or the balance the tenant still owes). The statute conditions the landlord’s right to retain any part of the deposit on keeping the money in a separate account and furnishing this written list, so the itemization is the document that stands between a defensible retention and a forfeiture. This generator builds that list, itemizes each deduction, and calculates the refund balance automatically both on the page and inside the PDF.

Generate Your Tennessee Security Deposit Itemization

Complete the form below to generate a Tennessee-aligned Security Deposit Itemization ready to print, sign, and send. Enter the original deposit, itemize each deduction with a specific description, and the generator calculates the refund balance — or the balance the tenant still owes if the deductions exceed the deposit — both on the page and inside the PDF. The itemization is the statutory list of damages; pair it with any refund and a short cover letter, and send the package to the tenant’s last known or reasonably determinable address. If you need the transmittal letter that accompanies the refund check, use the companion Tennessee Security Deposit Return Letter; this page produces the line-item accounting that letter refers to.

Tennessee’s Distinctive Deposit-Itemization Framework

For the full statutory picture, see the comprehensive Tennessee security deposit laws guide. The itemization is the line-item accounting document; the cover letter that transmits the refund is the Tennessee Security Deposit Return Letter, and the upstream condition record is the Tennessee Move-In/Out Inspection Checklist. Together those three documents form a complete deposit-return package.

What This Itemization Does

A Tennessee Security Deposit Itemization performs three jobs at once, and each is tied to the statute. First, it explains every deduction. The landlord cannot keep any portion of the deposit without setting out, in a written list, what each deduction is for, the dollar amount, and the ascertainable damage that is the basis for the charge. A general statement that “deductions were made for cleaning and damage” is not a list of damages; each line has to stand on its own so the tenant and a court can evaluate whether the charge is for damage that is deductible or for normal wear and tear that is not.

Second, it documents the disposition of the deposit. The itemization records the original deposit, the total deductions, and the refund balance returned to the tenant — or the balance the tenant still owes when the deductions exceed the deposit. Because §66-28-301 makes the landlord’s right to retain contingent on following the correct steps, the itemization plus its supporting receipts and photographs are the record that keeps a retention defensible.

Third, it fits into the statutory timeline. Tennessee’s process is event-driven rather than deadline-driven: inspect on the vacate day or within four calendar days, prepare the written list, and send notice of any refund to the tenant’s last known or reasonably determinable address. From the sending of that notice, the sixty-day retention clock begins. The itemization is the document that carries the notice of any refund and the list of damages together, which is why keeping proof of mailing matters.

The form above produces a complete itemized statement with a built-in deductions calculator, automatic balance computation in both the refund and the balance-owed directions, the required statutory references, and a delivery block. The remainder of this guide walks through the legal framework, the deductible-versus-non-deductible standard, the documentation requirements, and the mistakes that turn a colorable retention into a forfeiture.

Tennessee Legal Framework — §66-28-301

The Tennessee security deposit framework is governed by Tenn. Code Ann. §66-28-301, one of the more procedurally exacting statutes in Tennessee residential law. Several parts of the section do the heavy lifting, and it is worth reading them the way a court would, because the itemization has to satisfy each.

The separate-account requirement

Subsection (a) requires a landlord who takes a security deposit to deposit all tenants’ security deposits in an account used only for that purpose, at any bank or other lending institution subject to state or federal regulation, and to disclose the location of that account to the tenant at the time the tenant signs the lease and submits the deposit (the landlord is not required to give the account number). This is not a formality. Commingling the deposit with operating cash is a direct violation, and it is the first of the two steps that, if skipped, can strip the landlord of the right to retain any portion of the deposit.

The inspection and the tenant’s right to be present

The statute contemplates a shared inspection. Within five days after the landlord receives written notice of the tenant’s intent to vacate, the landlord may give the tenant notice of the tenant’s right to be present at the inspection of the premises. The inspection is conducted on the day the tenant completely vacates or within four calendar days of vacating. If the tenant requests it, the landlord and tenant inspect together and compile a comprehensive list of any presently ascertainable damage that is the basis for a charge, along with the estimated dollar cost of repair, and both parties sign that list. A tenant who receives the notice and chooses not to accompany the landlord generally forfeits the right to contest the landlord’s itemized damages, while the landlord still prepares the written list. A jointly signed list is powerful evidence and heads off most later disputes.

