Tennessee Security Deposit Law: Return Deadline, Limits, and How to Get It Back

In Tennessee, residential security deposits are governed by the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-301. Three things matter most. Tennessee sets no dollar cap on a deposit. The landlord must hold your deposit in a separate account used only for that purpose. And if the landlord breaks that account rule and fails to give you a damages listing, the statute says the landlord cannot keep a penny of your deposit. That last rule is the strongest card most Tennessee tenants hold, and most never hear about it.

One threshold question comes first: the Act only applies in counties with more than 75,000 people according to the 2010 federal census. That census anchor is not a typo and it is not a live population test — see the section on coverage below.

Because Tennessee's codified statute sits behind a paywalled portal, the links in this article go to the enacted acts themselves, published free by the Tennessee Secretary of State and the General Assembly. You can read the operative words yourself.

Does the Act even apply to your rental?

§ 66-28-102(a) limits the Act to counties over a population threshold. The history matters, because two amendments changed it:

• Public Chapter 847 (2012) raised the threshold to “seventy-five thousand (75,000) according to the 2010 federal census or any subsequent federal census.”
• Public Chapter 182 (2021), § 2, deleted the words “or any subsequent federal census.” Effective July 1, 2021.

So coverage is now frozen to the 2010 census. It is not a live headcount. A county that grew past 75,000 after 2010 did not thereby come under the Act, and a county that was over 75,000 in 2010 does not fall out of the Act if it shrinks. Do not look up today's population and assume you are covered; check the county against the 2010 census figure. In counties the Act does not reach, your lease and general Tennessee contract law govern instead, and the statutory protections below simply are not available.

The Act also does not reach public housing or other HUD-regulated units owned by a governmental entity or non-profit to the extent the federal regulation conflicts with state law (§ 66-28-102(d), added by Public Chapter 272 (2011), § 1).

And in the counties it does cover, local government cannot add to it. Public Chapter 182 § 1 wrote field preemption into § 66-28-102: “In the counties in which this chapter applies, this chapter occupies and preempts the entire field of legislation concerning the regulation of landlords and tenants. The governing body of a county subject to this chapter shall not enact or enforce regulations that conflict with, or are an addition to, this chapter.” There is no extra local deposit ordinance to find in a covered county — do not build a claim on one.

How much can a Tennessee landlord charge?

There is no statutory limit. A landlord can ask for one month's rent, two months', or any other figure the lease sets and you agree to. This is not a gap in our research: in 2024 the legislature considered HB 2025 / SB 1893, which would have added a new subsection capping deposits at one month's rent. It failed in subcommittee on March 5, 2024. No cap exists.

• Read the lease closely so you know the exact deposit amount and what it covers.
• A non-refundable “fee” (a pet fee, a cleaning fee) is not the same thing as a refundable deposit. Make the lease say which is which, in writing, before you sign.
• The deposit must go into an account used only for tenant security deposits, at a bank or other lending institution regulated by Tennessee or the federal government (§ 66-28-301(a)). This is not a formality — it is the trigger for the forfeiture rule below.

The rule most Tennessee tenants have never heard: the landlord can forfeit the entire deposit

Public Chapter 272 (2011), § 8, rewrote § 66-28-301(c) to read, in full:

“No landlord shall be entitled to retain any portion of a security deposit if the security deposit was not deposited in an account as required by subsection (a) and a listing of damages is not provided as required by subsection (b).”

Read that again, because it runs against the landlord, not you. A landlord who mixed your deposit into a general or personal account and did not give you a listing of damages is not entitled to keep any part of it. That is a total forfeiture, and it is the single strongest fact pattern the statute contemplates. If that is your situation, you are not in a weak position — you are in the best position the Act allows. Ask the landlord, in writing, to identify the bank and the account where your deposit was held. A landlord who cannot produce a dedicated deposit account has a serious problem.

The inspection, the damages listing, and the traps in them

Tennessee builds the process around an inspection and a written listing rather than a single statewide return countdown. The details, all from Public Chapter 272 § 6 (which replaced § 66-28-301(b)), decide who wins:

• The mutual inspection must be requested — it is not automatic. The landlord may give you written notice of your right to be present at the inspection; if you get that notice, request an inspection time in writing, immediately. The inspection happens either the day you completely vacate or within four calendar days after.
• If you schedule the inspection and then do not show up, you waive the right to contest any damages the landlord finds at that inspection (where the rental agreement sets out that waiver). Never no-show a walkthrough you asked for.
• You have no right to inspect at all if you vacated without giving written notice, abandoned the unit, were judicially removed, never responded to the landlord's notice, failed to appear at the arranged inspection, or simply never requested a mutual inspection. In those cases the landlord may inspect alone — but must still send you the damages listing and repair estimates by certificate of mailing upon your written request. Make that written request.
• Dissent in writing, item by item. Under § 66-28-301(b)(1)(B), if you refuse to sign the listing you “shall state specifically in writing the items on the list to which the tenant dissents.” This is not optional politeness. Under § 66-28-301(d), your court claim “shall be limited to those items from which the tenant specifically dissented … otherwise the tenant shall not be entitled to recover any damages under this section.” A tenant who signs the listing quietly, or objects only out loud, can be barred from recovering anything. Write it down, list every disputed item, keep a copy.

