Tennessee Lease Agreement: Deposits, Repairs, and Entry Rules

A Tennessee lease agreement is governed by one of two very different legal regimes, and which one applies depends entirely on the county. Rentals in the 19 counties with populations above 75,000 (based on the 2010 federal census) fall under the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, or URLTA, which sets detailed rules on deposits, late fees, repairs, entry, and eviction.¹ Rentals in the state’s other counties operate under common law, which means the written lease itself is essentially the whole rulebook. Figure out which framework governs your rental before you sign anything, because most of what follows applies only in URLTA counties.

Those 19 URLTA counties are Anderson, Blount, Bradley, Davidson, Greene, Hamilton, Knox, Madison, Maury, Montgomery, Putnam, Rutherford, Sevier, Shelby, Sullivan, Sumner, Washington, Williamson, and Wilson.¹ The major metros are all covered: Nashville sits in Davidson, Memphis in Shelby, Knoxville in Knox, Chattanooga in Hamilton.

What the Lease Itself Should Spell Out

A solid Tennessee lease identifies the full legal names of every adult tenant and the landlord or management company, the exact property address with any unit number, the start and end dates (or a statement that the tenancy is month-to-month), the monthly rent amount, where it goes, and how it can be paid. It should also state the security deposit amount and the account where the deposit will be held, the grace period and late fee terms, and any maintenance tasks the tenant is agreeing to take on.

Tennessee does not require leases to be notarized. The state has adopted the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, so electronic signatures carry the same legal weight as ink.² Once everyone signs, every tenant should receive a fully executed copy.

One disclosure applies nationwide, not just in URLTA counties: for any property built before 1978, federal law requires the landlord to disclose any known lead hazards, provide the EPA pamphlet “Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home,” and include a signed lead warning in the lease.³

Security Deposits

Tennessee does not cap how much a landlord can charge as a security deposit. The real rules are about how the money is handled. In URLTA counties, every deposit must sit in a dedicated account at a regulated bank or lending institution, kept separate from the landlord’s personal or business funds. The landlord has to tell the tenant where that account is located, though not the account number.⁴ A landlord who skips the separate account loses the right to keep any portion of the deposit for damages.

At move-out, if the tenant owes no rent, the landlord must send written notice of any refund due to the tenant’s last known address. If the tenant doesn’t respond within 60 days, the landlord may keep the deposit.⁴ Always leave a written forwarding address.

If the landlord plans to withhold money for damages, the tenant has the right to request a joint move-out inspection. Both parties walk through, compile a list of damage with estimated repair costs, and sign it. Those signatures become binding evidence of the unit’s condition, and any disagreement the tenant has with items on the list must go in writing.⁴ Without that inspection, deposit disputes come down to the landlord’s word against the tenant’s.

Grace Period and Late Fees

In URLTA counties, no late fee can be charged until a five-day grace period has run. The grace period starts the day rent is due, counting the due date as day one.⁵ If day five lands on a Sunday or legal holiday, the deadline rolls to the next business day.

The maximum late fee is 10% of the past-due rent, not 10% of total monthly rent. Pay half on time and the other half late, and the fee applies only to the unpaid half.⁵ A lease clause that tries to impose more is unenforceable in a URLTA county.

Repairs and What To Do When the Landlord Won’t Act

Under the URLTA, the landlord must comply with health and safety codes, keep the unit fit and livable, keep common areas clean and safe, and in buildings of four or more units provide trash removal from common collection points.⁶ A written agreement can shift certain repair tasks to the tenant, but only in good faith, not as a workaround for the landlord’s basic obligations.

When the landlord drops the ball, the tenant must first give 14 days’ written notice to fix the problem. If the landlord still doesn’t act, the tenant can pursue damages, injunctive relief, and reasonable attorney’s fees.⁷ When the failure involves essential services like heat, electricity, or gas, the tenant has three stronger options:

Arrange for the essential service and deduct the actual, reasonable cost from the next rent payment.
Stay in the unit and recover damages based on how much the lack of service reduced its rental value.
Move into substitute housing, stop paying rent during the noncompliance, and recover the reasonable cost of the temporary housing.

