Editor’s Pick
In Tennessee, a landlord cannot:
- change your locks, shut off your utilities, or remove your belongings without a court order
- evict you without a judgment from General Sessions Court
- keep any of your security deposit if it was never held in a dedicated account or you never got an itemized damage list
- charge a late fee before the five-day grace period runs, or one above 10 percent of the past-due rent
- raise the rent in the middle of a fixed-term lease, or raise it to punish you for complaining
- discriminate based on race, color, creed, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, or disability
Every rule in this guide is checked against the current Tennessee Code, including the laws passed in 2024 and 2025. To see how Tennessee compares with stricter states, start with our guide to landlord-tenant laws by state.
One thing makes Tennessee unusual: which rulebook applies depends on the county you live in. Start there, because it decides half the answers below.
Which Tennessee Counties Do These Rules Cover?
Tennessee’s main renter-protection law, the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (URLTA), applies only in counties with populations above 75,000 (Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-102). That is seventeen counties, including Davidson (Nashville), Shelby (Memphis), Knox (Knoxville), Hamilton (Chattanooga), Rutherford (Murfreesboro), and Montgomery (Clarksville). The Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services keeps the full list.
Live outside those counties and most of the protections in this article do not apply to you by statute. Smaller-county rentals run on the lease itself, the older notice rules in Title 66, Chapter 7, and the unfit-premises complaint process in Title 68. The practical takeaway is the same either way, just more urgent in rural counties: the lease is your rulebook, so read every clause before you sign.
Can a Landlord Evict You Without a Court Order in Tennessee?
No. Lockouts, utility shutoffs, and hauling a resident’s things to the curb are illegal self-help evictions. In URLTA counties, a resident who is unlawfully removed or excluded can recover possession or end the lease, and collect actual damages, punitive damages, and attorney’s fees (Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-504). Outside them, the result is the same because Tennessee’s forcible entry and detainer law makes court the only path to possession. Only a sheriff or constable can carry out the actual eviction.
The legal route runs on fixed clocks. For unpaid rent, the landlord first serves a written pay-or-quit notice: 14 days under Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-505 for older leases, and 7 days for leases signed, amended, or renewed on or after July 1, 2025, under a 2025 law (HB 1345 / SB 1088). Violence or behavior that endangers others cuts the notice to 3 days (Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-517). After notice comes a detainer warrant in General Sessions Court, a hearing, and then a judgment. Even then, no writ of possession can issue for 10 days after the judgment, which is also your window to appeal (Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-18-126).
One trap hides in the paperwork: a written lease can waive the pay-or-quit notice entirely for nonpayment, as long as the waiver appears in 12-point bold type. With that clause, the landlord can file in court as soon as the grace period ends. Check your lease for it now, before rent is ever late.
Most rent problems never get that far. Raised early, they usually end in a payment plan instead of a courtroom.
Can a Landlord Enter Your Home Without Notice in Tennessee?
Here is a surprise: Tennessee has no statute requiring advance notice for routine entry, so plenty of older articles claiming a statewide 24-hour rule are wrong. What Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-403 actually says is that a resident may not unreasonably refuse entry for inspections, repairs, agreed services, or showings to buyers, and that a landlord may enter without consent only in an emergency, after abandonment, by court order, or in a few narrow situations like a utility failure.
The statute’s one true notice number applies at move-out: during the final 30 days of the lease, a landlord may show the unit to prospective renters only if the lease allows it and you get at least 24 hours’ notice. And the law is blunt about the limit that matters most: a landlord shall not abuse the right of access or use it to harass the resident. If entries feel like pressure rather than maintenance, document each one. In smaller counties no entry statute applies at all, so whatever notice period your lease promises is the one you can enforce.
What Can’t a Landlord Do With Your Security Deposit in Tennessee?
Tennessee sets no cap on deposit amounts, in any county. Texas runs the same way, as our guide to what a landlord cannot do in Texas explains. What Tennessee regulates instead is handling. In URLTA counties, Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-301 requires the deposit to sit in a dedicated account, and you must be told where that account is when you sign the lease. A landlord who skips the account, or who never compiles an itemized damage list, forfeits the right to keep any of it.
The move-out mechanics reward the prepared. You have the right to an inspection and an itemized, signed list of damages with estimated repair costs, and you can dispute in writing any line you disagree with. A landlord can only charge damage discovered within 30 days of your move-out, or within 7 days after a new resident moves in, whichever comes first. You may also read elsewhere that Tennessee requires refunds within 30 days. The statute sets no fixed refund deadline. It requires the landlord to notify you of any refund due, and if you do not respond within 60 days, the money is gone for good. So leave a forwarding address in writing and answer that notice promptly.
Deductions must be real damage, never ordinary aging of the home. Our guide to normal wear and tear in a rental draws that line item by item.
Can a Landlord Raise the Rent as Much as They Want in Tennessee?
On the amount, yes. Tennessee has no rent control, and state law forbids cities and counties from enacting any (Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-35-102). The real limits are timing and motive. Rent is locked for the length of a fixed-term lease unless the lease says otherwise, an increase can never be retaliatory or discriminatory, and on a month-to-month arrangement, the 30-day written notice needed to end the tenancy (Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-512) sets the practical floor for a rent change too.
Late fees are where Tennessee protects renters more than most people expect. In URLTA counties, rent is not late until a five-day grace period passes, counting the due date itself, and the fee can never exceed 10 percent of the amount past due (Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-201). If day five lands on a Sunday or legal holiday, paying the next business day avoids the fee entirely.
