Tennessee Landlord-Tenant Laws (2026): Deposits, Notice, and Tenant Rights

Tennessee sets no statutory cap on security deposits, requires landlords to hold deposits in a separate escrow account and to compile a damage listing before keeping any of it, and caps late fees at 10% of the rent past due after a five-day grace period. The Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (URLTA) governs landlord-tenant relations only in counties with a population over 75,000.

Security deposits in Tennessee

Tennessee does not set a statutory maximum on residential security deposits. A landlord can require whatever deposit amount the parties agree to in the lease. In practice, one to two months' rent is common, but there is no legal ceiling under state law.

The Tennessee Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (URLTA), codified at TCA Title 66, Chapter 28, applies only in counties with a population exceeding 75,000 people. That covers major metropolitan counties like Shelby (Memphis), Davidson (Nashville), Knox (Knoxville), and Hamilton (Chattanooga), among others. In smaller counties below the population threshold, the common-law rules of landlord-tenant relations apply instead, and those rules differ meaningfully from the URLTA framework.

Tennessee's deposit statute does not run on a fixed return deadline. TCA 66-28-301(a) requires the landlord to keep every tenant's deposit in an account used only for that purpose, and subsection (h) requires the landlord to tell the tenant where that account is held when the lease is signed. Before charging anything against the deposit, the landlord must compile a comprehensive listing of the damage claimed and the estimated cost of repairing it. If the tenant asks for a mutual inspection, landlord and tenant walk the unit together and sign that listing, and a tenant who refuses to sign must state in writing which items are disputed.

If the tenant leaves owing no rent and a refund is due, subsection (f) requires the landlord to send notice of the refund amount to the tenant's last known or reasonably determinable address. If the landlord gets no response within 60 days of sending that notice, the landlord may take the money out of the account and keep it. So the clock in Tennessee runs against the tenant, not the landlord: leave a current forwarding address and answer any refund notice quickly.

Permissible deductions include unpaid rent, cleaning costs beyond normal wear and tear, and repair of actual damage caused by the tenant. Normal wear (minor scuffs, carpet fading) is not deductible.

When can a landlord enter? Notice rules

The Tennessee URLTA does not impose a general 24-hour notice requirement. Under TCA 66-28-403(a), the tenant simply may not unreasonably withhold consent when the landlord wants to enter to inspect the premises, make necessary or agreed repairs, decorations, alterations or improvements, supply agreed services, or show the unit to prospective or actual purchasers, mortgagees, workers or contractors. Landlords usually give advance notice because entry still depends on the tenant's consent, but the statute fixes no notice period for those purposes.

There is one place the statute does require 24 hours. Under subsection (e)(5), a landlord may enter within the final 30 days before the rental agreement terminates to show the unit to prospective tenants only if the rental agreement sets out that right of access and the tenant gets at least 24 hours notice before entry. Without that lease clause, the access right does not exist at all.

TCA 66-28-403(b) lets a landlord enter without the tenant's consent in an emergency, meaning a sudden, generally unexpected occurrence demanding immediate action, such as a fire or a burst pipe. The statute also allows entry when utilities have been shut off through no fault of the landlord, when the tenant has abandoned or surrendered the premises, and by court order. Subsection (d) bars the landlord from abusing the right of access or using it to harass the tenant.

In counties not subject to URLTA, none of these statutory access rules apply. Entry there is governed by the lease and by common-law principles, so the access clause you signed is what controls.

URLTA does bar a lease from making a tenant give up rights under the chapter (TCA 66-28-201(a) and 66-28-203(b)). That is not the same as a notice right the lease cannot touch: the 24-hour notice in 66-28-403(e)(5) exists only because, and only if, the rental agreement grants that right of access in the first place. Read the access clause in your lease closely, because it is the document that sets the terms of routine entry.

Ending a lease: notice to vacate

Either a landlord or a tenant in Tennessee may terminate a month-to-month tenancy by giving 30 days written notice. The notice should be delivered in advance of the rental period it is meant to end, so that one full 30-day period runs before the effective termination date.

Fixed-term leases expire by their own terms. A landlord who needs to end the tenancy early for cause (nonpayment, lease violation, or criminal activity) must follow the statutory eviction notice process rather than the month-to-month termination process. See the Tennessee eviction notice page for the specific notice periods, pay-or-quit and cure-or-quit procedures, and the court filing timeline. These are distinct procedures; serving a 30-day notice does not substitute for the required eviction notice in a for-cause situation.

For unauthorized occupants and adverse possession questions, see the Tennessee squatters rights page.