The written itemized list of damages

Whether or not a joint inspection occurs, the charges the landlord asserts must be reflected in a written itemized list. Each entry should name the specific item of damage, tie it to a location in the unit, and state the estimated repair cost. Attach the receipts, invoices, and dated photographs that support each figure. This written list is exactly what the form on this page produces; it is the document §66-28-301 treats as the basis for any charge against the deposit.

The forfeiture provision

The enforcement lever is direct: no landlord is entitled to retain any portion of a security deposit if the deposit was not deposited in the separate account required by subsection (a). The written list of damages is the companion condition — charges that are not set out in a written list are not properly documented. In practice, missing either the separate-account requirement or the written-itemized-list requirement can forfeit the landlord’s right to keep any of the deposit, which effectively returns the full amount to the tenant regardless of whether the underlying damage was real.

The notice of refund and the sixty-day window

Where the tenant leaves owing no rent and a refund is due, the landlord sends notice of the amount of any refund to the tenant’s last known or reasonably determinable address. If the landlord receives no response from the tenant within sixty days from the sending of that notification, the landlord may remove the deposit from the account and retain it, free from any claim of the tenant. Because the window runs from the sending of the notice, the date and method of mailing matter.

When and How to Deliver the Itemization

The event-driven timeline

The Tennessee timeline starts on the date the tenant surrenders possession — typically when the tenant returns the keys, completes a final walk-through, or otherwise relinquishes control of the unit. From there, the landlord inspects on the vacate day or within four calendar days, prepares the written itemized list of damages, and sends notice of any refund due to the tenant’s last known or reasonably determinable address. Unlike the fixed 15-, 21-, or 30-day deadlines used in other states, Tennessee’s sequence is defined by events, and the one hard number that follows is the sixty-day retention window measured from the sending of the notice.

Method of delivery

The safest practical method is certified mail with return receipt requested. First-class mail can carry the notice, but it provides no proof of the send date, and the sixty-day retention window runs from that send date. Certified mail with return receipt gives a dated, verifiable record that the notice of any refund was sent to the tenant’s last known or reasonably determinable address. Personal delivery works if you can document the tenant’s actual receipt; leaving the statement at the unit door without confirmation is not reliable delivery.

Delivery address

Deliver to the tenant’s forwarding address if the tenant provided one. If no forwarding address was given, deliver to the tenant’s last known or reasonably determinable address — which is often the rented unit itself. The landlord is not excused from the process because the tenant failed to leave a current address; send to the last known address by certified mail, and the documented mailing satisfies the delivery expectation while the tenant bears the consequence of not providing a forwarding address.

What to do if you discover damage after delivery

Inspect thoroughly before issuing the itemization. If the landlord delivers a statement and then discovers additional damage, a supplementary deduction is difficult to sustain unless the condition was concealed or could not reasonably have been discovered during the inspection window. The practical remedy is to complete the inspection carefully — including behind appliances, in closets, and in less-obvious spaces — so the written list is complete the first time.

Categories of Deductible Expenses

Tennessee limits deductions to amounts the tenant actually owes: unpaid rent, physical damage to the unit caused by the tenant or the tenant’s guests beyond ordinary wear and tear, and other lease-authorized amounts. Deductions outside these categories are not permitted, no matter how the lease is written.

1. Unpaid rent and lease-authorized amounts

Rent the tenant owes but did not pay can be deducted from the deposit. Document it with the lease (the rent amount), a rent ledger (what was paid and what was missed), and any late notices issued during the tenancy. Late fees can be deducted only if the lease specifies them and they are reasonable rather than punitive; courts scrutinize late-fee provisions and routinely strike fees that operate as penalties. Utility charges the tenant owes under the lease belong in the same category.

2. Damage beyond normal wear and tear

Specific damage attributable to the tenant — large holes, broken fixtures, pet damage, water damage from negligence, missing items — can be deducted. The landlord must distinguish damage from normal wear; the standard is covered in detail in the wear-versus-damage section below. Each repair line requires a description, an amount, and, for defensibility, a receipt for completed work or a third-party estimate for work not yet performed.

3. Cleaning to restore start-of-tenancy condition

This is the single most contested category. Routine end-of-tenancy cleaning that returns the unit to ordinary clean condition is generally not deductible — that is part of ordinary use, and a tenant who leaves the unit reasonably clean should not be charged for standard turnover cleaning. Cleaning beyond ordinary — heavy grease accumulation, pet-odor remediation, mold cleanup, biohazard cleaning, hoarding cleanout — is deductible because it restores the unit to its start-of-tenancy condition. The line item must describe what the cleaning was for: “General cleaning” is not specific; “Oven, range, and vent-hood degreasing, kitchen — invoice attached” is.

