The Tennessee law governing landlords and tenants varies according to the county in which you live. This tape applies specifically to property in metropolitan areas. If the property is outside of a metropolitan area, a different law might apply.

Even if the property is inside a metropolitan area, this law might not apply if the tenant has a "lease-purchase" agreement or if you are leasing commercial property.

For many reasons, landlords should have a written lease agreement. However, even without a written lease, you and your tenants have certain rights. Without a written lease, the tenant may occupy the property from month to month. This means that you cannot evict the tenant without at least one month's notice. If you have a written lease, it might provide for a weekly tenancy, or it could give the tenant the right to stay longer than a month.

If you ask your tenant to sign a written lease and the tenant refuses, the tenant can be considered a "trespasser," and can be immediately evicted. However, if you accept payment of rent and you have an oral agreement for the tenant to occupy the property, the tenant is not a trespasser. In that case, you could not evict the tenant until you gave the tenant notice to leave.

Your agreement with the tenant determines the amount of rent that is due. If you do not have a written lease agreement, and you discover that you and your tenant have a difference understanding about how much rent is due, the tenant will owe the "reasonable" rental value of the property.

Rent is not charged by the day, unless you and your tenant agree to that system.

You cannot charge a late fee until the tenant is more than five days late in paying rent; and the late fee cannot be more than 10% of the rent. (Different rules may apply to late fees for tenants in a public housing project.)

If you receive a security deposit, you must tell the tenant in writing the bank in which it will be held. If you do not do this, you may not keep the deposit (although you could sue the tenant for damage to the property).

After the tenant moves out, you must return the security deposit unless you give the tenant a written list of damages that will be charged against the deposit. If you do not give the list to the tenant in person, you should mail it to the tenant's last known address.

If the tenant signs the list, you may assume that the tenant consented to these charges. If the tenant does not sign the list, the tenant must give you a written objection to the list. If you and your tenant cannot work out the problem, the tenant might sue to get the deposit back, in which case the judge would decide whether your list of damages was legitimate.

If the tenant leaves owing rent and does not demand that the deposit be returned, you may apply the deposit to the unpaid rent after 30 days.

If the tenant is entitled to a refund of the security deposit, you must send written notice of the refund to the tenant's last known address. If you do not receive a response from the tenant within 60 days, you may keep the deposit.

You must maintain the property according to any building and housing codes that materially affect health and safety. You must also make any repairs necessary to keep the property in a fit and habitable condition. However, if you have a written lease, the lease might make the tenant responsible for certain repairs. However, the lease could not require the tenant to bring the property "up to code" if you rented it in an unsafe condition.

A landlord may sometimes be liable to a tenant and to the tenant's guests for injuries sustained on the property. In general, a landlord is liable for injuries caused by dangerous conditions that existed before the property was turned over to the tenant, if the landlord knew about the condition or should have known about it and if the tenant did not know about it.

In addition, a landlord has a duty to maintain common areas (such as stairways) in multi-unit buildings.

If the landlord tries to repair a condition (even if the lease required the tenant to make the repair) the landlord could be liable for injuries caused by negligently made repairs.

You cannot have a clause in a lease that shields a landlord from liability for injuries a tenant sustains as a result of the landlord's failure to do what the law requires. Landlords should give serious consideration to buying insurance to protect their property and to cover liability for personal injuries.

Tenants are also obligated to obey all building and housing codes that materially affect health and safety; and they have a duty to keep the property as clean and safe as it was when they moved in. In addition, they may not act in any manner that would disturb their neighbors or permit their guests to disturb the neighbors.

You may impose rules governing the tenant's use of the property, but the rules cannot be unreasonable; and they must apply to all tenants equally.

You may enter the property at reasonable times to inspect it, or to make repairs, or to show it to future tenants or purchasers. But you must give the tenant notice before coming, unless it is an emergency.

If the tenant creates a condition that materially affects health and safety and does not correct it after 14 days' notice from you, you may enter the property and repair the problem. You may also enter to repair a problem without notice, in the case of an emergency. In either case, you may bill the tenant for repairs that the tenant was supposed to make.

