How to Evict a Tenant in Tennessee Without a Lease

To evict a tenant in Tennessee without a lease, treat the arrangement as a month-to-month tenancy, serve the correct written notice under the statute that governs your county, and, if the tenant does not leave or fix the problem, file a detainer warrant in General Sessions Court. The absence of a written lease does not let you skip the court process, and it does not shorten any of the notice periods. What it does is put you squarely inside Tennessee’s default landlord-tenant statutes, which split into two different rulebooks depending on where the property sits.

Figure Out Which Rulebook Your County Follows

Tennessee’s Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (URLTA) applies only in counties whose 2010 federal census population exceeded 75,000. That includes Davidson (Nashville), Shelby (Memphis), Knox (Knoxville), and Hamilton (Chattanooga), among others. Smaller counties are governed by the general landlord-tenant statutes in Title 66, Chapter 7, primarily Tennessee Code § 66-7-109.¹

The notice periods you must give a tenant differ between the two regimes. Get this wrong at the start and a judge can dismiss your detainer warrant, forcing you to serve a fresh notice and refile. Confirm your county’s 2010 population against the 75,000 threshold before you draft anything.

What “No Written Lease” Means Legally

When a tenant occupies a Tennessee rental without a written lease, the law treats the arrangement as a month-to-month tenancy that renews automatically each month as long as rent is paid and accepted. Verbal terms about rent amount, due date, and house rules are still enforceable on both sides, they are just harder to prove. The tenant keeps the protections of the applicable statutes, and you keep the right to end the tenancy or evict for cause using the same process any landlord would use.²

Grounds You Can Evict For

A month-to-month tenant can be evicted for nonpayment of rent, for lease or rule violations (property damage, illegal activity, unauthorized occupants, excessive noise, and similar breaches), or for no reason at all, since a month-to-month tenancy has no fixed end date and either party can terminate it with proper notice.

You cannot evict for a retaliatory or discriminatory reason. In URLTA counties, a landlord cannot raise rent, cut services, or file for eviction because a tenant complained about code violations or exercised rights under the Act.³ Federal fair housing rules apply everywhere in the state.

Notice Requirements in URLTA Counties

14-Day Notice to Cure for Nonpayment or a Fixable Breach

For unpaid rent or any breach the tenant can fix by paying money or making repairs, you must serve a written notice that specifies the problem and gives the tenant 14 days to remedy it. Pay or fix within 14 days and the tenancy continues.⁴

7-Day Notice for a Repeat Violation

If the tenant commits substantially the same violation within six months of a prior notice, you can serve a 7-day notice to vacate with no chance to cure. Landlords often assume the 14-day period always applies. It does not. Second offenses inside a six-month window drop to seven days.⁴

14-Day Notice for a Non-Remediable Breach

For violations that cannot be fixed by paying money or making repairs, such as serious criminal activity on the premises, you may serve a 14-day notice of termination with no option to cure.⁴

30-Day No-Cause Termination

To end a month-to-month tenancy without citing any violation, either party must give at least 30 days’ written notice before the next periodic rental date. The 30 days runs to the start of the next rental period, not just 30 calendar days from delivery. If rent is due on the first and you serve notice on March 10, the earliest effective termination is May 1, not April 9.⁵

Notice Requirements in Non-URLTA Counties

In counties at or below the 75,000 threshold, § 66-7-109 controls and the timelines shift:

Nonpayment of rent or a violation: 14-day written notice.¹
Repeat violation within six months: 14-day notice with no chance to cure. Note the difference from URLTA counties, which allow only seven days on a repeat.¹
Other defaults: 30-day notice measured from the date the landlord provides it.¹

That last point is a meaningful difference. Under § 66-7-109 the 30 days runs from delivery, rather than being tied to the next rental period as under URLTA.

Delivering the Notice

In URLTA counties, written notice must be sent to the tenant’s last known or designated address.⁶ Without a written lease naming a different address, the rental unit itself is usually the last known address. The statute does not prescribe a specific delivery method for pre-suit notices, so use certified mail with return receipt requested and keep the green card. Hand-delivery with a witness works too. Some landlords do both.

Every notice should identify the tenant by name, state the property address, spell out the specific reason for eviction, and give the date by which the tenant must cure or vacate. Keep your copy and any proof of delivery. The judge will want to see it.

Filing the Detainer Warrant

If the notice period runs out and the tenant has neither left nor cured, file a detainer warrant in the General Sessions Court for the county where the property sits.⁷ This is Tennessee’s eviction complaint. You’ll provide the tenant’s name, the property address, the reason for eviction, and proof that notice was served. Filing fees vary by county, so call the clerk to confirm the amount and accepted payment methods.

