Nashville landlord-tenant laws come almost entirely from the state: Tennessee’s Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act governs leases, deposits, notices and repairs in Davidson County, and state law bars Metro Nashville from adopting rent control. The local layer is thinner but real, led by a landlord registration requirement that applies only in Davidson County and by Metro’s limits on short-term rentals.
For apartment owners, that means the rulebook is relatively predictable, but the details are specific and the penalties for getting them wrong can be steep, from forfeiting a security deposit to paying a tenant’s attorney fees. This guide walks through the rules in the order an owner meets them over the life of a lease, citing the statutes and Metro offices that apply, and closes with a practical checklist.
Who writes Nashville landlord-tenant laws
Nashville is governed by the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, a consolidated city-county government that took effect on April 1, 1963, after voters approved it in 1962. Metro describes it as the fourth city-county consolidation in the United States. For a landlord, consolidation simplifies things: the same Metro Codes department, courts and sheriff serve the whole county, from downtown and The Nations to Antioch and Madison.
The substantive rules come from the Tennessee Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (URLTA), Title 66, Chapter 28 of the Tennessee Code. Unusually, the act does not apply statewide. Section 66-28-102 limits it to counties with a population of more than 75,000 according to the 2010 federal census. Davidson County is far above that line, so every apartment lease in Nashville falls under the act. An owner who also holds property in a small rural county should not assume the same rules apply there.
The act is not static. The General Assembly revisits it regularly: the late-fee section was last amended in 2013, the three-day termination section in 2020, and the disclosure section in 2024, when a separate squatter-removal law was also added to the eviction statutes. Leases and office procedures written several years ago may not reflect the current text, so it is worth reviewing them against the code whenever a new legislative session ends.
No rent control and no mandated below-market units
Tennessee’s ban on local rent control, Section 66-35-102, prohibits any local government from enacting, maintaining or enforcing rent control on private residential or commercial property. Metro Nashville therefore cannot cap rents or limit annual increases, and rents are set by the lease and the market.
The same section goes further than many states’ preemption laws. It bars local rules that require private rental units to be rented or sold below market rate, and it bars making a rezoning or building permit contingent on providing such units. Voluntary incentive programs are still allowed, and a person harmed by a violation can sue for actual damages. In practice, this means affordable housing in Nashville is created through incentives and subsidies rather than mandates attached to an owner’s building.
The absence of rent control does not mean an absence of limits. Rent increases still have to follow the lease: changes during a fixed term depend on what the lease itself allows, and a month-to-month tenancy has to be ended or changed with proper notice, covered below. Retaliation rules also restrict when an increase can be used.
Security deposits: the account, the lists and the deadlines
Tennessee’s security deposit rules under Section 66-28-301 are procedural rather than numerical. The statute does not cap deposit amounts, but it is exacting about how deposits are held and documented:
- A separate account. All deposits must be kept in an account used only for that purpose at a regulated bank or lending institution.
- Disclosure at signing. When the tenant signs and pays, the landlord must disclose where the account is held. The account number is not required.
- Move-in inspection on request. A tenant can ask for a joint inspection, and both sides sign a list of existing damage with estimated repair costs.
- Move-out inspection. The landlord may inspect within four calendar days after the tenant vacates, after telling the tenant they may attend.
- A deadline for finding damage. Physical damage can be charged only if it is discovered by the earlier of 30 days after the tenant leaves or seven days after a new tenant moves in.
The consequences are what make these steps matter. A landlord who does not keep the separate account or does not provide the damage list cannot keep any part of the deposit. Many owners assume Tennessee sets a fixed number of days to return a deposit; the statute does not. It does address unclaimed refunds: if a departing tenant owes no rent and is due money back, the landlord sends notice to the last known address, and if the tenant does not respond within 60 days, the landlord may keep the funds.