If the tenant is gone for 30 days without paying rent and without notifying you, you may consider the property abandoned. In addition, if you have a written lease, it could require the tenant to tell you if the tenant is going to be gone more than seven days.

When the tenant abandons the dwelling and leaves personal property behind, you have certain rights to dispose of the property. However, you also have certain duties; so it would be a good idea to consult a lawyer before destroying or selling the property.

You may not take a tenant's personal property just because the tenant owes you money, unless the tenant signs a document under the Uniform Commercial Code and you record that documents, or unless the tenant gave you the property to hold as collateral.

You must tell tenants in writing that you do not provide insurance for their personal property.

You cannot discontinue "essential services" to your tenant. First, what is an "essential service"? "Essential services" means utility service (such as heat and electricity) and anything else that you promised to provide--if it materially affects the tenant's health and safety.

If you fail to provide essential services and the tenant notifies you about the problem in writing. Then, if you do not solve the problem, the tenant may obtain the service at the tenant's expense and deduct the cost from the rent; or the tenant may sue you for the difference between the rent due and the fair rent due under the circumstances; or the tenant may obtain substitute housing until the you correct the problem, in which case the tenant does not owe rent until you do correct the problem; and the tenant may recover the cost of the substitute housing.

Of course, the tenant cannot rely on these remedies if the tenant or the tenant's guests caused the problem; and the tenant must behave reasonably in such matters as hiring someone else to fix the problem.

You may not evict a tenant or interrupt essential services just because you are having a dispute with the tenant. You must get a court order before you can forcibly evict a tenant.

If you evict a tenant or cut off services without a court order, the tenant may sue you for damages--and you might have to pay the tenant's lawyer.

If the tenant violates the lease, you may send the tenant notice of the problem and give the tenant 30 days to correct the problem. If the tenant does not correct the problem, you may sue for possession at the time set in the notice. However, if you know about the problem and accept rent from the tenant without complaining, you cannot later evict the tenant for violating the lease for that reason--at least until you tell the tenant that the tenant must start following the rules again. You should give the tenant this notice in writing.

If the tenant corrects the problem, but it happens again within six months, you may cancel the lease after 14 days' notice.

Unless you have a written lease that says otherwise, you cannot evict a tenant for non-payment of rent unless you give the tenant written notice that the tenant failed to pay the rent.

If the tenant cancels the lease before it is over, the tenant will owe the balance due under the lease. However, you must try to rent the property to someone else to offset your damages.

If you are renting on a month-to-month basis, you may cancel the lease by giving the tenant 30 days' notice. The 30 days begins to run after the rent is due for the next month after the tenant receives the notice. For instance, suppose that rent is due on the first of the month, and you give the tenant notice to leave on March 10. The next rent payment is due on April 1, so the 30 days' notice begins to run on April 1; and the tenant does not have to leave until May 1.

If you are renting on a week-to-week basis, you may cancel the lease by giving the tenant ten days' notice.

If the tenant does not leave at the time required, you may sue for possession of the property and for damages and your attorney fees.

You only have to give a tenant three days' notice to leave if the tenant (or the tenant's guests) commit an act that is violent or dangerous to others; but even in this situation, you may not evict the tenant by force without a court order and may not cut off essential services to force the tenant to leave.

You may sue to evict a tenant in General Sessions Court. If you do not have a lawyer, the court clerk can give you information about the procedure. If you lose, you have ten days to appeal; likewise, if the tenant loses, the tenant has ten days to appeal the eviction after the judge issues the order.

In general, the law requires both landlords and tenants to behave reasonably with each other and in good faith. If either you or your tenant behaves unreasonably, a court can enforce the other party's rights and could even require the offending party to pay the innocent party's lawyer.

Return to Home Ownership and Rental Topics
Return to LawBytes Main Topics

The information available through TBALink LawBytes is basic legal information and is not a substitute for legal advice. LawBytes is provided by the Tennessee Bar Association as a public service and for general information only. It should not be considered legal advice. You should consult your attorney if you have questions concerning any specific situation. If you do not have an attorney, may we suggest that you contact your local bar association's referral service. The topics covered through TBALink LawBytes will provide basic information and should make it easier for someone with a problem to decide whether they need professional help from a lawyer or if another agency could provide them with assistance.