Tennessee Rent Increase Laws for Landlords (2026)

Updated September 2026 · Written for self-managing landlords · Not legal advice

In short: Tennessee has no rent-increase law. To raise the rent you use the notice for changing a month-to-month tenancy, which is 30 days' notice, and there is no cap on the amount.

What Tennessee law requires

Tennessee has no statute about raising rent. That surprises most landlords, and it is the single most misreported fact in this area - plenty of sites will quote you a “Tennessee rent increase notice law” that does not exist.

What Tennessee does have is the notice required to end or change a month-to-month tenancy, and that is the mechanism you have to use: raising the rent is legally a change of terms. The period is 30 days' notice, in writing, under Tenn. Code § 66-28-512.

Citation: Tenn. Code § 66-28-512 · read the source (code mirror)

Why this links to a code mirror. Tennessee publishes its official code only through LexisNexis. The citation is the statute; the link is the best freely readable copy of it.

How much can you raise it in Tennessee?

There is no statutory ceiling. No cap, and no rent-increase statute. Tennessee's landlord-tenant act only applies in counties over 75,000 people; elsewhere neither the act nor its notice rule applies at all.

Only four US jurisdictions cap the size of an increase - California, Oregon, Washington and the District of Columbia. Tennessee is not one of them, so the amount is a business decision, not a legal one. The usual constraint is practical: a tenant who leaves over an increase costs you a turnover, and a turnover costs more than the increase was worth.

Local rules override this. The Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act applies only in counties with populations over 75,000. Outside those counties there is no governing statute.

Can you raise rent mid-lease in Tennessee?

Not unless the lease says so. A fixed-term lease fixes the rent for its term, whatever the statute does or does not require about notice. An increase belongs at renewal, or on a month-to-month tenancy after proper notice.

Serving the notice so it holds up

Most rent increases that fall apart fall apart on the date, not the amount: the notice went out too late, or nobody can prove when it went out. Count the days from delivery, not from the day you wrote it, and keep the proof.

LandlordPro generates the notice against the state's rule, dates it, records when it was sent, and carries the new rent onto the rent roll on the right day so the ledger and the notice agree.

Generate the notice, keep the proof

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Frequently asked questions

How much notice does a landlord have to give to raise rent in Tennessee?

30 days in writing. Tennessee has no rent-increase statute, so that is the notice required to change a month-to-month tenancy under Tenn. Code § 66-28-512.

Is there a limit on how much rent can be raised in Tennessee?

No. Tennessee sets no cap on the size of an increase. Only California, Oregon, Washington and the District of Columbia cap the amount.

Can rent be raised during a lease in Tennessee?

No, unless the lease itself provides for it. A fixed-term lease fixes the rent for the term; an increase belongs at renewal or on a month-to-month tenancy after notice.

Does a Tennessee rent increase notice have to be in writing?

Yes.

Do local rules change this in Tennessee?

The Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act applies only in counties with populations over 75,000. Outside those counties there is no governing statute.