Housing · Warranty of habitability
Warranty of Habitability in Tennessee
What a landlord in Tennessee must keep livable, and your remedy when they do not: whether you can withhold or escrow rent, or must use another route. This is the landlord duty behind the repair-and-deduct remedy. Cited to the statute.
What the warranty of habitability covers in Tennessee
What the landlord must maintain, whether you can withhold or escrow rent, and the limits on the remedy.
| What the law says | What it means |
|---|---|
| A four-item duty | Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-304 requires the landlord to comply with building and housing codes affecting health and safety, make all repairs to keep the premises fit and habitable, keep common areas clean and safe, and, in complexes of four or more units, provide and maintain trash receptacles at common collection points. That is the entire list. |
| Heat and utilities are handled as essential services | Unlike most states, Tennessee’s duty section has no item requiring the landlord to maintain the electrical, plumbing, heating, or air-conditioning facilities, and no item requiring the landlord to supply running water, hot water, or heat. Those are instead treated as essential services under the remedy section, § 66-28-502, defined as utility services including gas, heat, and electricity and any other obligation that materially affects the tenant’s health and safety. |
| The duty cannot be waived away | Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-203 bars confession-of-judgment and exculpation clauses and provides that the tenant cannot agree to waive or forgo rights or remedies under the chapter. The fit-and-habitable repair duty itself cannot simply be signed away. |
| Where it does not apply | What it means |
|---|---|
| The Act applies only in larger counties | Under Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-102 the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act applies only in counties having more than 75,000 people according to the 2010 federal census. In a smaller county there is no statutory Act at all. Where the Act does apply, it preempts the entire field, so no city may add to it. |
| Notice and a fourteen-day window first | Under Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-501 the tenant may recover damages, obtain injunctive relief, and recover attorney’s fees on giving fourteen days’ written notice. For essential services under § 66-28-502, the tenant’s rights do not arise until written notice is given and the tenant shows the condition was not caused by the tenant’s own act. |
| Repairs can shift by a written good-faith agreement | Under § 66-28-304(c) the landlord and tenant may agree in writing that the tenant perform specified repairs, maintenance, or remodeling, entered in good faith and not to evade the landlord’s obligations. There is no single-family limit, no separate signed writing, and no consideration requirement, making it a loose shifting clause. |
What you can do right now
Concrete, neutral steps when a rental in Tennessee is not being kept livable. This is legal information, not legal advice.
- Confirm the Act applies in your county
Before anything else, check whether your county had more than 75,000 people in the 2010 census. If it did not, the statutory duties in Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-304 do not apply to your rental.
- Put the problem in writing
If the Act applies, describe the defect in writing to the landlord, date it, and keep a copy. Written notice under Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-501 starts the fourteen-day clock, and it is required before the essential-services remedy in § 66-28-502.
- Document the condition
Take photos or video, keep any inspection reports, and save your messages with the landlord. This record shows the breach and the landlord’s response if you later go to court.
- Get Tennessee tenant help
Because the Act’s reach and the essential-services remedy can be tricky, the Help4TN legal-aid line and Tennessee’s legal-aid offices can confirm whether the Act covers you and explain your options before you act.
Withholding rent the wrong way can risk eviction, so a legal aid office can confirm the exact notice and escrow steps before you stop paying.
→ Help4TN (Tennessee legal aid)This is general legal information, not legal advice. The notice, the escrow account, and what counts as uninhabitable all matter, so confirm your situation against the statute before withholding rent.
What renters in Tennessee get wrong about habitability
Tennessee is the biggest structural outlier among the states that follow the uniform landlord-tenant model. Its duty section, Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-304, has only four items: code compliance, a fit and habitable unit, clean and safe common areas, and trash receptacles in complexes of four or more units. It leaves out the two things renters care about most. There is no item requiring the landlord to maintain the electrical, plumbing, heating, or air-conditioning facilities, and no item requiring the landlord to supply running water, hot water, or heat. Those protections are not gone, but they live in the remedy section as "essential services" under § 66-28-502. On top of that, the Act does not apply statewide. Under § 66-28-102 it reaches only counties with more than 75,000 people per the 2010 census, so a renter in a smaller county has no statutory Act at all, and where it applies it preempts the entire field so no city may add to it. Enforcement runs through § 66-28-501, which gives the tenant remedies on fourteen days’ written notice. Because the official site was not used, this page rests on a disclosed mirror.
Common questions
Does Tennessee’s landlord-tenant Act apply everywhere in the state?
No. Under Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-102 the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act applies only in counties with more than 75,000 people per the 2010 census. In a smaller county there is no statutory Act, so the habitability duties in § 66-28-304 do not apply. Confirm your county first.
Does a Tennessee landlord have to supply heat?
Not through the duty section. Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-304 has no water-or-heat item. Heat and utilities are treated as essential services in the remedy section, § 66-28-502, so the protection exists but is enforced through that remedy rather than a listed duty.
How much notice do I give my Tennessee landlord?
Under Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-501 you can recover damages, get injunctive relief, and recover attorney’s fees on giving fourteen days’ written notice. For an essential-services problem under § 66-28-502, your rights do not arise until you give written notice and show you did not cause the condition.
What must a Tennessee landlord maintain?
Under Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-304 the landlord must comply with health-and-safety codes, keep the premises fit and habitable, keep common areas clean and safe, and, in complexes of four or more units, provide trash receptacles. Utilities and heat are covered separately as essential services under § 66-28-502.
Not legal advicePlainStatute provides plain-language summaries of public law for general information only. This is not legal advice. Statutes change; always confirm current requirements with the official source linked above before acting.