Repairs and the warranty of habitability

In Tennessee counties covered by URLTA, the warranty of habitability requires landlords to maintain rental property in a condition fit for human habitation. TCA 66-28-304 sets out the specific landlord duties: keeping the premises in compliance with applicable building and housing codes, maintaining heating, plumbing, electrical, and sanitation systems in good working order, and addressing conditions that materially affect health or safety.

Tennessee's URLTA gives tenants direct remedies when an essential service fails. Under TCA 66-28-502, if the landlord deliberately or negligently fails to supply an essential service (utility services including gas, heat and electricity, plus any other landlord obligation that materially affects the tenant's health and safety), the tenant gives the landlord written notice specifying the breach and may then do one of three things: procure the service during the period of noncompliance and deduct the actual and reasonable cost from rent; recover damages based on the drop in the fair rental value of the unit, so long as the tenant keeps occupying it; or procure reasonable substitute housing, in which case the tenant is excused from paying rent for the period of noncompliance and may also recover the actual and reasonable value of that substitute housing. Reasonable attorney's fees are recoverable in any of these cases.

The statute sets no waiting period before those remedies open up. Under subsection (c), the rights arise once the tenant has given written notice and can show the condition was not caused by the tenant, a family member, or another person on the premises with the tenant's consent. A tenant who proceeds under 66-28-502 may not also proceed under 66-28-501 or 66-28-503 for the same breach, so pick the remedy deliberately and document the notice. In counties below the 75,000 population threshold where URLTA does not apply, these statutory remedies are not available. Tenants in those counties must rely on the common law implied warranty of habitability and court remedies.

Rent, late fees, and rent control

In URLTA counties, Tennessee does cap late fees. TCA 66-28-201(d) gives the tenant a five-day grace period that begins the day rent is due, and no fee for late payment may be charged until that period runs. If the last day of the grace period falls on a Sunday or a legal holiday, the landlord may charge nothing so long as the rent is paid the next business day. Whatever the charge is called, it may not exceed 10% of the amount of rent past due. That grace period is a statutory floor rather than a lease courtesy, and a rental agreement cannot shorten it.

Rent increases on a month-to-month tenancy require 30 days advance notice, which mirrors the termination notice period. Fixed-term leases lock in the rent until the end of the term; the landlord cannot raise rent mid-lease absent a specific lease clause allowing it.

Tennessee prohibits local rent control. No city or county may enact an ordinance capping, freezing, or otherwise regulating the amount of rent a landlord may charge. There is no statewide rent cap in Tennessee. Landlords may raise rent to market rate at each lease renewal with proper notice.

If you have a landlord-tenant dispute in Tennessee

Document everything in writing from the start. Send repair requests, move-in inspection notes, and any complaints by email or certified mail so you have a timestamped record. Courts rely heavily on written documentation in deposit and habitability disputes.

For deposit disputes, Tennessee small claims court (General Sessions Court) handles claims up to $25,000 without the need for a lawyer. Two provisions decide most of these cases. Under TCA 66-28-301(c), a landlord who neither kept the deposit in the required account nor provided the damage listing is not entitled to retain any portion of it. Under subsection (d), a tenant who disputes the accuracy of the final damage listing may sue, but the claim is limited to the items the tenant specifically dissented from, and a tenant who did not dissent is not entitled to recover damages under the section. Put your disagreement with each disputed item in writing at the inspection stage; that written dissent is what preserves the claim.

If you are in a URLTA county and the dispute involves habitability or essential services, send written notice to the landlord specifying the problem and keep a copy. For essential services, that written notice is the step that activates your remedies under 66-28-502. If the landlord does not respond, consult Tennessee Legal Aid (available in most major counties) or a private landlord-tenant attorney before exercising self-help remedies.

The Tennessee Attorney General and the local building or housing inspection office can also help with complaints about serious habitability conditions. Contact the relevant city or county housing authority for local code violations. For eviction-related matters, see the Tennessee eviction notice page. For squatters and adverse possession, see the Tennessee squatters rights page. For a 50-state comparison of deposit limits and return deadlines, visit the Landlord-Tenant Laws hub.

This article is general legal information, not legal advice. Landlord-tenant rules vary by state and city and change, and some cities add their own ordinances. For advice about a specific situation, consult a licensed attorney or your state housing agency.

For the full state-by-state comparison, see our Landlord-Tenant Laws by State guide.

More Tennessee Laws

• Tennessee Property Records
• Tennessee Restraining Order Laws
• Tennessee Squatters Rights Laws
• Tennessee Unclaimed Property