Tennessee Landlord-Tenant Laws: The Complete 2026 Overview

Tennessee sets no cap on the deposit amount, but section 66-28-301 locks down the handling and the return. In URLTA counties the landlord must hold every deposit in a separate account and tell the tenant where it is held. After the tenant vacates and provides a written forwarding address, the landlord must return the deposit – or a written itemized statement of deductions – within thirty days. Failure to keep the deposit in a separate account or to provide the itemized list can forfeit the right to withhold any portion. Deductions are limited to unpaid rent, damage beyond ordinary wear and tear, and lease-specified charges, and no interest is required. Wrongful withholding exposes the landlord to actual damages plus attorney fees, and disputes go to small claims court.

Read the full Tennessee security deposit laws guide for permitted deductions, the wear-and-tear line, and the move-out timeline.

Tennessee is not a just-cause state – a landlord may decline to renew a lease for almost any lawful reason. To evict for nonpayment, the landlord must first serve a written notice to vacate giving the tenant at least fourteen days, unless the lease specifies a different period, under T.C.A. section 66-28. If the tenant stays, the landlord files a detainer action in General Sessions Court, where the tenant response window is about six days and the hearing typically falls ten to thirty days after filing. Either side may appeal, and after the appeal window the landlord requests a writ of possession that a sheriff or constable executes. Self-help evictions – changing locks, removing belongings, or shutting off utilities – are illegal and expose the landlord to actual damages and statutory penalties. Only a court-ordered writ may remove a tenant.

Read the full Tennessee eviction notice laws guide for the filing steps, the hearing timeline, and the writ of possession.

In URLTA counties, T.C.A. section 66-28-403 governs landlord entry. The accepted standard is twenty-four hours’ notice before entering an occupied unit for a non-emergency purpose, and entry must be at reasonable times – roughly eight in the morning to six in the evening on weekdays – for a legitimate purpose such as inspection, repairs, service, or showing the unit. The statute also names one fixed period: twenty-four hours’ notice to show the unit to prospective tenants within the final thirty days of the tenancy, where the lease grants that access. Genuine emergencies such as fire, flooding, or a gas leak permit immediate entry without notice. The landlord may not abuse the right of access or use it to harass the tenant, and the tenant’s common-law right to quiet enjoyment applies in every county regardless of the URLTA. Spelling out the entry procedure in the lease is the best way to avoid a dispute.

Read the full Tennessee landlord entry laws guide for the permitted-entry reasons and how to write a compliant notice.

Tennessee has no rent control. The state bars statewide rent regulation and prohibits cities and counties from adopting their own, so there is no statutory cap on how much a landlord may raise the rent. What the law does regulate is timing, notice, and motive. For a month-to-month tenancy under the URLTA, the landlord must give at least thirty days’ written notice before the new rent takes effect, stating the new amount and the effective date. During a fixed-term lease the rent is locked until the term ends, unless the lease contains an escalation clause, so a mid-lease increase without that clause is not enforceable. A month-to-month tenant who declines an increase may reject it by moving out within the notice period. The limits that do apply are anti-retaliation and anti-discrimination: a landlord may not raise rent to punish a good-faith complaint or repair request, and may not single out a tenant on a protected basis under the federal Fair Housing Act.

Read the full Tennessee rent increase laws guide for the notice mechanics and the retaliation window.

T.C.A. section 66-28-201 governs residential late fees, and Tennessee is one of the states that sets a hard cap: a late fee may not exceed ten percent of the monthly rent. The fee must be stated in a written lease, must represent a reasonable estimate of the landlord’s costs rather than a penalty, and applies only after a five-day grace period runs. Fees charged during the grace period, or above the ten-percent cap without strong justification, are unenforceable. A returned-check or NSF fee is separate and enforceable only when the lease provides for it, typically around thirty dollars, and it may be charged alongside a late fee. Daily late fees are permitted only if the lease provides for them and the running total stays reasonable. A landlord cannot raise the late-fee terms mid-lease; changes wait for renewal.

Read the full Tennessee late fee laws guide for the reasonableness test and grace-period practice.