A sheriff’s deputy, constable, or private process server must serve the detainer warrant. You cannot serve it yourself. The server tries personal delivery first. If three documented attempts on three separate dates fail, the server may post the warrant on the door and mail a copy by first-class mail at least six days before the court date.⁸

The Court Hearing

The hearing is set at least six days after the tenant is served.⁸ Bring the notice you served, proof of delivery, a rent ledger, photos of damage, any written communications, and anything else that supports your case. If the tenant does not appear, you’ll typically get a default judgment. If they do appear, both sides present evidence and the judge decides.

Common tenant defenses include improper notice, retaliation, and uninhabitable conditions. Defective notice is the classic reason cases collapse. If you win, the court enters a judgment for possession and may award back rent and, in some cases, attorney’s fees.

Appeal Window and Writ of Possession

After judgment, the tenant has 10 days to appeal to Circuit Court.⁹ To stay possession on appeal, the tenant must post a bond equal to one year’s rent. If the tenant appeals without posting the bond, you can still obtain a writ of possession without posting a bond of your own.⁷ Because that bond is out of reach for most tenants, appeals that actually delay possession are uncommon.

Once the 10-day window closes without a proper appeal, request the Writ of Possession from the court. That order authorizes law enforcement to remove the tenant. The sheriff schedules a date to execute the writ, and you are typically responsible for arranging the labor and transportation needed to move the tenant’s belongings out.

What to Do With Belongings Left Behind

When a sheriff executes a writ, the deputies oversee moving the tenant’s property out of the unit. Document everything with photos, place items in a secure location, and give the tenant a reasonable chance to retrieve them. Disposing of someone’s belongings too quickly invites a lawsuit even after a valid eviction.

Separate rules apply if the tenant abandons the unit rather than being removed on a writ. In URLTA counties, the landlord must store the tenant’s possessions for at least 30 days before selling or disposing of them.¹⁰

Two Shortcuts That Will Blow Up the Case

Self-Help Eviction

Changing the locks, shutting off utilities, removing the front door, or putting a tenant’s belongings on the lawn are illegal in Tennessee no matter how far behind on rent the tenant is. In URLTA counties, a tenant subjected to an unlawful lockout or service interruption can recover actual damages, punitive damages where appropriate, reasonable attorney’s fees, and the return of all prepaid rent and security deposits.¹¹ The tenant’s conduct is not a defense. Use the court process.

Accepting Rent After Serving Notice

Accepting a rent payment after you have served an eviction notice can be treated as a waiver of the right to evict. A court may read the acceptance as reinstating the tenancy, which makes your notice defective and forces you to start over. Without a written lease you have no contractual anti-waiver clause to fall back on. Refuse payments once notice has been served, and if one slips through, refund it immediately and document the refund.

Federal Rules That Can Override the State Process

Two federal statutes can block or delay a Tennessee eviction even if your state-level procedure is perfect. The Fair Housing Act prohibits eviction based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, or disability.¹² A no-cause termination is lawful on its face, but a tenant who can show the real motivation was discriminatory can challenge it. Keep records of your actual reasons for ending a tenancy even when the law does not require you to state one.

The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act requires a court order before any eviction of an active-duty servicemember or a dependent when the monthly rent falls below an annually adjusted threshold. That threshold was $9,812.12 as of 2024 and is recalculated each year based on the CPI housing component, so virtually every residential rental is covered.¹³ A court can stay proceedings for at least 90 days if the servicemember’s military duties have affected their ability to pay, and the judge has discretion to extend that stay or adjust the rent obligation.

Realistic Timeline

A straightforward Tennessee eviction with no complications runs roughly five to eight weeks from first notice to possession:

Notice period: 7 to 30 days depending on the reason and your county.
Filing and service of the detainer warrant: a few days to about a week.
Court hearing: at least 6 days after the warrant is served.
Appeal window: 10 days after judgment.
Writ of possession: issued after the appeal window closes, then the sheriff schedules execution.

A contested hearing, a bonded appeal, or a procedural mistake that forces you to restart will stretch the timeline considerably. The single most effective way to keep the case short is to serve the correct notice, for the correct period, in writing, the first time.

1
Justia. Tennessee Code 66-7-109 – Notice of Termination by Landlord
2
Justia. Tennessee Code 66-28-101 – Short Title
3
FindLaw. Tennessee Code 66-28-514
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Justia. Tennessee Code 66-28-505 – Noncompliance by Tenant
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Justia. Tennessee Code 66-28-512 – Termination of Periodic Tenancies
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Justia. Tennessee Code 66-28-106 – Notice
7
Tennessee State Courts. Residential Evictions Update
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FindLaw. Tennessee Code 29-18-115
9
Tennessee State Courts. Notice of Appeal
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Justia. Tennessee Code 66-28-405 – Abandonment
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FindLaw. Tennessee Code 66-28-504
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 3604 – Discrimination in the Sale or Rental of Housing
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3951 – Evictions and Distress