4. Restoration specified in the lease

If the lease includes a restoration provision for specific personal property or appurtenances — common in furnished rentals — the cost of restoring those items can be deducted. Most unfurnished residential leases do not include this provision, so most itemizations do not use it.

What you cannot deduct: routine carpet cleaning between tenancies without specific damage, repainting between tenancies without specific damage, normal wear and tear of any kind, pre-existing conditions, costs that were the landlord’s habitability obligation, the cost of re-renting the unit (advertising, leasing commissions), or any cost outside the categories the statute authorizes.

Wear and Tear vs. Damage — the Standard

The wear-versus-damage distinction is the single most important analytical question in security-deposit deductions and the most common source of disputes. The line is clear in principle: damage is what allows a deduction; wear is what does not. The challenge is identifying which side of the line a given condition falls on.

Definitions Tennessee courts apply

Normal wear and tear is the deterioration that occurs in the ordinary use of residential property by a tenant of average care. It is the unavoidable consequence of habitation: paint that fades from sunlight, carpet that flattens in high-traffic areas, minor scuffs on walls from furniture and ordinary movement, small nail holes from hanging pictures, light scratches on hardwood, and mineral deposits in bathroom fixtures from normal water use. None of that is deductible.

Damage is deterioration beyond normal wear caused by the tenant’s negligence, abuse, intentional acts, or pets: large holes in walls, broken windows and fixtures, pet stains and odor in carpet, padding, or subfloor, water damage from unreported leaks, smoke damage, missing items, significant cleaning needs from spills or hoarding, and structural damage of any kind. Damage, plus unpaid rent and lease-authorized amounts, is what may be charged — and only when documented.

Borderline cases and how to resolve them

Carpet replacement. Residential carpet has a useful life of roughly eight to ten years. If a carpet was new at the start of a five-year tenancy and is replaced at move-out, at least half of its life was ordinary wear and is not chargeable. Even with tenant-caused stains, the defensible approach is to charge only the portion of the carpet’s remaining useful life consumed by the damage — a useful-life proration — not full replacement cost. Charging full replacement value for an end-of-life carpet routinely fails.

Repainting. Interior paint has a useful life of roughly two to four years in a rental. A tenant of three years generally cannot be charged for repainting at lease end if the paint shows only normal wear, because a repaint was due anyway. Where the tenant caused specific damage — large stains, holes, smoke discoloration — the cost of repairing that specific damage is chargeable, but a full repaint of a unit already due for one is not.

Cleaning. A reasonably clean unit at move-out is the tenant’s baseline obligation. Cleaning beyond ordinary — heavy grease, pet odor, smoke smell, hoarding cleanup, biohazard, mold — is chargeable. The line is whether the cleaning restores the unit to its start-of-tenancy condition or whether it would have been part of ordinary turnover anyway.

Pet damage. Pet stains in carpet, scratches on doors and floors from claws, urine odor in subfloor or padding, and pet-caused wall damage are all chargeable as damage. The deduction is for the specific damage, not for general wear of the unit.

Documentation that supports a wear-versus-damage finding

The strongest evidentiary record consists of a signed move-in checklist with date-stamped photographs, a signed move-out checklist with parallel photographs from the same angles, contractor invoices or estimates that specifically describe what was charged, and — for older items — a useful-life calculation showing the proration. A landlord with this record almost always prevails on borderline charges; a landlord without it almost always loses.

Receipts, Estimates, and the Landlord’s Own Labor

An itemized list of damages is only as good as the documentation behind each figure. Tennessee courts and practitioners treat receipts, invoices, and photographs as the backbone of a defensible itemization, even where the statute does not fix a dollar threshold that triggers them. The practical rule: for every deduction, be able to show why the charge is a real cost and how the amount was calculated.

Receipts for completed work

If the work has been done — cleaning, repair, replacement — by the time the itemization is delivered, attach the receipt or invoice. It should identify the vendor, the date, the specific work performed, and the amount. A handwritten note from the landlord saying “two hundred dollars to a cleaning service” is not a receipt; an actual invoice from that vendor is.

Estimates for work not yet performed

If the work has not been done by delivery — perhaps a contractor has not yet been engaged — attach a written estimate from a third party that specifically describes the work, the price, and the vendor. Best practice is to follow up with the tenant by providing the actual receipts once the work is completed, so the estimate-based deduction does not become an unsupported one if the tenant later disputes it.

