Tennessee Landlord-Tenant Laws

Verified October 2, 2026 15 statements held

What did not become law. None of the following is law; failed bills are sometimes still described as if enacted:

SB 961 / HB 955 (114th General Assembly) — 'Affordable Housing and Tenant Protection Act' — Would repeal the residential half of the rent-control preemption in T.C.A. § 66-35-102, allowing local rent control adopted by a two-thirds vote with a local rent agency, plus a THDA gap-financing program. Would end the statewide preemption of local residential rent regulation if ever enacted. Status: Not enacted. HB 955 was deferred in the House Cities & Counties Subcommittee to the 'January 2027 calendar' on 2026-03-18, and the Senate companion, SB 961, was assigned to the General Subcommittee of the Senate State and Local Government Committee on 2026-03-24 — with the 114th GA adjourned sine die, this is effectively a soft kill; watch for a 115th GA refile. (checked October 1, 2026).

Tennessee at a glance

Rule	Tennessee	Cited to
Max security deposit	No statutory cap	T.C.A. § 66-28-301 +2 more
Deposit return deadline	No statutory deadline	T.C.A. § 66-28-301 +2 more
Rent-increase notice (month-to-month)	No statute — derived from termination notice	T.C.A. § 66-28-512 +5 more
Statewide rent control / rent cap	No	T.C.A. § 66-28-512 +5 more
Late-fee cap	10% of the amount of rent past due (T.C.A. § 66-28-201(d)) — URLTA counties (over 75,000 population, 2010 census) only	T.C.A. § 66-28-201 +2 more
Entry notice	No fixed statutory period	T.C.A. § 66-28-403 +1 more
Eviction notice (nonpayment)	14 days	TCA 66-28-102 +27 more
Application fee cap	No statutory cap	Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-201 +17 more
Interest owed on deposits	No — no statute addresses it	2012 Tenn. Pub. Ch. 887 (HB 2913) — substitutes T.C.A. § 66-28-301(h), the account-location notice +3 more
Repair deadline after tenant notice	14 days	T.C.A. § 66-28-102 (application of the chapter; county population threshold; preemption) +11 more
Repair and deduct	Only for essential-service failures, not general repairs	T.C.A. § 66-28-102 (application of the chapter; county population threshold; preemption) +11 more
Landlord notice to end a month-to-month tenancy	30 days (3 counting rules)	Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-512 +18 more
Owner and agent identity disclosure	Required — in the lease or in a separate writing	Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-102 +29 more
In-force state hazard disclosures beyond the federal lead-paint rule	None in force	Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-102 +29 more
Pet deposit	No statute, no cap	Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-406 +21 more
Assistance animals: the state instrument	Documentation statute or rule	Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-406 +21 more

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, Tennessee Landlord-Tenant Laws (verified October 2, 2026; held statements carry their own dates), landlordatlas.com/laws/tennessee/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified). Every figure above is cited to the Tennessee statute it comes from on the linked topic page.

Local rent regulation in Tennessee

Tennessee law bars local governments from adopting any ordinance or resolution that controls the amount of rent charged for private residential or commercial property.

Cited to Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-35-102 (official code access) · Verified October 2, 2026 · Full Tennessee rent-increase rules →

Tennessee landlord-tenant laws by topic

Tennessee security deposits

Tennessee sets no cap on security deposits and no fixed deadline for returning them: the statute instead requires the landlord to mail the departing tenant notice of any refund due, and a tenant who fails to respond within 60 days forfeits the entire refund to the landlord.

Tennessee rent increase notice

Tennessee has no statute requiring notice of a rent increase, no limit on how large an increase can be, and no limit on how often rent can rise — the practical floor in the state's 17 large URLTA counties is the month-to-month termination rule, under which either party can end the tenancy on 30 days' written notice before the periodic rental date, so a rent increase works as an offer the tenant can refuse by leaving (week-to-week tenancies: 10 days).

