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)
Senior Facility Evictions for Renovation/Demolition |
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
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
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
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.
This form of notice, in URLTA counties, also terminates a lease in a senior living facility (for people 55 and older) that receives federal funding, when the facility is scheduled to be demolished or completely renovated.
How To Write a Lease Termination Notice in Tennessee
To ensure the legal compliance of a lease termination notice:
- Use the full name of the receiving party, and address of record, if known
- Specify the termination date of the lease or tenancy
- Fill in the full address of the rental premises
- Provide updated/current address and phone number information
- Print name and sign the notice
- Complete the certificate of service by indicating the date and method of notice delivery, along with printed name and signature
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:
- Hand delivery to the other party
- Delivery by mail
- (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.
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.
Sources
- 1 Nashville Municipal Code Chapter 11.22 - Residential Landlord Tenant Regulations, Section 11.22.030
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Required notice for termination of non-renewal of a lease.A. In the absence of a written rental agreement that requires sixty days or more written notice of intent not to renew a lease, a landlord must provide to a tenant written notice of at least sixty days prior to the end of the lease of any intention not to renew the lease.Source Link
B. This section shall apply only to leases for a term of one year or greater.
- 2 TN Code § 66-28-512(a)
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The landlord or the tenant may terminate a week-to-week tenancy by a written notice given to the other at least ten (10) days prior to the termination date specified in the notice.
Source Link - 3 TN Code § 66-28-512(b)
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The landlord or the tenant may terminate a month-to-month tenancy by a written notice given to the other at least thirty (30) days prior to the periodic rental date specified in the notice.
Source Link - 4 TN Code § 66-7-109
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A thirty (30) day termination notice from the date such notice is given by the landlord shall be required for the purpose of eviction of a residential tenant.
Source Link - 5 Tenn. Code § 66-28-106
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(a) Either party has notice of a fact if such person:
(1) Has actual knowledge of it; or (2) Has been given written notice. (b) All parties must give written notice to the last known or designated address contained in the lease agreement. - 6 Tenn. Code § 66-28-108
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If the tenant provides an electronic mail address in the rental agreement, any notification required to be sent to the tenant pursuant to this chapter may be made by the landlord through electronic notification to such mail address, unless a provision in this chapter requires a specific form of notification other than electronic notification; provided, however, that the landlord shall not require the tenant to provide an electronic mail address as a condition of entering into a rental agreement.
- 7 TN Code § 66-28-102
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Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act: This chapter applies only in counties having a population of more than seventy-five thousand (75,000), according to the 2010 federal census or any subsequent federal census.
Source Link - 8 TN Code § 66-7-109
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Nothing in this section, Chapter 7, shall apply to rental property located in any county governed by the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant.
Source Link - 9 Tennessee Legal Services - Help for Renters
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What is the Uniform Residential Landlord-Tenant Act (URLTA)?
URLTA, sometimes called the Landlord-Tenant Act, is a law that places additional responsibilities on landlords in urban counties. These Responsibilities include providing safe and healthy rentals to their tenants.
Source LinkWhich counties does URLTA apply to?
URLTA applies to counties in Tennessee that have a population of more than 75,000 residents. Currently, the only counties covered by URLTA are Anderson, Blount, Bradley, Davidson, Hamilton, Knox, Madison, Maury, Montgomery, Rutherford, Sevier, Shelby, Sullivan, Sumner, Washington, Williamson, and Wilson.
- 10 Tenn. Code § 66-28-5
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(a) As used in this section:
(1) “Facility” means a facility that:
(A) Provides housing for older persons, as defined in 42 U.S.C. §3607(b)(2)(C); and
(B) Receives federal financial assistance that subjects it to Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. § 794);
(2) “New property development” means:
(i) Razing a facility to use the real property on which the facility is located for purposes other than to provide housing for older persons, as defined in 42 U.S.C. § 3607(b)(2)(C); or
(ii) Renovating a facility in a manner that requires the tenants of the facility to vacate the facility in order to turn the facility into residential housing offered at a market rate; and
(3) “Residential tenant” means a residential tenant who has a lease or other agreement to live in a facility and who is fifty-five (55) years of age or older.
(b) A landlord shall provide sixty (60) days’ notice of termination of tenancy for the purpose of eviction of a residential tenant of a facility if:
(1) The tenant has paid the tenant’s rent due and is not in arrears on rent payments; and
(2) The termination and eviction are to allow for new property development.
(c) This section does not abrogate a landlord’s right to terminate a tenancy for a violation of another law or of the lease or tenancy agreement.
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