The landlord’s own labor

Where the landlord performs the work personally, the itemization can reflect a reasonable hourly rate for the landlord’s time, but the rate must be supportable (for example, by reference to comparable contractor rates) and the time must be specifically itemized. “My time cleaning, two hundred dollars” is unsupported; “eight hours at twenty-five dollars per hour for oven, range, and bathroom cleaning per attached time log, two hundred dollars” is supportable.

Practical implications

Evaluate each deduction line independently:

• Completed work — itemize specifically (description, location, amount) and attach the receipt or invoice from the vendor.
• Work not yet performed — itemize specifically and attach a third-party estimate; follow up with receipts after completion.
• Landlord’s own labor — itemize specifically with hours and rate, and attach a time log and support for the rate.
• Unpaid rent or lease amounts — itemize with reference to the lease and the rent ledger.

The most common defect is a deduction with no supporting documentation at all. Even without a statutory dollar threshold, an undocumented charge is the easiest kind for a tenant to challenge and the hardest for a landlord to defend.

Required Information for a Defensible Itemization

While §66-28-301 does not prescribe a rigid form, the evidentiary function of the written list of damages establishes a minimum set of elements the itemization should contain.

Header information

The parties. Full landlord name (or property management company), full tenant names (all tenants on the lease), the property address, and the tenancy dates (start and vacate). Without these, the document cannot be authenticated as the itemization for this tenancy.

Deposit information

The deposit total. The original security deposit amount, plus any interest or credit added. If the tenant also paid a separate “last month’s rent,” treat it distinctly — advance rent is not necessarily a security deposit and may have different treatment.

Itemized deductions

Each deduction listed separately with a specific description (not “cleaning” but “oven and range degreasing, kitchen”), the amount, and a reference to the attached supporting documentation — a receipt for completed work or an estimate for work not yet performed. This is the list of damages the statute treats as the basis for any charge.

Calculation

The total of the deposit, the total of deductions, and the resulting refund balance returned to the tenant (deposit minus deductions, if positive) or the additional amount owed by the tenant (if the deductions exceed the deposit). Show the math; do not just give the bottom-line balance.

Attached documentation

Receipts for completed work and estimates for work not yet performed. Photographs of damage are not strictly required but strongly support the itemization and are routine in any litigated dispute. Reference and, where possible, attach the move-in and move-out checklists.

Delivery and signature

The method of delivery (certified mail, personal delivery), the date of delivery, the forwarding or last-known address, and the landlord signature with printed name, title, and date.

Common Landlord Mistakes in Tennessee

Most Tennessee deposit disputes are lost not on the underlying merits but on the two conditions the statute makes non-negotiable and on sloppy documentation. The pattern recurs across cases: the landlord had a colorable basis for some charges but converted the entire retention into an unsupported one.

• Commingling the deposit. Holding deposits in the general operating account violates subsection (a) and, standing alone or combined with a missing list, can forfeit the right to retain any amount.
• No written itemized list. Charges announced verbally or as lump sums fail the written-list requirement. Each charge must appear on a written list of the ascertainable damage.
• Vague descriptions. “Cleaning.” “Wall repair.” “General damage.” These cannot satisfy the statute. Specific descriptions — “Patch and repaint two four-inch holes, living-room north wall, one hundred forty-five dollars” — allow the tenant and a court to evaluate the charge.
• Charging for normal wear and tear. Repainting a three-year-old paint job, replacing an eight-year-old carpet at full cost, or charging routine turnover cleaning are deductions for wear and are not permitted.
• Skipping or delaying the inspection. The statute contemplates inspection on the vacate day or within four calendar days; a late or absent inspection undercuts the charges and the joint-list opportunity.
• Assuming URLTA applies statewide. The Act reaches only counties over seventy-five thousand population under §66-28-102; smaller counties are governed by the lease and common law.
• Sending notice with no proof of mailing. The sixty-day retention window runs from the sending of the notice, so a landlord who cannot prove the send date cannot prove the clock started.

Tenant Rights and Remedies

Tennessee tenants have concrete rights connected to the deposit process, and the landlord’s clearest motivation for careful compliance is understanding them.

Right to the separate account and disclosure

The tenant is entitled to have the deposit held in an account used only for that purpose and to be told the location of that account at lease signing. If the landlord did not keep the required separate account, the tenant can point to the forfeiture provision: no landlord is entitled to retain any portion of a deposit that was not deposited as subsection (a) requires.