Tennessee late fees

In Tennessee's 17 large URLTA counties, late fees are capped at 10% of the rent actually past due, and no fee may be charged during a five-day grace period — with a counting rule that trips people up: the DUE DATE itself counts as day one, so for rent due on the 1st a fee may be charged on the 6th, not the 7th.

Tennessee entry notice

Tennessee's entry statute — which applies only in the 17 large URLTA counties — requires no advance notice for ordinary entries: tenants simply may not unreasonably withhold consent for inspections, repairs, services, or showings to buyers and contractors.

Tennessee eviction process

Tennessee runs two eviction rulebooks, and which one applies depends on the county: the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (URLTA) governs only counties with more than 75,000 people in the 2010 federal census — Memphis's Shelby County, Nashville's Davidson, Knoxville's Knox, Chattanooga's Hamilton, and the state's other large counties — while every other county follows the older general landlord-tenant statutes.

Tennessee application & screening fees

Tennessee does not regulate what a landlord charges someone to apply for a home: there is no cap on an application fee, no limit tying it to the cost of a credit or background report, no receipt or refund duty, no disclosure an applicant must be given before paying, and no state denial-notice duty beyond federal law.

Tennessee deposit interest

Tennessee does not require landlords to pay tenants interest on a security deposit, and every modern rewrite of the deposit section is silent on the subject.

Tennessee habitability & repairs

Tennessee's habitability law reaches only part of the state, because the landlord-tenant act applies solely in counties with a population of more than 75,000 by the 2010 federal census.

Tennessee lease termination

In Tennessee the answer depends on the county, because the residential landlord and tenant act applies only where the 2010 federal census counted more than 75,000 people.

Tennessee lease disclosures

Tennessee is two states for this question: the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act reaches only the 17 counties with more than 75,000 people, and in the other 78 no statute requires a landlord to disclose anything at all.

Tennessee pets & assistance animals

Tennessee sets no limit on a pet deposit, pet rent or a pet fee, because it caps no security deposit at all and has no pet-charge statute.

Tennessee mobile home park laws

Tennessee has no manufactured-home community law: no statute sets lot rent, the lease, the notice before a closure or a resident's right to buy the community, and the general residential landlord and tenant act applies only in counties with a population over 75,000 under the 2010 federal census.

Tennessee Fair Market Rents (FY 2027) — HUD's benchmark rents for every Tennessee metro area and county.

Editable Tennessee deposit kit · Editable Tennessee disclosure packet — editable documents built on the verified Tennessee rules on this page, in Word, fillable PDF and Excel.

Statements held at an earlier date

Tennessee publishes its code only on a site whose terms do not allow automated reading, so this page is verified on the acts the legislature publishes and on court and agency sources. The 15 statements below rest on text only the code prints. Each keeps the date it was last verified; every other statement on this page was confirmed on October 2, 2026 ( how held statements work).

