Any Tennessee lease signed, renewed, or amended since January 1, 2025 must come with a written contact sheet: who manages the property, who accepts legal notices for the owner, and a phone number or email that reaches maintenance. That's the Landlord Transparency Act, and it's one of three changes Nashville has made to rental law in two years. Miss it and your next eviction or deposit dispute starts on the back foot.

What changed in 2024-2025, and what it means now

  • HB 1814 (Public Chapter 907), effective January 1, 2025. Rewrote the disclosure rules in Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-302: at or before move-in, tenants must receive, in writing, the name and address of the management agent, the owner (or the owner's agent for service of process and notices), and contact details for maintenance requests. It applies to agreements entered, amended, or renewed from that date, so by 2026 nearly every active lease in a covered county is in scope.
  • HB 1259, effective July 1, 2024. Gave owners an expedited, sworn-complaint route to have unauthorized occupants (squatters with no lease, no tenancy, no permission) removed from residential property without running a full detainer suit.
  • SB 292 (Public Chapter 90), effective July 1, 2025. Extended that fast removal track to commercial property.

None of those touched deposits, late fees, or eviction day counts, so the fundamentals below are stable, but they all share one catch that shapes everything in Tennessee: most of this law only applies in some counties.

The 75,000-person line that splits Tennessee in two

Tennessee's Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (URLTA) governs only in counties with more than 75,000 residents by the latest federal census (§ 66-28-102). By the 2020 count that's roughly 18 of 95 counties, including Shelby (Memphis), Davidson (Nashville), Knox (Knoxville), Hamilton (Chattanooga), Rutherford, Williamson, Montgomery, Sumner, Wilson, Sullivan, Blount, Washington, Madison, Maury, Bradley, Sevier, and Anderson. Putnam County (Cookeville) crossed the line with the 2020 census, which is the cleanest proof that the list moves: a duplex that wasn't URLTA property in 2019 is now.

Everywhere else, the older, thinner rules of Title 66, Chapter 7 plus the common law and your lease control. When this guide cites a chapter 66-28 section, assume big-county Tennessee; the chapter 66-7 rules get flagged where they differ. Our Tennessee quick-reference page keeps the two tiers side by side.

Deposits: a separate account, an inspection ritual, no cap

Tennessee has never capped security deposits, in either tier. (A rumor made the rounds in 2024 that the state adopted a one-month cap; no such statute exists, and § 66-28-301 still contains no dollar or month limit.)

In URLTA counties the rules are procedural. Every deposit goes into an account used only for holding tenants' deposits, separate from your operating funds (§ 66-28-301). At move-out, compile an itemized list of damages with estimated repair costs. The tenant has a right to a mutual inspection during normal working hours, on move-out day or within four calendar days after, unless they abandoned, left owing without notice, or were removed by court order. Both parties sign the list if the walkthrough happens; a tenant who disagrees can note objections.

Two clocks then matter. Damage you want charged to the deposit must be identified within 30 days of the tenant vacating, or within 7 days after a new tenant takes possession, whichever comes first. And once you've mailed notice of a refund to the tenant's last known address, money unclaimed for 60 days may be kept. Practical standard: send the itemization and any refund inside 30 days; that's the timeline general sessions judges expect and the one worth automating (Rentari flags it per lease). In non-URLTA counties there's no deposit statute at all, and the same 30-day habit is simply good defense.

Late fees: five days of grace, ten percent, and a Sunday rule

In URLTA counties, § 66-28-201(d) writes the grace period into law: no late fee until the rent is five days late, and the due date itself counts as day one. If day five lands on a Sunday or legal holiday and the tenant pays the next business day, no fee at all. The fee itself, however labeled, is capped at 10% of the amount past due. On $1,600 of late rent, that's $160, full stop.

Outside URLTA counties none of that binds. The lease governs, subject to ordinary contract reasonableness, though plenty of small-county judges borrow the 10% figure as a sanity check.

Rent levels are unregulated statewide, and they'll stay that way at the local level: Tennessee has barred cities and counties from any form of rent control since 1996 (§ 66-35-102). To raise rent on a month-to-month, use the 30-day termination mechanism (§ 66-28-512): 30 days' written notice before the periodic rental date, old terms out, new terms in.