Right to a written itemized list

The tenant has the right to a written list of the damage that is the basis for each charge, with descriptions specific enough to evaluate. Vague charges or a missing list entitle the tenant to challenge the deductions. Because the written list is a condition of retention, its absence can return the full deposit to the tenant.

Right to be present at inspection

Where the landlord notices the right within five days of the tenant’s written intent to vacate, the tenant may be present at the inspection and sign a joint list of ascertainable damage with estimated repair costs. A jointly signed list protects both sides; a tenant who declines the offered inspection generally forfeits the right to contest the landlord’s itemized damages.

Recovering an improperly withheld deposit

A tenant who believes the deposit was improperly withheld can pursue the balance in the appropriate Tennessee court, most often the general sessions (small claims) court, where procedure is informal and the documentation packet frequently decides the case. The landlord with a clean itemization, receipts, and photographs usually prevails; the landlord without them usually loses, sometimes by default for failing to appear or produce documents. For the broader remedy framework, see the Tennessee security deposit laws guide.

Itemization vs. Return Letter — Two Documents, One Package

Landlords frequently conflate the itemization with the return letter, but they are distinct documents that do different jobs, and Tennessee’s statutory structure rewards keeping them separate. The itemization is the written list of damages: the line-item accounting the statute treats as the basis for any charge. It shows the original deposit, each deduction with a specific description and amount, and the resulting balance. The return letter is the short cover document that transmits the refund check, states the disposition, and puts the tenant on notice of the sixty-day response window. In a clean deposit-return package, the return letter references and encloses the itemization, and the itemization references and encloses the receipts and photographs.

Why keep them separate rather than collapsing everything into one document? Because the itemization is the piece a court scrutinizes line by line. A tightly written itemization — each charge described, located, priced, and backed by an attached receipt or estimate — is the exhibit that decides a deposit dispute. Burying it inside a chatty letter makes it harder for the tenant to evaluate and harder for a judge to follow. Generate the itemization here, transmit it with the Tennessee Security Deposit Return Letter, and reference the underlying condition record from the Tennessee Move-In/Out Inspection Checklist. The three documents reinforce one another: the checklist establishes baseline condition, the itemization prices the difference, and the letter delivers the result.

What goes in the itemization but not the letter

The itemization carries the granular accounting: every deduction line, the useful-life proration math for long-life items like carpet and paint, and the cross-references to the specific receipt or photograph that supports each figure. The letter stays high-level — disposition category, refund amount, delivery method, and the sixty-day notice — so a tenant can grasp the outcome in a glance and then turn to the itemization for the detail. This division mirrors how the documents are used in a general-sessions hearing, where the judge reads the letter for the bottom line and the itemization for the proof.

How a Tennessee Court Reads a Deposit Itemization

When a deposit dispute reaches a Tennessee general-sessions (small-claims) court, the itemization is usually the central exhibit, and understanding what the court looks for is the clearest guide to building a defensible one. The analysis proceeds in a predictable order, and each step maps to a requirement of §66-28-301.

First: was the deposit held in a separate account?

The threshold question is whether the landlord kept the deposit in an account used only for that purpose and disclosed its location. If the answer is no, the court can end the analysis there — the forfeiture provision means the landlord is not entitled to retain any portion of the deposit, and the tenant recovers the full amount regardless of whether the underlying damage was real. This is why the separate account, opened at lease signing, is the foundation the rest of the itemization rests on.

Second: is there a written itemized list?

The court next asks whether the charges are set out in a written list of the ascertainable damage. Oral explanations, lump-sum figures, or a bare “we kept the deposit for damages” do not satisfy the requirement. The written list is what allows the tenant and the court to test each charge, so a landlord who never prepared one has no defensible basis for retention.

Third: is each line specific and documented?

With a written list in hand, the court evaluates each line: is the damage described with enough specificity to distinguish it from normal wear, is it tied to a location, is the amount reasonable, and is it backed by a receipt, invoice, estimate, or photograph? Vague lines and undocumented charges tend to fall away, while specific, documented lines tend to hold. A landlord who prorated the long-life items and attached the supporting paper usually keeps the defensible portion of the charges even when a line or two is trimmed.

Fourth: was notice of any refund properly sent?

Finally, the court considers whether the landlord sent notice of any refund to the tenant’s last known or reasonably determinable address, and whether the sixty-day retention window was respected. A landlord who can show a certified-mail receipt dated at the sending of the notice has a clean record on this point; a landlord who cannot prove the send date cannot prove the clock ran. Because each of these four steps is independent, a landlord who nails all four presents a package that is very hard to beat, while a failure at any one step can unravel an otherwise-valid retention.

