Tennessee rent increase law

The selected sections reviewed here do not establish a separate notice period for increasing rent. T.C.A. 66-28-512 sets notice for ending periodic tenancies where the Act applies; its 30-day month-to-month rule should not be presented as a standalone rent-increase rule. Check the rental agreement and any applicable housing-program requirements before changing rent.

Tennessee Legislature Code access: T.C.A. 66-28-512

• For notices required by the Act, 66-28-106 requires written notice to the last known or lease-designated address and recognizes actual knowledge. Under 66-28-108, if the tenant supplies an email address in the rental agreement, the landlord may email required notifications unless the Act specifies another form; the landlord cannot require an email address as a condition of renting. These sections do not state an automatic three-day mailing extension. Tennessee Legislature Code access: T.C.A. 66-28-106, 66-28-108
• The full chapter, rules for rentals outside the Act, independent electronic-transactions requirements and housing-program notices were not reviewed for this selected update. This page therefore states no universal rent-increase notice count. Tennessee Legislature Code access: T.C.A. 66-28-102, 66-28-512

T.C.A. 66-35-102 prohibits local governmental units from enacting, maintaining or enforcing ordinances or resolutions that control rent for private residential or commercial property. Its definition of local governmental unit includes counties and incorporated municipalities. This separate prohibition is not limited to the counties covered by the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act.

Tennessee Legislature Code access: T.C.A. 66-35-101, 66-35-102(a)

• The statute also restricts mandatory below-market unit allocations and specified zoning or land-use conditions. It preserves purely voluntary incentive programs within its conditions and voluntary attainable-housing incentive programs under 13-3-601 or 13-4-401. Those incorporated program sections and individual agreements were not independently reviewed; the rent-control prohibition does not resolve every subsidized or voluntary housing arrangement. Tennessee Legislature Code access: T.C.A. 66-35-102(b)(1), (2)

Where the Act applies, a landlord may not retaliate by increasing rent, decreasing services, or bringing or threatening a possession action because the tenant complained to the landlord about a violation under 66-28-301 or exercised a right or remedy under the Act. Section 66-28-514 states no fixed retaliation-presumption period.

Tennessee Legislature Code access: T.C.A. 66-28-514(a)

• The section permits a possession action despite its retaliation rule when the tenant, household or someone present with the tenant's consent caused the complained-of code violation through lack of reasonable care; the tenant is in rent default; or code compliance requires work that deprives the tenant of use of the unit. Such an action does not release liability under 66-28-501(b), whose full remedy text was not reviewed here. Tennessee Legislature Code access: T.C.A. 66-28-514(b)
• The Rentari lease separately promises broader protections, including agency complaints and tenant organization activity. Those lease terms should not be treated as a quotation of 66-28-514. Other statutory protections, incorporated 66-28-301 and case law were not independently reviewed in this update. Tennessee Legislature Code access: T.C.A. 66-28-514