How is renting different from home ownership?
What are my responsibilities as a tenant?
What can I do to keep my rental home a healthy home?
What if I have an unhealthy condition in my rental home?
What are my rights as a renter?
Fact sheets for tenants and tenants throughout COVID-19
What about Residential Or Commercial Property Maintenance Codes?
What is URLTA?
What are the minimum requirements for rental housing?
Can I make an official grievance?
What if I live in government assisted housing?
Does the USDA assist with renters in rural locations?
Where can I find out more about healthy housing policy?
Additional resources

* * * Our Healthy Homes staff are not physicians or lawyers. The details on our Healthy Homes Website does not provide medical or legal recommendations. This details is not a replacement for visiting your medical professional or for talking to a legal representative about your particular circumstance. * * *

3 Actions a Worried Renter Should Do:

1. Put everything in composing. Take photos and videos. Save emails, texts, letters, and voicemails. Write a calendar of occasions.

2. Do not stop paying lease. It would likely protest the lease or the law. Keep your lease receipts as proof you paid.

3. Read your lease. Whatever is written in the lease is a legal contract. Both renter and landlord have responsibilities.

It is likely unlawful for a proprietor to retaliate against a renter who submits a complaint, calls Buiding Codes, or takes legal action. Changing locks, turning off utilities, revealing up frequently, or inappropriately raising rent can be retaliation.

How is renting different from home ownership?

Renting is different from home ownership in that the occupant should count on another person to make repairs. The tenant may not have the ability to make modifications to the home without consent. A renter has both rights and responsibilities. Renting can be a great alternative for many individuals to maintain a healthy home environment, both indoors and outdoors. Whether you rent a house, home, duplex, mobile home or cabin you can keep the 7 healthy homes principles. Keep in mind that health begins in your home.

What are my responsibilities as a renter?

Renters are responsible for tidiness and security. You may lease without any formal agreement, or you might have a lease agreement. The most common type of occupant in Tennessee is a tenant who signs a lease agreement to pay rent each month throughout the year. Renters might be asked to provide a down payment. Lease arrangements are legally binding agreements. You are responsible for following the terms of your lease. Some lease agreements have addendums such as pet policies, pest control agreements or for reporting water damage. You are accountable for: paying your lease on time, paying any late fees, keeping the place clean and safe, not letting anyone else damage it, not breaking the law, disposing of your trash, and following your landlord's rules. If you break your lease, then it may end up being a legal concern.

The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance shared Tips for First-Time Renters as well as Tips on How to Spot Rental and Moving Scammers.

What can I do to keep my rental home a healthy home?

There are eight basic principles to preserving a healthy home.

1. Keep it Dry. - Damp homes provide an excellent environment for termites, roaches, rodents and molds.
2. Keep it Clean. - Clean homes help in reducing insect problems and exposure to pollutants.
3. Keep it Pest-Free. - Exposure to mice and cockroaches may increase asthma attacks. Improper pesticide treatments for pest invasions can get worse health problems, considering that pesticide residues in homes can pose health dangers.
4. Keep it Safe. - Most of children's injuries occur in the home. Falls are the most frequent cause of property injuries to kids, followed by injuries from things in the home, burns, and poisonings.
5. Keep it Contaminant-Free. - Avoid exposure to lead, radon, carbon monoxide gas, pesticides, asbestos and environmental tobacco smoke. Remember direct exposure is frequently greater indoors.
6. Keep it Ventilated. - Studies have shown increasing fresh air in a home enhances breathing health.
7. Keep it Maintained. - Poorly-maintained homes are at threat of being unhealthy.
8. Keep it Thermally Controlled. - Houses that do not keep appropriate temperature levels may position the security of citizens at increased threat from exposure to extreme heat or cold.

If you utilize these principles as a guide, you can keep a safe and healthy home. If you are having a problem preserving any of these concepts, other parts of this site will know and resources to assist you.

What if I have an unhealthy condition in my rental home?

If you have an unhealthy condition in your rental home, then it may be your duty to fix the problem or it might be your property manager's responsibility to make repairs. Read your rental lease contract. Adhere to any requirements for tidiness or security. Report any needed repair work to the landlord as they develop. Putting your issues in writing is best. This develops a record of your concerns. Repairs to your rental home should be made in a sensible quantity of time. The amount of time might be noted in your lease.

If your property owner has actually not made repairs in a sensible quantity of time, you may require to communicate more directly, such as with additional composed complaints or a face-to-face meeting. If your property manager continues to disregard your concerns, you might require to pursue legal action.