Tennessee Deposit-Itemization Statute Reference

Always read the current codified text before acting; see the official Tennessee URLTA publication and verify §66-28-301 against the current statute, because population thresholds and subsection lettering are periodically updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Tennessee security deposit itemization?

It is the written itemized list of damages the landlord prepares under §66-28-301 before applying any portion of a deposit to charges. It states the original deposit, each deduction with a specific description and amount, and the refund balance or balance owed. It is distinct from the return letter, which is the cover letter transmitting the refund; the itemization is the line-item accounting the statute treats as the basis for any charge.

Does Tennessee set a fixed number of days to return the deposit?

No. Tennessee’s process is event-driven: inspect on or within four days of vacating, prepare the written list, and send notice of any refund to the last known address. The one hard number is the sixty-day retention window, which runs from the sending of that notice. Act promptly and keep proof of mailing rather than relying on a fixed count.

What if the landlord skips the separate account or the itemized list?

No landlord is entitled to retain any portion of a deposit that was not deposited in the required separate account, and the written list of damages is the companion condition for a defensible retention. Missing either step can forfeit the right to keep any of the deposit, returning the full amount to the tenant.

Does the tenant have a right to be at the inspection?

Yes. Within five days after receiving the tenant’s written notice of intent to vacate, the landlord may notice the tenant’s right to be present at the inspection, which occurs on the vacate day or within four calendar days. If requested, the parties inspect together and sign a joint list of ascertainable damage. A tenant who declines the offered inspection generally forfeits the right to contest the itemized damages.

Does URLTA apply everywhere in Tennessee?

No. Under §66-28-102, the Act applies only in counties with a population over seventy-five thousand per the most recent federal census — Davidson, Shelby, Knox, Hamilton, Rutherford, Williamson, Montgomery, and other larger counties. Smaller counties fall under the lease and common-law contract principles. Confirm the county before relying on these procedures.

How specific does each deduction line have to be?

Each line should name the item of damage, tie it to a location, and state the estimated repair cost, backed by receipts, invoices, or dated photographs. “Cleaning” is not specific; “oven and range degreasing, kitchen — invoice attached” is. Generic categories without descriptions weaken the corresponding deduction.

What can be deducted from the deposit?

Generally unpaid rent, physical damage beyond ordinary wear and tear caused by the tenant or the tenant’s guests, and other lease-authorized amounts. Normal wear and tear is never deductible.

How should the itemization be delivered?

Best practice is certified mail with return receipt requested to the tenant’s last known or reasonably determinable address, because the sixty-day retention window measures from the sending of the notice and certified mail gives a dated, verifiable record.

Best Practices for a Defensible Itemization

Turn the statute into a routine you can repeat for every move-out:

• Open the separate account at lease signing and disclose its location in the lease, so the requirement is satisfied before the deposit ever arrives.
• Offer the joint inspection in writing when the tenant gives notice to vacate, and inspect on the vacate day or within four calendar days.
• Photograph everything at move-in and move-out, date-stamped, from the same angles, and store the images alongside the checklist.
• Write specific line items, not categories — describe the damage, its location, and the estimated repair cost, and attach the supporting receipt or estimate.
• Prorate long-life items, charging only the remaining useful life consumed by the damage for carpet, paint, and similar items.
• Send the package by certified mail with return receipt to the last known address, and file the receipt to prove the send date that starts the sixty-day window.
• Keep the full package for several years, because Tennessee contract claims can be brought long after the tenancy ends.

Tenant screening as prevention

The cleanest move-outs — and the shortest itemizations — come from tenants who were screened thoroughly at the application stage. A verifiable rental history, stable employment, and a clean eviction record are the strongest predictors of a full refund with few or no deductions. A thorough tenant screening process that covers credit, prior eviction filings, criminal background, and employment verification catches the red flags before the tenancy begins. One bad-tenant move-out routinely costs more than years of screening combined.

Local Tennessee jurisdictions

Local ordinances may layer procedural requirements on top of §66-28-301, and all four of these counties exceed the seventy-five-thousand population threshold, so URLTA applies:

• Memphis (Shelby County) — Memphis Code of Ordinances
• Nashville (Davidson County) — Nashville Metropolitan Code
• Knoxville (Knox County) — Knoxville City Code
• Chattanooga (Hamilton County) — Chattanooga City Code

Confirm your county’s status before relying on the statutory procedure, and verify local ordinance compliance before sending the final itemization.

Related Tennessee Forms & Resources

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