Tennessee rules for property managers

Tennessee's broker definition covers anyone who, for compensation, negotiates leases or rentals or collects rent for others, so third-party property management requires a license. Vacation lodging services have their own registration and escrow rules. Since 2026, licensed brokers and affiliate brokers may perform vacation lodging services without the separate vacation lodging license if supervised by their principal broker (Pub. Ch. 1095).

Owners for their own property; recorded attorneys-in-fact; attorneys; court-appointed fiduciaries; corporations acting through officers for their own property; resident managers or broker employees at an apartment building, duplex or complex whose duties are limited to supervising, showing units, leasing and collecting deposits and rent, and who do not negotiate rent, deposits or leases.

Brokers must keep an escrow or trustee account for funds held in a real estate transaction and keep records of each deposit and withdrawal for at least 3 years. Commission rules set further escrow requirements.

The URLTA does not cap deposits.

Offer the move-out inspection the statute describes and give an itemized damage list with estimated costs. If the tenant owes nothing, mail notice of the refund to the last known address; if the tenant does not respond within 60 days, you may keep the deposit. A landlord who skips the dedicated account or the damage listing cannot keep any of the deposit.

Tell tenants at lease signing where the deposit account is held (the account number is not required).

Count the due date as day one. If day five falls on a Sunday or legal holiday, no fee may be charged if rent is paid the next business day.

No Tennessee statute caps rental application fees.

For month-to-month tenants, use at least the 30-day notice needed to end the tenancy before the next rental date.

Cities and counties may not enact or enforce rent control on private residential or commercial property, or force landlords to set aside below-market units. Since July 1, 2024, voluntary municipal attainable housing incentive programs are expressly allowed (Pub. Ch. 1051).

If the written lease waives notice for nonpayment in bold 12-point type or larger, you may file a detainer warrant as soon as rent is late. Outside URLTA counties, a separate statute allows 14 days' notice for nonpayment.

For breaches that cannot be fixed, the notice can end the lease in 14 days. A repeat of the same breach within 6 months allows a 7-day notice. Violent acts or conduct that endangers others allow termination 3 days after the tenant receives written notice detailing the violation.

Either side may end the tenancy with written notice. In non-URLTA counties, other lease violations generally need 30 days' notice.

After notice, file a detainer warrant in general sessions court. Since July 1, 2024, de novo appeals follow the general appeal statutes rather than certiorari, and a tenant appealing under § 29-18-130(b)(2) must post a bond or cash or letter of credit equal to one year's rent (Pub. Ch. 755). The 10-day appeal period comes from the code text, which we could not open directly.

Absence of 30 days or more without rent is evidence of abandonment. If rent is 15 days late and there are signs like removed belongings or shut-off utilities, post and mail a notice giving the tenant 10 days to contact you. Sale proceeds can cover rent, damages, storage, sale costs and attorney fees; hold any surplus for six months.

Tenants may not unreasonably refuse entry for inspections, repairs or showings to buyers or contractors. Emergency entry needs no consent. Showing to prospective tenants in the final 30 days needs a lease clause and 24 hours' notice.

Keep common areas clean and safe, and provide trash receptacles in buildings with four or more units. A tenant may agree in writing to do specific repairs, but it cannot be a condition of the lease.

For rental agreements entered into, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2025, disclose in writing at or before move-in the agent authorized to manage the unit (which can be a management company), an owner or agent who accepts legal notices, and a phone number, email address, or online portal for maintenance (verified in Pub. Ch. 907). The deposit account location and renters insurance notice come from other sections not verified here. Federal lead paint disclosure applies to pre-1978 housing.

Tennessee rewrote its Human Rights Act in 2025; the housing section now lists these classes. Owner-occupied buildings with two units or fewer and renting a single room in the owner's home are exempt, as are some religious organizations. There is no statewide source of income protection.

Redefines 'reliable documentation' for service and support animal requests and excludes certificates sold by websites whose main business is selling animal registrations.

Changes appeal procedure for detainer cases and requires a tenant appealing under § 29-18-130(b)(2) to post security equal to one year's rent. A period in § 29-18-118 drops from 15 to 7 days.

A property owner can ask the sheriff to remove people unlawfully occupying a residence who are not current or former tenants or immediate family, using a verified complaint form.

Voluntary municipal attainable housing incentive programs are not preempted by the ban on mandatory below-market units.

For agreements entered, amended, or renewed on or after this date, landlords must disclose the managing agent, an owner or agent for legal notices, and a phone, email, or portal for maintenance requests.

Replaces the Tennessee Human Rights Act's housing provisions. Housing discrimination is barred based on race, color, creed, religion, sex, disability, familial status, or national origin.

Private parties serving or executing eviction papers may not livestream video of it without the person's written consent. Victims can sue for at least $25,000 per intentional violation.

For agreements entered, amended, extended, or renewed on or after this date, landlords may not ban lawful firearm possession in the unit or the tenant's vehicle in tenant parking, but may require firearms be concealed or cased in common areas.

• NARPM Nashville Chapter

• Tennessee Attorney General, Civil Rights Enforcement Division
• Tennessee Fair Housing Council
• West Tennessee Legal Services