What Counts as Illegal Housing Discrimination in Tennessee?
A landlord cannot refuse to rent, quote different terms, advertise a preference, or steer applicants because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status, or disability under the federal Fair Housing Act. The Tennessee Human Rights Act mirrors those protections and adds creed (Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-21-601). Landlords must also grant reasonable accommodations and allow reasonable modifications for residents with disabilities.
Know where to complain, because that changed in 2025. The Tennessee Human Rights Commission was dissolved on June 30, 2025, and its housing-discrimination work moved to the Civil Rights Enforcement Division of the Tennessee Attorney General’s office. You can file there, with HUD, or take a claim to court.
What Repairs Does a Tennessee Landlord Have to Make?
In URLTA counties, the landlord must keep the home fit and habitable: compliant with housing codes that affect health and safety, with working essentials and safe common areas (Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-304). If the landlord will not act, put the problem in writing. Fourteen days after written notice, you can pursue damages, an injunction, or termination of the lease (Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-501). When the failure involves essential services like heat, water, or electricity, Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-502 goes further: you can buy the service yourself and deduct the cost from rent, claim the drop in rental value, or move to substitute housing and stop paying rent while the problem lasts.
Outside URLTA counties, the lever is the local codes office. A complaint triggers an inspection within 14 days, and a landlord whose property is declared unfit gets 30 days to fix it (Tenn. Code Ann. § 68-111-104). Wherever you live, the pattern that wins disputes is the same, and it is the heart of our renters’ guide: every request in writing, every response saved.
Can a Landlord Retaliate Against You for Complaining?
Not in the ways the statutes name, though Tennessee’s protections are narrower than most states’. In URLTA counties, a landlord may not raise rent, cut services, or move to evict you because you complained about a violation or used your legal remedies (Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-514). The statute carves out real exceptions, including when the resident is behind on rent, so keep your own account clean before you escalate. Separately, a resident who reports unfit conditions to the codes office cannot be dispossessed or penalized for it (Tenn. Code Ann. § 68-111-105). Georgia’s protections run similarly thin, as our guide to what a landlord cannot do in Georgia shows. Retaliation cases are won on paper trails: dated complaints, dated responses, and a timeline a judge can follow.
What Does a Tennessee Landlord Have to Disclose?
Before the tenancy starts, a landlord in a URLTA county must identify in writing the property manager and an agent of the property’s owner authorized to receive notices and service of process (Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-302). A 2024 law added to that: for leases signed, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2025, Public Chapter 907 also requires the landlord to provide a telephone number or email address for maintenance service, or an online portal for landlord-tenant communication. An early draft of the bill would have added a required 24-hour emergency line, but that piece was cut before the law passed, so it is not a legal requirement today. Ask in writing if anything is missing. The landlord then has 10 days to provide it, and a court can order disclosure plus your costs and attorney’s fees.
Federal law adds one more: homes built before 1978 require a lead-based paint disclosure before you sign.
How Do Tennessee Landlords Stay on the Right Side of These Rules?
Almost every rule above is cheap to follow and expensive to break. The habits that keep landlords out of General Sessions Court:
- Open the dedicated deposit account first and put its location in the lease packet. Skipping it forfeits every future deduction, however legitimate.
- Write the lease like the rulebook it is. Entry notice, late fees within the 10 percent cap, and the new contact disclosures belong in it from day one.
- Document move-in and move-out with dated photos and a signed condition report, and calendar the 30-day damage-discovery window.
- Never touch locks or utilities. A detainer warrant costs far less than the punitive damages and attorney’s fees a self-help eviction invites.
If you would rather hand the compliance work to someone who does it daily, see how we run property management in Nashville, or start with our guide on how to manage a rental property if you are doing it yourself.
FAQ
Can a landlord lock you out without a court order in Tennessee?
No, not even for unpaid rent. A landlord must win a judgment in General Sessions Court, wait out the 10-day period after judgment, and let the sheriff execute the writ of possession. A resident who is locked out or loses utilities can sue for damages, and in URLTA counties for punitive damages and attorney’s fees as well.
Is there a limit on security deposits in Tennessee?
No. Tennessee sets no maximum deposit in any county. In URLTA counties the deposit must be held in a dedicated account you are told about at signing, and a landlord who ignores the account or itemized-list rules loses the right to keep any of it.
How much notice does a landlord need before entering a rental in Tennessee?
No statute sets a general notice period, so your lease controls. Residents cannot unreasonably refuse entry for repairs, inspections, or agreed services, and emergencies allow immediate entry. The one statutory number is 24 hours’ notice for showings to prospective renters during the final 30 days of the lease, and only if the lease allows those showings.
What is the eviction notice period in Tennessee?
For unpaid rent, 14 days under leases signed before July 1, 2025, and 7 days under leases signed, amended, or renewed on or after that date. Violence or dangerous behavior drops it to 3 days. Some leases waive the nonpayment notice in bold type, which lets the landlord file in court once the five-day grace period ends.
Is there rent control in Tennessee?
No, and state law bars cities and counties from creating it. A landlord still cannot raise rent during a fixed-term lease unless the lease allows it, and month-to-month arrangements require 30 days’ written notice to change or end.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Laws change, and every situation is different. For guidance on a specific situation, talk to a Tennessee-licensed attorney.
