Tennessee Lease Violations: 14-Day, 7-Day and 30-Day Paths
Tennessee does not use one universal lease-violation notice. County, the type of breach, whether the violation is material or remediable, and whether substantially similar conduct occurred before can change the correct path.
- URLTA counties generally use a 14-day material-breach framework, with a 7-day path for a qualifying substantially similar recurrence within six months.
- Outside URLTA, damage beyond normal wear can use the 14-day statute while other residential lease defaults generally use 30 days.
- The non-URLTA 14-day repeat rule is not a universal repeat-default rule; in the lease-violation workflow it is limited to qualifying repeat damage.
Built around the requirements of Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 66-28-505 and 66-7-109.
456 Broadway
Nashville, TN 37203
landlord@example.com
TENNESSEE LEASE-VIOLATION NOTICE
Depending on the facts, the workflow may select: The workflow selects the supported 14-day, 7-day, or 30-day path
State: TN
Law reference: Tenn. Code Ann. §66-28-505 / §66-7-109
123 Main Street, Apt 2B
Nashville, TN 37201
Specific acts or omissions: The generated notice uses the lease provision or tenant obligation and the objective facts supplied by the landlord. It does not invent allegations.
Tennessee notice path
The notice period depends on county and violation type. The tool separates URLTA material/repeat breaches from non-URLTA damage, repeat-damage, and other-default paths.
Why does Tennessee have more than one lease-violation path?
URLTA §66-28-505 applies only in URLTA counties and distinguishes material noncompliance, remediable and nonremediable breaches, and substantially similar repeat conduct. Outside URLTA counties, §66-7-109 separately treats damage beyond normal wear and other residential lease defaults.
What happens in a URLTA county?
For a material breach, the workflow uses the 14-day statutory framework and asks whether the breach is remediable. A substantially similar recurrence within six months after the prior written notice can support the shorter 7-day repeat path. Minor or uncertain conduct stops for materiality review rather than being forced into a termination notice.
What happens outside URLTA counties?
Damage beyond normal wear can fall within §66-7-109(a)'s 14-day path. Other residential lease defaults generally use the 30-day rule in subsection (b). The special 14-day repeat rule in subsection (a)(2) follows prior notice for the covered nonpayment or damage grounds, so the tool does not apply it to every repeated lease default.
Which cases stop instead of generating an ordinary notice?
Possible assistance-animal accommodations, discrimination or retaliation issues, active litigation, subsidized or special housing, dangerous or criminal allegations, disputed occupant status, and other fact-sensitive protected matters stop for review rather than receiving an automatic ordinary lease-violation notice.
Common mistakes to avoid
Tennessee legal authority
- Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-102
- Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-505
- Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-517
- Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-7-109
Legal information reviewed September 21, 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Does every Tennessee lease violation get 14 days?
No. URLTA material breaches commonly use a 14-day framework, qualifying URLTA repeat breaches can use seven days, non-URLTA damage can use 14 days, and other non-URLTA residential lease defaults generally use 30 days.
Does a repeat lease violation outside URLTA automatically get 14 days?
No. Section 66-7-109(a)(2)'s repeat rule follows the covered prior nonpayment or damage grounds. The lease-violation tool therefore limits the repeat 14-day branch to qualifying repeat damage and keeps other defaults on the ordinary 30-day path.
What if the violation involves violence, drugs, a disputed occupant, or disability accommodation?
Those situations can trigger different statutes or protected-rights analysis. The ordinary Tennessee violation tool stops rather than pretending the standard notice path automatically applies.
Need to determine the right Tennessee lease-violation step?
Use the guided LandlordAnswers workflow. It applies the state-specific rules, asks only the facts that affect the path, and offers a document when the verified rules support one.
Start Tennessee Violation Tool