Landlord and Tenant Information
The Tennessee landlord and tenant law has traditionally only applied to counties with a population over 68,000 except Williamson, Rutherford, Sullivan and Washington. These four counties were carved out by the General Assembly when the Uniform Landlord and Tenant act was originally passed. This exemption was overturned in a 2007 court case that stemmed from a situation in Sullivan County.
The State Attorney General has now opined that the exemption of these four counties was unconstitutional. Click here to read the AG’s Opinion. In response to the court case and the AG’s opinion the General Assembly passed SB 2885 this year.
The counties to which the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act now apply are Maury, Sevier, Anderson, Bradley, Wilson, Madison, Blount, Washington, Williamson, Sumner, Montgomery, Sullivan, Rutherford, Hamilton, Knox, Davidson, and Shelby. Based on SB 2885, Williamson, Rutherford, Sullivan and Washington officially go under the law on October 1, 2008.
If you would like to see the entire Tennessee Uniform Landlord and Tenant Act (prior to SB 2885) click here. If you would like to read a TAR Hotline response to the question of how to handle creating an escrow account under the landlord and tenant act click here.
Further questions about the Uniform Landlord and Tenant Act? Call the TAR Hotline at 615-244-3344 or 800-899-5297