What can and cannot be deducted — and the deadline on “discovering” damage

A landlord may deduct for unpaid rent and other amounts owed (§ 66-28-301(e)) and for actual physical damage beyond ordinary wear and tear.

• Usually deductible: unpaid rent, large stains or burns in carpet, broken fixtures or appliances, holes in walls, missing items, filth requiring professional cleaning.
• Not deductible (normal wear and tear): faded paint, minor scuffs, small nail holes, carpet worn by ordinary walking, general aging of the unit. Routine touch-up and cleaning is the landlord's cost of doing business.
• There is a hard cutoff on newly “found” damage. Public Chapter 272 § 9 rewrote § 66-28-301(g): the landlord may recover the cost of additional physical damage discovered after the inspection only if the damage was discovered before the earlier of (1) 30 days after you vacated or abandoned the premises, or (2) 7 days after a new tenant takes possession. If a bill for damage lands on you weeks or months later, after someone else has moved in, say so in writing and cite this subsection. It is a complete defense.

Tennessee does not require landlords to pay interest on security deposits. Expect none unless your lease promises it.

The 60-day rule: what actually starts the clock

Tenants are routinely told they have “60 days from move-out.” That is wrong, and the error causes people to give up. § 66-28-301(f) (see the General Assembly's official restatement of the chapter, SB 1009 / HB 1760 (2011)) provides that where the tenant “leaves not owing rent and having any refund due,” the landlord shall send notification of the refund amount to the tenant's last known or reasonably determinable address — and if the landlord receives no response “within sixty (60) days from the sending of such notification,” the landlord may remove the deposit from the account and keep it.

So the 60 days runs from the landlord's mailing of a refund notification. Not from move-out. Not from the damages list. If the landlord never sent you a refund notification, that clock never started — and being six months or a year past move-out does not, by itself, forfeit your deposit. Do not walk away because you think you missed a 60-day window that never opened. (Conversely: if you do receive a refund notification, respond in writing right away and keep proof.) Always give the landlord a written forwarding address; many disputes are nothing but a landlord claiming it had nowhere to send the check.

If the landlord wrongfully keeps your deposit

Tennessee has no automatic double or treble damages. But it has two real remedies, and they are worth more than a multiplier to most tenants:

• Total forfeiture under § 66-28-301(c) where the deposit was not escrowed in a separate account and no damages listing was provided (above).
• Attorney's fees under § 66-28-501(a): the tenant “may recover damages, obtain injunctive relief and recover reasonable attorney's fees for any noncompliance by the landlord with the rental agreement or any section of this chapter upon giving fourteen (14) days' written notice.” A lawyer is not automatically uneconomic just because the deposit is small — the fees can be recoverable from the landlord.

That 14-day written notice is a precondition, so build your demand letter around it. Send a written demand by a method that proves delivery, state the amount owed and the specific noncompliance, and give the landlord at least 14 days to cure before you file. A 7-day demand can cost you the fee remedy.

• Gather your evidence: the lease, the deposit receipt, dated move-in and move-out photos or video, the damages listing, your written dissent, and every message.
• If the landlord still refuses, sue. General sessions and circuit courts both have original jurisdiction over conduct governed by the Act (§ 66-28-105(a)). Most people use General Sessions Court, whose civil jurisdiction reaches $25,000 — far above any deposit — with modest filing fees and no requirement that you have a lawyer.
• Call legal aid or a Tennessee landlord-tenant attorney anyway if the amount is large, the facts are messy, or the landlord has counsel. Mention § 66-28-501(a) fees when you call.

A few practical reminders

This is general information, not legal advice. Landlord-tenant law changes, and the acts linked above are the operative text as enacted. Before you send a demand or file suit, read Public Chapter 272 (2011) and Public Chapter 182 (2021) for yourself, confirm your county was over 75,000 in the 2010 federal census, check the General Sessions filing rules for your county, and consider a call to a Tennessee attorney or local legal aid office.

Official Legal Sources for Tennessee

This page is based on Tennessee state landlord–tenant law. Laws change — verify the current text directly against the official sources below. This is general legal information, not legal advice.

• Tennessee landlord–tenant statutes (full text) — reproduced on this site from the public-domain Tennessee Code, because Tennessee publishes its official code only through a commercial service.
• Tennessee Attorney General, Division of Consumer Affairs — Consumer Laws (landlord-tenant / Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act) — official state resource.

Local ordinances may apply. This page covers Tennessee state law. Your city or county may add protections — such as rent control, just-cause eviction, rental registration, or stricter housing codes — that change these rules. Check your local city or county ordinances.