No matter what kind of business you own, it is always best practice to stay on top of how that business is regulated both by federal and state laws. It’s no different for rental businesses. If you are a landlord in Tennessee, there are several rental laws in your state that affect the ways in which you can run your business.
This article will cover some of the most important Tennessee landlord tenant laws that you should know.
Tenant Screening
Like every US state, Tennessee falls under the jurisdiction of the federal Fair Housing Act, which prohibits any form of housing discrimination by landlords or real estate agents based on race, color, religion, gender, national origin, familial status, and disability. This law is especially important to consider during the tenant screening process.
During the tenant screening process, landlords in Tennessee are allowed to run criminal background checks and consider the results when picking applicants.
When you are running Tennessee background checks, it is best to follow the recommendations of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which advises landlords not to use the existence of a criminal record as a determining factor. Instead, you should consider every applicant carefully on an individual basis, looking particularly at whether a tenant poses a threat to safety or indicates a serious inability to uphold the terms of a lease agreement.
Rent and Fees
There is no enforced rent control in Tennessee, meaning that there is no limit placed on how much you can charge your tenants for rent. However, it is against the law to raise a particular tenant’s rent as a retaliation tactic if they use legal remedies or file a complaint against you.
Late fees are regulated by state law, however. The most that you can charge a tenant for a fee related to a late or missing rent payment is 10% of their rent cost. For example, if the tenant’s rent price matches the statewide average in Tennessee—$1,860—the most that you would be able to charge that tenant for rent is $186.
If a tenant has not submitted a payment after the rent collection date has passed, you are required to give your tenants at least a five-day grace period during which they can submit the payment without any penalty. You can only start charging late fees after this period has passed.
Evictions
If late or missing rent payments become a persistent problem, you are required to issue a rent demand notice that gives the tenant at least fourteen days to pay their rent. Eviction laws in Tennessee state that if a tenant submits their payment during this fourteen-day period, you cannot file for eviction on those grounds.
Take note that this fourteen-day period is different than a grace period. You are still able to charge late fees during this window. The five-day grace period and the fourteen-day period should not overlap, meaning that the two-week period should not begin until after the five-day grace period has ended. This means that, at minimum, a tenant should have at least nineteen days after the rent collection date to submit a payment without the threat of eviction.
The guidelines for other lease violation consequences outside of missing rent payments also require a fourteen-day period during which the tenant can resolve the issue. If the tenant remedies the violation within that window, eviction cannot be filed on those grounds.
An unconditional notice to quit, which usually results from criminal activity on the property, requires that you give a tenant a minimum of three days to vacate the property.
Conclusion
You want to do everything you can to ensure the sustainability and success of your business and knowing about how the laws in your state regulate your business practices is a great place to start. Staying on top of all the laws in your state can be hard work, but it’s undoubtedly very necessary to ensure that you are a responsible and compliant business owner.