If a landlord goes further and locks the tenant out or shuts off utilities on purpose, the tenant can recover actual damages, punitive damages where appropriate, and attorney’s fees, and the landlord must return all prepaid rent and the deposit.⁸

When the Landlord Can Enter

Signing a lease doesn’t give up the right to privacy. The URLTA limits landlord entry to a short list of situations: emergencies like fire or a burst pipe; inspections and repairs after utilities are shut off through no fault of the landlord; entry under a court order; abandonment or surrender of the unit; and showings to prospective tenants during the final 30 days of the lease, if the lease allows it and the landlord gives at least 24 hours’ notice.⁹

That 24-hour rule applies specifically to end-of-lease showings. For other non-emergency entries, the statute only says the tenant should not unreasonably withhold consent and does not set a specific notice window. Many leases write in a 24-hour notice requirement for all entries, and that contract term is enforceable once signed.

Ending the Lease

Tennessee’s termination rules depend on why the lease is ending, and one of them hides a trap that often catches tenants.

Curable Violations and the Rent Waiver Trap

For a lease violation the tenant can fix, including unpaid rent or property damage, the landlord must give 14 days’ written notice describing the problem. If the tenant fixes it in that window, the lease continues. If the same type of violation happens again within six months, the landlord can skip the cure period and terminate with seven days’ notice.¹⁰

Nonpayment of rent has a critical exception. If the lease contains a waiver of notice for failure to pay rent, printed in bold type of at least 12-point font, the landlord can file a detainer warrant the moment the five-day grace period expires, with no 14-day notice at all.¹⁰ Many standard Tennessee leases include this waiver. Check for it before signing.

Serious Safety Violations

For violent acts, conduct that threatens other tenants’ health or safety, hazardous or unsanitary conditions, or unauthorized occupancy, the landlord can terminate with three days’ notice and no chance to cure.¹¹

Month-to-Month

Either side can end a month-to-month tenancy with at least 30 days’ written notice before the next rent due date, no reason required.¹² If rent is due on the first and notice goes out on April 15, the earliest end date is June 1, because 30 days from April 15 falls after the May 1 rent date.

Military Orders

The federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act lets active-duty service members terminate a residential lease early on permanent change-of-station orders or deployment orders of at least 90 days. The service member delivers written notice with a copy of the orders, and the lease ends 30 days after the next rent payment is due.

Fire or Casualty

If fire or another disaster leaves the unit substantially unusable, the tenant can move out immediately and then notify the landlord in writing within 14 days that the lease is terminated as of the vacate date.¹³

Retaliation Is Off Limits

A landlord in a URLTA county cannot raise rent, cut services, or threaten eviction because a tenant complained about a security deposit violation or used any URLTA remedy.¹⁴ The protection doesn’t apply if the tenant is behind on rent, caused the code violation through their own negligence, or the needed repairs would effectively make the unit unusable.

If Your Rental Is Outside a URLTA County

In the roughly 76 Tennessee counties not covered by the URLTA, none of the protections above apply automatically. No statutory grace period, no 10% late fee cap, no built-in maintenance duties, no fixed eviction notice timelines, no retaliation ban. The lease contract itself is the primary source of rights for both sides. Federal rules like the lead-based paint disclosure still apply everywhere, but the state-level backstop is largely absent, so what the written lease says carries far more weight.

1
Justia. Tennessee Code 66-28-102 – Application
2
Justia. Tennessee Code 47-10-107 – Legal Recognition of Electronic Records, Electronic Signatures, and Electronic Contracts
3
US EPA. Lead-Based Paint Disclosure Rule (Section 1018 of Title X)
4
Justia. Tennessee Code 66-28-301 – Security Deposits
5
Justia. Tennessee Code 66-28-201 – Terms and Conditions
6
Justia. Tennessee Code 66-28-304 – Maintenance by Landlord
7
Tennessee Fair Housing Council. Tennessee Code 66-28-501 – Noncompliance by the Landlord
8
Tennessee Fair Housing Council. Tennessee Code 66-28-504 – Unlawful Ouster
9
Justia. Tennessee Code 66-28-403 – Access by Landlord
10
Justia. Tennessee Code 66-28-505 – Noncompliance by Tenant
11
Justia. Tennessee Code 66-28-517 – Termination by Landlord
12
Justia. Tennessee Code 66-28-512 – Termination of Periodic Tenancy
13
Tennessee Fair Housing Council. Tennessee Code 66-28-503 – Damage by Fire or Casualty
14
FindLaw. Tennessee Code Title 66 Property 66-28-514