Which law applies in Memphis
Memphis rentals are governed by the Tennessee Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, known as URLTA (Tennessee Code Title 66, Chapter 28). URLTA applies in every Tennessee county with more than 75,000 people, so all of Shelby County is covered. If you own a Memphis rental, URLTA is your operating law, full stop.
That matters because a lot of "Tennessee landlord" advice online describes the older common-law rules that only apply in small rural counties. In Memphis, the URLTA rules below are the ones that bind you.
Security deposits
Tennessee sets no cap on the deposit amount, but it is strict about how you hold it. The deposit must sit in a separate account used only for deposits, at a regulated financial institution, and you must tell the tenant where that account is held (you do not have to share the account number). Holding deposits in your operating account is the single most common and most costly mistake: a landlord who breaks the separate-account rule can lose the right to keep any of the deposit.
At move-out the tenant has the right to inspect, and you must provide a written, itemized list of damages with estimated repair costs. You can only charge for damages you identify within 30 days of the tenant leaving. If the tenant does not respond to your deposit-disposition notice within 60 days, you may keep the unclaimed funds. (Tennessee Code 66-28-301.)
Rent, late fees, and the grace period
Tennessee caps late fees at 10% of the past-due rent, and you cannot charge one until a 5-day grace period has passed (the due date counts as day one). If the fifth day lands on a Sunday or a legal holiday, no fee applies if the tenant pays the next business day. The late-fee terms have to be written into the lease to be enforceable. (Tennessee Code 66-28-201.)
A late fee above 10%, or one charged before the grace period ends, is not enforceable. Check your lease template against this rule, because many generic templates get it wrong.
Ending a tenancy, and the eviction timeline
For a month-to-month tenancy, either side ends it with 30 days’ written notice before the next rental date (Tennessee Code 66-28-512). For cause, the timelines are shorter and specific: nonpayment of rent is a 14-day notice to pay or move; a curable lease violation gives the tenant 14 days to fix it before the lease terminates; and a repeat of the same violation within six months can be ended on 7 days’ notice with no chance to cure (Tennessee Code 66-28-505). Note the cure period is 14 days, not the 30 days many templates wrongly cite.
If the tenant does not comply, you file a detainer warrant in Shelby County General Sessions Court, the case is heard, and a losing party generally has about 10 days to appeal to Circuit Court (with a bond). A 2025 Tennessee law (SB 0292) created a faster removal process, but it applies to commercial property only, not residential, so do not assume your residential eviction got quicker.
Entering the property: the 24-hour myth
Here is one almost everyone gets wrong. Tennessee’s URLTA does not impose a general advance-notice requirement before a landlord enters. The tenant simply cannot unreasonably withhold consent for inspections, repairs, and showings, and you may enter without notice in a genuine emergency. The only express 24-hour notice rule is for showing the unit to prospective tenants during the final 30 days of the tenancy, and only if your lease reserves that right (Tennessee Code 66-28-403).
Best practice is still to put a clear entry-notice clause in your lease and to give reasonable notice anyway, because it keeps good residents and avoids disputes. But the blanket "24 hours always" rule people repeat is not what the statute says.
What you must disclose, including the new 2025 rule
You must disclose, in writing, the name and address of the owner and any authorized managing agent, and the location of the security-deposit account. For any home built before 1978, federal law requires you to disclose known lead-based paint hazards and give the tenant the EPA "Protect Your Family from Lead in Your Home" pamphlet.
New as of 2025: a Tennessee landlord-transparency law requires, on new leases, renewals, and amendments, that you give tenants written owner contact information (name, phone, and direct email), the managing agent’s contact if there is one, a 24-hour after-hours emergency phone number, and a dedicated way to submit maintenance requests. Many Memphis owners have not updated their leases for this yet. It is the freshest compliance gap, and exactly the kind of thing a professional manager handles for you.
Fair housing, applied evenly
Federal fair-housing law protects seven classes: race, color, national origin, religion, sex (which HUD currently enforces to include sexual orientation and gender identity), familial status, and disability. The Tennessee Human Rights Act mirrors those classes. The practical rule is simple and it is where most liability comes from: apply the same written screening criteria to every applicant, every time. Inconsistent screening is the classic fair-housing claim.
Tennessee does not add a statewide source-of-income protection, so state and federal law do not require you to accept housing vouchers. Memphis passed a local ordinance on source-of-income discrimination, but a 2019 state law preempting cities has left its enforceability unsettled, so do not assume you either must or cannot consider vouchers without current local legal advice.
Short-term rentals follow different rules
Everything above is about standard residential leases. If you are renting for fewer than 30 days at a time (the Airbnb and VRBO model), Memphis treats that as a short-term rental with its own permit requirements under Ordinance 5631, including insurance, a local responsible party, and code inspection. We cover that separately in the Memphis STR permit guide.
This page is general information for Tennessee residential landlords, not legal advice, and we are not attorneys. Laws change and facts vary. Before you act on a deposit dispute, an eviction, or a lease term, confirm it with a licensed Tennessee attorney.