Tennessee Lease Termination Notice Forms

Last Updated: March 11, 2024 by Roberto Valenzuela

A Tennessee lease termination notice is a document which officially announces the upcoming end of a rental tenancy. Either a landlord or tenant may give notice, in most cases at least 30 days in advance.

Types of Tennessee Lease Termination Notice Forms

Notice Form Lease Type
10 Day Notice To Vacate Weekly
30 Day Notice To Vacate Monthly / Yearly
60 Day Notice To Vacate Non-Renewal of Lease (Davidson County)

In Tennessee, depending on the county, landlords and tenants may have to follow one or both of the following sets of laws: URLTA and Non-URLTA.

Tennessee 10 Day Notice To Vacate

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A Tennessee 10 Day Notice To Vacate terminates week-to-week leases in URLTA counties, as well as tenancies without a written lease where rent gets paid weekly. The non-terminating party must receive notice at least ten (10) calendar days before the termination date.

Tennessee 30 Day Notice To Vacate

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A Tennessee 30 Day Notice To Vacate terminates a rental agreement, including expired leases and tenancies with no written lease that pay rent monthly. The non-terminating party must receive notice at least thirty (30) calendar days before the termination date.

In URLTA counties, this notice may be used to terminate month-to-month and year-to-year leases. In non-URLTA counties, this notice may terminate all type of tenancy, including a periodic (e.g. week-to-week or month-to-month) as well as fixed-term agreements.

Tennessee 60 Day Notice To Vacate

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A Tennessee 60 Day Notice To Vacate services notice of non-renewal for leases in Davidson county or the city of Nashville with a term of one (1) year or longer. The non-terminating party must receive notice at least sixty (60) calendar days before the termination date.

How To Write a Lease Termination Notice in Tennessee

To ensure the legal compliance of a lease termination notice:

  1. Use the full name of the receiving party, and address of record, if known
  2. Specify the termination date of the lease or tenancy
  3. Fill in the full address of the rental premises
  4. Provide updated/current address and phone number information
  5. Print name and sign the notice
  6. Complete the certificate of service by indicating the date and method of notice delivery, along with printed name and signature

note
It is easy to lose an otherwise justified legal action because of improper notice. Check carefully to ensure enough time after notice is delivered, not when it’s sent.

How To Calculate Expiration Date in Tennessee

The “clock” for a lease termination notice starts “ticking” the day after the notice gets delivered (served). For example, to give at least 30 days of notice and terminate a tenancy as of June 30th, delivery of the termination letter must be no later than May 31st. 

In most jurisdictions, if the last day of a notice period is a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the period continues to run until the end of the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday.

How To Serve a Lease Termination Notice in Tennessee

Tennessee landlords and tenants may deliver a lease termination notice using any of these methods:

  1. Hand delivery to the other party
  2. Delivery by mail
  3. (URLTA lease agreements only) Electronic delivery (e.g. email or through an online portal), if the receiving party has agreed in writing to this form of notice

Notice must be delivered to the other party’s last known address or address of record. Agreement to accept electronic notice cannot be a requirement for entering into a lease.

warning
Tennessee does allow limited cases where a non-written (e.g., verbal) lease termination notice may be legally valid. However, only dated, written notice with a certificate of service is proof positive of a proper and legal delivery.

URLTA and Non-URLTA Counties in Tennessee

Tennessee applies different landlord-tenant laws by county:

  • Tennessee Property Code Chapter 7 – laws that (mostly) apply in ALL counties in Tennessee.
  • Tennessee Property Code Chapter 28 – laws known as Tennessee’s Uniform Residential Landlord Tenant Act (URLTA), which only apply in Tennessee counties with a population over 75,000 (as of 2010 Census data).

Chapter 28 laws exist to give additional protections to landlords and tenants above and beyond those stated in Chapter 7.

For counties where the URLTA applies, these laws apply in addition to Chapter 7. However, some laws in Chapter 7 explicitly do not apply to URLTA counties, and some laws in Chapter 28 override the laws stated in Chapter 7. It’s important to know whether or not a property is located in a county where URLTA applies.

These are the counties where URLTA applies at time of writing:*

  • Anderson
  • Blount
  • Bradley
  • Davidson
  • Greene
  • Hamilton
  • Knox
  • Madison
  • Maury
  • Montgomery
  • Rutherford
  • Sevier
  • Shelby
  • Sullivan
  • Sumner
  • Washington
  • Williamson
  • Wilson

* This list is subject to change in the future based on federal census data collected every ten years.

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