Disputes in between a landlord and a tenant are civil problems. Most landlord and occupant issues are beyond the authority of the Health Department. These concerns would be ruled on by a civil court judge analyzing the law. There are some programs that support tenants.

What are my rights as an occupant?

According to the Legal Aid Society, as a tenant you can a habitable place and to live in harmony. Your rights as an occupant might vary depending upon which county you reside in. The Legal Aid Society has a beneficial fact sheet to help you comprehend your rights as a tenant. How to contact the Legal Aid Society or the Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services is listed below.

If your rental home needs an emergency repair work to keep it healthy, such as a repair of the heat, gas, lights, water, sewage, plumbing or cooling, you ought to notify your property owner right away.

If the need for repair in not an emergency situation, then 14 days is generally considered as an affordable quantity of time for the property manager to make repair work. Hopefully, many repairs will be made much faster after a property owner is made mindful. Use your regular technique of reporting needs for repair work such as a site, phone call, text message, or workplace see. Put something into writing to document when you made the property owner conscious of the requirement for repair.

In some counties you can use a few of your rent money to make these instant repairs. If the issue was your fault, you might have to assist spend for the repairs.

You can not be forced out of your rental home. You can not be forced out without notice. The landlord can not alter the locks or shut down your energies to make you leave. Most of the time, a property manager needs to go to court before evicting you. If you did something harmful or threatening, the property manager just requires to offer you 3 (3) days to move out. If you did not pay lease or broke your lease agreement, you might be given a thirty (30) day discover to move out. If you have legal questions about housing, you need to talk to an attorney or legal services.

The Tennessee Alliance for Legal Serices has a HELP4TN site, chatbot, and telephone to assist people who require aid with their legal issues. If you do not have your own attorney, this is a great website to start.

If you qualify based upon income or support status, the Legal Aid Society may have the ability to assist. Bear in mind, Legal Aid has a client waiting list and seldom will cases occur quickly. Contact the office near you to find out more.

Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands - 1-800-238-1443
Offices in Clarksville, Columbia, Cookeville, Gallatin, Murfreesboro, Nashville, Oak Ridge, and Tullahoma

Legal Aid Society of East Tennessee - 1-865-637-0484
Offices in Knoxville, Johnson City, Chattanooga, and Cleveland

West Tennessee Legal Services - 1-800-372-8346
Offices in Jackson, Dyersburg, Huntingdon, and Selmer

Memphis Area Legal Services - 1-888-207-6386
Offices in Memphis and Covington

The Legal Aid Society created these fact sheets to help you comprehend your rights and duties as an occupant. Click the left image for counties of 75,000 or more population and the ideal image for smaller sized counties.

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

Bedford, Benton, Bledsoe, Campbell, Cannon, Carroll, Carter, Cheatham, Chester, Claiborne, Clay, Cocke, Coffee, Crockett, Cumberland, Decatur, DeKalb, Dickson, Dyer, Fayette, Fentress, Franklin, Gibson, Giles, Grainger, Greene, Grundy, Hamblen, Hancock, Hardeman, Hardin, Hawkins, Haywood, Henderson, Henry, Hickman, Houston, Humphreys, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Lake, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Lewis, Lincoln, Loudon, McMinn, McNairy, Macon, Marion, Marshall, Meigs, Monroe, Moore, Morgan, Obion, Overton, Perry, Pickett, Polk, Putnam, Rhea, Roane, Robertson, Scott, Sequatchie, Sevier, Smith, Stewart, Tipton, Trousdale, Unicoi, Union, Van Buren, Warren, Wayne, Weakley, or White

What about Residential Or Commercial Property Maintenance Codes?

Residential Or Commercial Property Maintenance Codes or Building and Safety Codes are minimum residential or commercial property maintenance requirements. Codes can apply to property or non-residential residential or commercial properties or both. Codes evaluations can occur at any time, though they are most typical with brand-new building and construction or remodelling. Building Codes assist to guarantee security within a building. It is necessary to have buildings up to code. Landlords are accountable for meeting Codes.

All urbane areas in Tennessee have their own codes departments to enforce Residential or commercial property Maintenance Codes. Many big county or city federal governments have codes departments. Though, many villages and backwoods do not have any standardized minimum residential or commercial property maintenance codes. Several codes departments across the state have actually embraced the International Residential or commercial property Maintenance Code. Codes inspectors might examine electrical, plumbing, gas, zoning, and other physical elements of a home. Contact your regional codes department for info specific to your location.