Entry and the paperwork tenants must actually receive

URLTA entry rules are looser than most states'. A tenant may not unreasonably withhold consent for you to inspect, make repairs, supply services, or show the unit, and no general 24-hour notice statute exists (§ 66-28-403). The exceptions run the other way: entry without consent is limited to emergencies, court orders, abandonment, utility-damage checks, and, if the lease says so, showings during the final 30 days of the term, which do require 24 hours' notice. The statute closes with the sentence to remember: don't abuse access or use it to harass. A written day-ahead heads-up remains the best practice even though the statute doesn't demand one.

The disclosure stack for 2026: the HB 1814 contact sheet described above (§ 66-28-302), the showing clause if you want that final-month access (§ 66-28-403), and the federal lead-based paint disclosure with pamphlet for any building predating 1978. That last one applies in all 95 counties; federal law doesn't care about census counts.

Eviction: the 14-7-3 ladder, then a detainer warrant

URLTA counties run a three-rung notice ladder:

  • 14 days for nonpayment or any breach curable by paying money: pay or fix within 14 days of receiving the notice or the lease terminates (§ 66-28-505).
  • 7 days to terminate when the tenant repeats substantially the same violation within six months of the first notice.
  • 3 days to terminate for violence, drug activity, or conduct endangering people or property (§ 66-28-517); the non-URLTA counties mirror this in § 66-7-109.

One URLTA quirk favors landlords: the lease may waive the separate nonpayment notice, letting you file a detainer warrant immediately on default, though nothing shortens the tenant's five-day grace period from § 66-28-201 (§ 66-28-505(e)). In non-URLTA counties, 14 days' notice is likewise the standard for nonpayment (§ 66-7-109).

The suit itself is a detainer warrant in general sessions court, service by the county sheriff or constable, and a hearing typically inside a few weeks. After judgment, Tennessee gives the tenant a ten-day window to appeal before the writ of possession issues, so budget that into any timeline. Self-help is not a shortcut in either tier: lockouts and utility cutoffs invite a wrongful-eviction suit with damages and fees, and judges have no patience for them.

On habitability, URLTA obligates you to keep the premises fit, comply with codes, and maintain essential services. If an essential service fails and you're responsible, the tenant can procure it and deduct the actual reasonable cost, claim damages for the lost rental value, or move to substitute housing and owe no rent for the outage period (§ 66-28-502). There is no general repair-and-deduct for cosmetic items, and non-URLTA tenants must rely on the lease and common-law theories.

How Tennessee compares over the borders

Tennessee's 14-day nonpayment notice is patient next to its neighbors. Alabama runs a 7-day pay-or-quit, Mississippi gives 3 days, and Kentucky splits the difference at 7, with its own URLTA-by-county wrinkle that will feel familiar to anyone renting in both states. If your portfolio spans the state line, the notice forms cannot be recycled; state-correct templates are in the forms library.

Tennessee landlord FAQ

Does the 10% late-fee cap apply to my rental in a small county?

No. Section 66-28-201(d) binds only where URLTA applies, counties over 75,000 people. Elsewhere your lease controls, though an outsized fee can still be struck down as an unenforceable penalty.

How long do I have to return a security deposit?

The statute works in stages rather than one deadline: identify deductible damage within 30 days of vacancy (or 7 days after re-rental), notify the tenant, and money unclaimed 60 days after notification is yours (§ 66-28-301). Treat 30 days as the outside window for sending the itemization and refund; it satisfies every stage.

What exactly do I hand tenants under the 2025 transparency law?

A written statement, at or before move-in, naming the management agent and the owner or owner's agent for notices and service of process, plus a telephone number or email for maintenance requests (§ 66-28-302, as amended by Public Chapter 907). A signed lease exhibit is the clean way to prove delivery.

Is Tennessee a three-day eviction state now?

Only for violence, drugs, and dangerous conduct (§ 66-28-517; § 66-7-109 outside URLTA). Ordinary nonpayment still takes the 14-day notice unless your lease validly waives it, and even then the five-day grace period survives.

Which counties follow URLTA in 2026?

Counties over 75,000 in the most recent census, about 18 of them, anchored by Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga. Near the line, check the county's 2020 census figure before assuming either rulebook; Putnam crossing over is the cautionary tale.

This article is general legal information for Tennessee rental owners, not legal advice, and county tier matters enormously here. Before acting on any deadline or notice, confirm the current text of Title 66 (chapters 7 and 28) or ask a Tennessee attorney who works your county's docket.