Because the burden falls on documentation, well-run Nashville buildings treat each turnover as a small file: the signed move-in list, dated photos, the move-out inspection notice, the inspection results within the four-day window, and repair invoices. If a deposit dispute reaches General Sessions Court, that file is the owner’s main evidence. For owners buying a building, confirming that the seller’s deposits are actually held in a separate account, and transferred properly at closing, belongs on the due diligence list.
Rent, grace periods and late fees
Section 66-28-201(d) sets the late-fee rules, last amended in 2013. No late fee can be charged until a five-day grace period has passed, and the due date counts as day one. If the fifth day falls on a Sunday or legal holiday, a payment on the next business day is on time. Whatever the lease calls it, a late fee cannot exceed 10% of the past-due rent.
For a unit renting at $1,500 a month, that means rent due on the 1st is not late until after the 5th, and the maximum fee is $150. Leases that set a flat $200 fee, or a daily fee that adds up past 10%, invite disputes. Owners who use national lease templates or management software should check that the grace period and fee settings match Tennessee’s rules.
Notices to end a tenancy
Tennessee uses different notice periods for different situations, and using the wrong one is a common reason eviction cases stall:
- 14 days for nonpayment or a fixable breach. Under Section 66-28-505, the landlord gives written notice, and the lease ends if the tenant does not cure within 14 days.
- 7 days for a repeat. If substantially the same breach recurs within six months, seven days’ notice is enough.
- 3 days for dangerous conduct. Section 66-28-517 allows termination three days after written notice when a tenant or guest commits a willful violent act, poses a real and present danger to others’ health, safety or property, creates a hazardous or unsanitary condition, or is an unauthorized occupant who refuses to leave. The notice must describe the violation specifically.
- 30 days for month-to-month. Under Section 66-28-512, either side can end a month-to-month tenancy with written notice at least 30 days before the rent date named in the notice. Week-to-week tenancies need ten days.
Leases can waive the 14-day notice, but only if the waiver is printed in at least 12-point bold type, and even then the waiver does not shorten the five-day grace period for rent. A tenant who willfully holds over after a proper termination can be liable for actual damages plus attorney fees, which gives month-to-month notices real weight.
Entry, repairs and retaliation
The URLTA balances access and privacy without setting a general notice period. Under Section 66-28-403, a tenant may not unreasonably refuse entry for inspections, repairs or showings, and the landlord may enter without consent in an emergency. The landlord may not abuse the right of access or use it to harass. One specific rule applies near the end of a lease: in the final 30 days, the landlord may show the unit to prospective tenants only if the lease allows it and with at least 24 hours’ notice. Because the statute is silent on routine notice, a clear lease clause is the best protection for both sides.
Section 66-28-304 lists the landlord’s maintenance duties: follow building and housing codes that materially affect health and safety, make repairs needed to keep units fit to live in, and keep common areas clean and safe. In buildings with four or more units, the landlord must also provide trash receptacles at common collection points. When conditions fall short, tenants can file housing complaints with the Metro Codes Property Standards Division through hubNashville or by calling 311.
Two protections limit how owners can respond to disputes. Section 66-28-514 prohibits raising rent, cutting services, or filing or threatening an eviction because a tenant complained about a code violation or used a remedy under the act, with exceptions when the tenant caused the problem, is behind on rent, or required repairs would effectively displace them. Section 66-28-504 prohibits self-help: if a landlord unlawfully locks a tenant out or willfully cuts essential services, the tenant can recover possession or end the lease and collect actual damages, punitive damages where appropriate, and attorney fees.
Disclosures and Metro’s landlord registration
Section 66-28-302, amended in 2024, requires landlords to give tenants in writing, at or before move-in, the name and address of the manager, the name and address of an owner or agent authorized to accept legal papers, and a phone number, email address or online portal for maintenance requests. The information has to be kept current, so a change of management company or a sale should trigger updated notices.