Under section 66-28-304, a Tennessee landlord in a URLTA county must keep the premises fit and habitable – complying with building and housing codes affecting health and safety, making necessary repairs, keeping common areas clean and safe, and maintaining heat, water, and electrical systems in working order. The tenant triggers a remedy by giving written notice – certified mail with return receipt is best – specifying the defect. Under section 66-28-501, if the landlord does not cure a material health-and-safety breach within fourteen days, the tenant may terminate the lease, recover damages, and recover attorney fees. Section 66-28-502 gives faster remedies when the landlord fails to supply essential services such as heat, water, or electricity: the tenant may procure the service and deduct the cost, recover damages for reduced rental value, or obtain substitute housing rent-free during the noncompliance. Retaliation against a tenant who asserts these rights is barred by section 66-28-514.

Read the full Tennessee habitability laws guide for the repair-request procedure and the tenant remedies.

Breaking a lease early in Tennessee turns first on the county. In a URLTA county, several protected grounds let a tenant end a fixed-term lease without owing the balance. A victim of domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking may terminate under section 66-28-205 with written notice, a release date within thirty days, and a valid order of protection or a police-report-based charge dated no more than sixty days before the notice; a parallel provision sits in section 66-7-112. Military servicemembers may terminate under the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, 50 U.S.C. section 3955, which applies in every county. A tenant may also terminate for an uninhabitable unit after the fourteen-day cure window. For a tenant who leaves without a statutory ground, section 66-28-507 imposes a duty on the landlord to mitigate by making reasonable efforts to re-rent, so the departing tenant generally owes only the reasonable vacancy gap plus actual re-rental costs, not the entire remaining term.

Read the full Tennessee breaking lease laws guide for each statutory ground and the duty-to-mitigate math.

Ending a Tennessee tenancy depends on its type. A month-to-month tenancy is terminated by written notice of at least thirty days under section 66-28-512, from either party, counted from the day after delivery. A fixed-term lease generally runs to its end date and cannot be cut short without a statutory ground or mutual written agreement, though the lease often requires thirty days’ notice of non-renewal. Tennessee does not require just cause to decline to renew, and auto-renewal clauses are enforceable when the lease discloses the renewal terms. A tenant who stays past the end date becomes a holdover, and the landlord must file a detainer warrant in General Sessions Court to recover possession rather than use self-help; accepting rent after the term can convert the tenancy to month-to-month. When any tenancy ends, the deposit rules of section 66-28-301 still govern the move-out.

Read the full Tennessee lease termination laws guide for notice by tenancy type and holdover liability.

For an actual pet, Tennessee imposes no statutory cap on pet deposits, pet fees, or pet rent, and private landlords may generally impose breed and weight restrictions if the lease provides for them. Assistance animals are treated completely differently. Under the federal Fair Housing Act and the Tennessee Human Rights Act housing provisions in T.C.A. section 4-21-601, a service animal or emotional support animal is not a pet – a landlord may not charge any pet deposit, fee, or rent, and may not apply a breed or weight restriction or a no-pet policy to it. When the disability or the animal’s role is not obvious, the landlord may request reliable documentation from a licensed professional under HUD’s Notice FHEO-2020-01, but may not demand a diagnosis, certification, or registration. The tenant remains liable for any actual damage the animal causes, deducted from the regular deposit. Misrepresenting a pet as a service or assistance animal is a Class B misdemeanor under T.C.A. section 39-14-208, punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine of up to five hundred dollars.

Read the full Tennessee pet and ESA laws guide for accommodation requests and documentation limits.

Tennessee regulates screening lightly, so the binding rules are largely federal. With the applicant’s written authorization, a landlord may pull a consumer report covering credit, rental history, income, and criminal convictions – the Fair Credit Reporting Act requires a permissible purpose and consent first. Tennessee does not cap application or screening fees, but they should be reasonable, tied to the actual cost, and charged consistently. Where the URLTA applies, the security deposit must sit in a separate account with the tenant told where it is held. If a denial, a higher deposit, or a co-signer requirement rests in any part on a consumer report, the FCRA requires an adverse action notice naming the reporting agency. Blanket criminal-record bans are risky under HUD’s 2016 disparate-impact guidance, so an individualized assessment is safer. The Tennessee Human Rights Act tracks the federal Fair Housing Act, and source of income is not a statewide protected class, so no voucher-acceptance mandate applies.

Read the full Tennessee tenant screening laws guide for the FCRA steps and the fair-housing baseline.