Outside the counties the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act covers, no Tennessee statute sets a deposit rule, caps a late fee, requires notice of a rent increase or governs a landlord's entry, and no provision anywhere restricts the hours of entry. T.C.A. Title 66, chapter 7 (the list of sections) · last verified July 9, 2026
The act applies only in counties with a population of more than 75,000 on the 2010 federal census. T.C.A. § 66-28-102(a) · last verified July 9, 2026
No other subsection extends the act to a smaller county or takes a larger one out of it, which leaves the 17 census counties. T.C.A. § 66-28-102 (the subsections after (a)) · last verified July 9, 2026
The subsection under which the act occupies and preempts the entire field of landlord and tenant regulation in its counties carries the letter (e). T.C.A. § 66-28-102(e) · last verified July 9, 2026
A refundable pet deposit held against damage is a security deposit. T.C.A. § 66-28-104 (the definition of security deposit) · last verified July 9, 2026
A five-day grace period that counts the due date; a fee due on a Sunday or legal holiday waits for the next business day; the fee may not exceed 10% of the rent past due. No public chapter has amended the subsection since 2011. T.C.A. § 66-28-201(d) · last verified July 9, 2026
The deposit goes in an account used only for that purpose at a bank or lending institution subject to state or federal regulation. T.C.A. § 66-28-301(a) · last verified July 9, 2026
A tenant who refuses to sign the listing of damages must state written dissent item by item, and a later lawsuit is limited to the items dissented from. T.C.A. § 66-28-301(d) · last verified July 9, 2026
If the tenant leaves owing nothing and a refund is due, the landlord sends notice of the refund amount to the tenant's last known or reasonably determinable address; if the tenant does not respond within 60 days, the landlord may remove the deposit from the account and keep it free of any claim. T.C.A. § 66-28-301(f) · last verified July 9, 2026
The section sets no cap on a deposit, no fixed return deadline, no interest, no rule on non-refundable fees, and no damages multiplier or attorney-fee award. T.C.A. § 66-28-301 (the section as a whole) · last verified July 9, 2026
No public chapter enacted since 2012 Pub. Ch. 887 amends the section. T.C.A. § 66-28-301 (its amendment history) · last verified July 9, 2026
Nothing else in the act speaks to late fees, deposit penalties, rent-increase notice or limits, or entry hours or notice. T.C.A. Title 66, chapter 28 (the list of sections) · last verified July 9, 2026
The access section was rewritten whole by 2011 Pub. Ch. 272, § 10, and no public chapter enacted since amends it. T.C.A. § 66-28-403 (its amendment history) · last verified July 9, 2026
Either party can end a month-to-month tenancy on 30 days' written notice before the periodic rental date, and a week-to-week tenancy on 10 days. T.C.A. § 66-28-512(b) · last verified July 9, 2026
Local governments may not adopt an ordinance or resolution that controls the amount of rent charged for private residential or commercial property. T.C.A. § 66-35-102(a) · last verified August 12, 2026

How this record was verified: Tennessee's official code is published via LexisNexis without stable deep links (GA-class sourcing situation), so verification pairs current code mirrors with official session-law PDFs from the Tennessee Secretary of State: T.C.A. §§ 66-28-102, 66-28-201, 66-28-301, 66-28-403, 66-28-512, and 66-35-102 read verbatim on the Justia 2024-edition and FindLaw (current through 2024-01-02) mirrors — §§ 66-28-102, 66-28-201, and 66-28-403 each read twice independently, with the reads matching — with every recent amendment traced to the official act text: 2011 Pub. Ch. 272 (inspection scheme, late-fee rule, entry rewrite), 2012 Pub. Chs. 847 and 887, 2013 Pub. Ch. 206, and 2021 Pub. Ch. 182 (census freeze + county preemption), all read from publications.tnsosfiles.com PDFs. Bill statuses (SB 961/HB 955 et al.) checked on official capitol.tn.gov pages 2026-07-09. September 5, 2026 addendum: the decisive figures touched by the 2025-2026 enactments reviewed that day were re-read on the official host — § 66-35-102 as amended by 2024 Public Chapter 1051 and § 66-28-302 as amended by 2024 Public Chapter 907, from the enrolled acts on publications.tnsosfiles.com; the earlier reads stand as recorded. October 2026: the deposit, rent increase, late fee and entry answers were read again on the public chapters the Secretary of State publishes on publications.tnsosfiles.com (2008 Pub. Ch. 1067, 2011 Pub. Ch. 272, 2012 Pub. Chs. 847 and 887, 2013 Pub. Ch. 206, 2016 Pub. Ch. 822, 2018 Pub. Ch. 685, 2019 Pub. Ch. 236, 2021 Pub. Ch. 182, 2024 Pub. Chs. 907 and 1051), with the General Assembly's Legislative Record and act lists through the 114th General Assembly for later amendments, the Census Bureau's 2010 county counts for the counties the act covers (17, not the 19 these four pages had listed), and the Metropolitan Code of Nashville. The code itself was not opened for that reading, and no public chapter sets out subsections (a), (d) and (f) of section 66-28-301, subsection (b) of section 66-28-512 or subsection (a) of section 66-35-102. The statements that rest on text only the code prints are held: each is listed with the date it was last verified. Every other statement on the deposit, rent increase, late fee and entry pages was confirmed on October 2, 2026.