Often Building Codes will ask if a tenant has actually currently informed their proprietor about the need for repair and given the property manager affordable time to make the repair work. Afterward, Buiding Codes might perform an examination. If there is an examination, make certain to request a copy of any notes or citations. Keep in mind that Building regulations can only visit homes where the tenant has legal right to enable their see.

What is URLTA?

Tennessee Code Annotated § 66-28 is the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. URLTA only uses in counties of higher than 75,000 population since the 2010 U.S. Census. For these more inhabited counties, there are written requirements and securities to rental agreements including responsibilities for upkeep by the proprietor to comply with requirements of appropriate structure and housing codes materially affecting healthy and security, as listed in 66-28-304.( a).

What are the minimum requirements for rental housing?

The Tennessee Department of Health is accountable for promulgating rules for minimum health standards for rental housing. These rules are part of Tennessee Code Annotated § 53-5502 rearranged as § 68-111 in Chapter 1200-1-2. The rules cover basic devices and facilities, light and ventilation, temperature, and sanitation.

Can I make a formal complaint?

If a rental residential or commercial property breaches minimum health requirements it might be unfit for habitation. According to Tennessee Code Annotated § 68-111-101, tenants whose lease is $200 or less per week might file a complaint with their local building inspector or county public health department. Complaints require to be filed in composing with your county health department and a copy need to be forwarded by licensed mail to the landlord. A certifying complaint can result in a home examination. This part of the law does not apply to occupants who pay their rent regular monthly or for a term higher than monthly. For non-qualifying complaints, other building regulations or ordinances that the building inspector is authorized to impose, may apply to domestic home leased at higher rates.

What if I live in federal government assisted housing?

The federal government assists low-income households, the senior, and the handicapped to pay for good, safe, and hygienic housing in the personal market. Participants find their own housing, including single-family homes, townhouses, and homes. There is a yearly Housing Quality Standards (HQS) inspection treatment to make sure that homes are tidy and safe. Renters with assisted housing, such as Section 8, must start by talking with the office that provided their rental Housing Choice Voucher (HCV).

The Tennessee Housing Development Agency performs contract administration for Section 8 property issues in 76 counties. If the residential or commercial property owner or representative is not fulfilling their responsibilities, TDHA may intervene. For additional information, call THDA at 1-800-228-THDA (8432) during regular organization hours or check out the THDA webpage anytime. Local public housing firms (PHAs) provide services in the other counties. A few of the regional workplaces are the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency, Murfreesboro Housing Authority, Memphis Housing Authority, and Knox County Housing Authority.

Renters who get help can call their local U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development workplace. A number of HUD's programs have particular requirements for housing quality. If your housing is not up to standards, then HUD might step in to have the property manager make repair work as necessary. Tennessee's HUD office contact numbers are:

HUD Knoxville Field Office - (865) 545-4370
Jurisdiction: Anderson, Bledsoe, Blount, Bradley, Campbell, Carter, Claiborne, Cocke, Cumberland, Fentress, Grainger, Greene, Grundy, Hamblen, Hamilton, Hancock, Hawkins, Jefferson, Johnson, Knox, Loudon, McMinn, Marion, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Pickett, Polk, Roane, Rhea, Scott, Sequatchie, Sevier, Sullivan, Unicoi, Union, Washington

HUD Memphis Field Office - (901) 544-3367
Jurisdiction: Benton, Carroll, Chester, Crockett, Decatur, Dyer, Fayette, Gibson, Hardeman, Hardin, Haywood, Henderson, Henry, Lake, Lauderdale, Madison, McNairy, Obion, Shelby, Tipton, Weakley

HUD Nashville Field Office - (615) 736-5600
Jurisdiction: Bedford, Cannon, Cheatham, Clay, Coffee, Davidson, De Kalb, Dickson, Franklin, Giles, Hickman, Houston, Humphreys, Jackson, Lawrence, Lewis, Lincoln, Macon, Marshall, Maury, Montgomery, Moore, Overton, Perry, Putnam, Robertson, Rutherford, Smith, Stewart, Sumner, Trousdale, Van Buren, Warren, Wayne, White, Williamson, Wilson

Does the USDA assist with renters in backwoods?

Yes. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has a rural advancement program. USDA assists with some 360 multi-family residential or commercial properties in Tennessee. If you have a question about residing in USDA-assisted rural housing you can call your rural advancement regional workplace.

Where can I find out more about healthy housing policy?

Our Healthy Places webpage offers more information about the locations we live, work and play. Click on this link to read more about healthy housing policies.