Nashville also has a landlord registry, which surprises some out-of-town owners. Section 66-28-107 applies only in a county with a metropolitan government and more than 500,000 people, which means Davidson County. It requires landlords to register with the local codes agency, listing the landlord’s or agent’s name, phone number and physical address (no P.O. box) and every rental unit address. The details, according to Metro Codes landlord registration:
- One $10 annual fee covers all of an owner’s units.
- Registration can be done through Metro’s ePermits system or by mail.
- Changes in ownership must be reported within 30 days.
- The penalty for failing to register is $50 per week per unit.
The fee is trivial, but the penalty is not: an unregistered 20-unit building could accrue $1,000 a week. A 2025 bill that would have changed the law, HB 648, died in committee, so the Davidson-only requirement stands.
How evictions move through Davidson County courts
Once a proper notice has expired, an eviction in Nashville is a court process. The landlord files a detainer warrant in Davidson County General Sessions Court, and the timeline is set by statute:
- The trial date must be at least six days after the tenant is served, under Section 29-18-117.
- A writ of possession cannot issue until ten days after judgment, under Section 29-18-126.
- Either side can appeal to Circuit Court within ten days for a new trial there, under Section 27-5-108.
The Davidson County Sheriff’s Office serves detainer warrants and executes writs. According to the Davidson County Sheriff’s civil warrants information, a detainer warrant expires 30 days after issue, a writ must be executed within 30 days, and the landlord must be present when it is. Adding the notice period, service, trial and the ten-day wait, a straightforward nonpayment case takes several weeks at minimum, longer if the tenant appeals.
A separate, faster path exists for squatters. A 2024 law, codified at Section 29-18-135, lets a property owner file a sworn complaint with the sheriff to remove unauthorized occupants of a residence, and the sheriff serves an immediate notice to vacate. It does not apply to current or former tenants, immediate family, or anyone in pending litigation with the owner over the property, and a person wrongfully removed can recover three times the fair market rent plus attorney fees. Owners should treat it as a tool for vacant units, not a shortcut around eviction.
Short-term rental limits in Nashville
Owners sometimes consider furnishing a few units for short stays. Metro Nashville’s rules make that a zoning question first. According to Metro Nashville’s short-term rental permit types, Metro Codes no longer issues new non-owner-occupied short-term rental permits in the AR2a, R, RS and RM residential zones. Existing permits there can be renewed but do not transfer when the property sells. New non-owner-occupied permits are available, with conditions, in listed mixed-use, office, commercial and downtown districts such as MUN, MUL, MUG, MUI, CS and the downtown DTC zones. Owner-occupied permits require the owner to be an individual, not an LLC or trust, who lives on site.
Two implications follow for apartment owners. A building in an RM multifamily zone cannot add new non-owner-occupied short-term rentals, and a buyer of a building with existing permits should not count on them surviving the sale.
A compliance checklist for Nashville apartment owners
Most problems under Tennessee law are procedural, which means they are preventable. A practical checklist for owners and managers in Davidson County:
- Register with Metro Codes and update the registration within 30 days of any ownership change.
- Hold deposits in a dedicated account, disclose the institution at signing, and keep signed move-in and move-out damage lists.
- Set late fees after a five-day grace period and at no more than 10% of the past-due rent.
- Use the correct notice for the situation, 14, 7, 3 or 30 days, and keep proof of delivery.
- Deliver written manager, agent and maintenance-contact disclosures at move-in and after any change.
- Never change locks or cut utilities to force a move-out; use the detainer process.
- Check zoning before marketing any unit for short stays.
Compliance also affects value. A buyer’s due diligence typically reviews leases, deposit accounting and registration status, and gaps become negotiating points. Clean records make a building easier to finance and easier to transfer. To see how Tennessee’s approach compares with states that do allow local rent regulation, see our guide to rent control and property tax rules by state. Other Tennessee cities are covered on our Tennessee markets page, and Davidson County specifics live on our Nashville market page.
