Security Deposit Return Deadlines & Deductions in Tennessee

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Tennessee's security deposit rules sit inside the state's Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, at Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-301. But the whole chapter carries a threshold most states don't have: it applies only in counties having more than 75,000 people under the 2010 federal census (§ 66-28-102(a)). That covers Tennessee's largest counties (home to Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga, and several others), but a rental in a smaller county falls outside this statute entirely — there's no separate state deposit law that steps in for those counties.

Deadline to return the deposit

Tennessee doesn't set a single day-count deadline for handing the deposit back, and that surprises a lot of people used to other states' 14-, 21-, or 30-day rules. What the statute actually does: if you leave owing rent or other money, the landlord can pull the deposit out of the account and apply it to that debt (§ 66-28-301(e)). If you don't owe anything and a refund is due, "the landlord shall send notification to the last known or reasonably determinable address, of the amount of any refund due the tenant" — but without its own deadline for when that notice has to go out. From there, the tenant has 60 days to respond before the landlord can treat an unclaimed refund as forfeited (§ 66-28-301(f)). Separately, if the landlord's initial inspection missed something, it can still add a physical-damage charge later, but only if it discovers that damage within 30 days of your leaving, or within 7 days after a new tenant moves in — whichever comes first (§ 66-28-301(g)).

Itemized statement required?

Not in the form of a separate mailed statement with its own clock. Instead, the statute builds itemization into a move-out inspection process: on request, you and the landlord walk the unit together and sign a "comprehensive listing" of any damage and its estimated repair cost, and that signed listing becomes conclusive evidence of what it says. If you don't request or attend the inspection, the landlord can still compile the listing alone but must mail you a copy if you ask for one. The consequence for skipping this entirely is severe: "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)" (§ 66-28-301(c)) — both failures together forfeit the whole deposit.

What can be deducted

The statute doesn't spell out a list of deductible categories the way many states do, and it never uses the phrase "normal wear and tear" anywhere in the section. What it actually authorizes is applying the deposit to unpaid rent or other amounts owed (§ 66-28-301(e)), and to "physical damages" found and documented through the inspection/listing process, plus any additional physical damage discovered within the 30-day/7-day window described above (§ 66-28-301(g)). If you dispute an item, your court claim is limited to "those items from which the tenant specifically dissented in accordance with the listing" — dissent to everything you disagree with in writing at the inspection, or you likely can't recover on it later (§ 66-28-301(d)).

Maximum deposit amount

There's no cap. Nothing in § 66-28-301 or the surrounding chapter limits how much a landlord can charge as a security deposit in Tennessee.

Interest on the deposit?

No. The statute has no interest requirement of any kind, regardless of how long the deposit is held or how large the unit is.

Penalty for a late/bad-faith withholding

There's no statutory doubling or tripling of the deposit here. The one real penalty is the forfeiture rule in § 66-28-301(c): if the landlord skipped BOTH the segregated-account requirement and the damage-listing requirement, it loses the right to retain any part of the deposit — full stop, without any need to prove bad faith. Outside of that specific double failure, a tenant's recovery is narrower: you can sue over inaccuracy in the final damage listing, but only for the items you specifically dissented to in writing, and the statute says "otherwise the tenant shall not be entitled to recover any damages under this section" (§ 66-28-301(d)).

Separate account or bond required?

Yes. "All landlords of residential property requiring security deposits prior to occupancy are required to deposit all tenants' security deposits in an account used only for that purpose, in any bank or other lending institution subject to regulation by the state or any agency of the United States government" (§ 66-28-301(a)). There's no bond alternative in the statute — the segregated account is the only option it names.

What trips people up

This law simply doesn't apply outside Tennessee's larger counties. If your rental is in a county with 75,000 or fewer people (per the 2010 census), none of this statute's rules — the account requirement, the forfeiture penalty, the inspection process — apply to your lease at all. Those tenancies run on general contract and common-law principles instead.

There is no fixed return deadline to point to. Unlike most states, you can't tell a landlord "you're 10 days late" under this statute. The real levers are the 60-day response window after a refund notice, and the 30-day/ 7-day window for the landlord to add newly discovered damage — neither of which is a deadline to return money to you.

Missing the inspection can cost you your dispute rights, not just your damage claim. If you don't request or attend the move-out inspection when offered, the landlord can compile the damage listing without you and you may lose the chance to specifically dissent to items on it — which matters because your later court claim is limited to items you dissented to in writing at that stage.

Common questions

My county has 200,000 people — does this law cover me? Yes. The 75,000 population threshold is measured county by county using the 2010 federal census, and Tennessee's major metro counties all clear it.

How long does my landlord actually have to give my deposit back? The statute doesn't set one number. If you don't owe rent, expect a written refund notice from the landlord; if 60 days pass after that notice with no response from you, the landlord can keep an unclaimed balance. There's no separate clock forcing the landlord to send that notice by a specific date.

Can my landlord charge me for normal wear and tear? The statute doesn't use that phrase or carve out an exception for it. It limits deductions to documented physical damage found through the inspection/listing process (or discovered within the later 30-day/7-day window) — ordinary deterioration from living in the unit isn't "damage" in that sense, but the statute itself doesn't spell out the line the way some states' laws do.

Statutes and sources

• Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-102(a) — chapter applies only in counties over 75,000 population under the 2010 census. https://publications.tnsosfiles.com/acts/112/pub/pc0182.pdf (accessed 2026-08-24; read with 2012 Public Chapter 847)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-301(a) — segregated-account requirement. https://unicourt.github.io/cic-code-tn/transforms/tn/octn/r76/gov.tn.tca.title.66.html (accessed 2026-08-24)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-301(b) — inspection and signed damage-listing process. https://publications.tnsosfiles.com/acts/107/pub/pc0272.pdf (accessed 2026-08-24)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-301(c) — forfeiture for skipping both the account and the damage listing. https://publications.tnsosfiles.com/acts/107/pub/pc0272.pdf (accessed 2026-08-24)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-301(d) — tenant's court claim limited to items dissented to in writing. https://unicourt.github.io/cic-code-tn/transforms/tn/octn/r76/gov.tn.tca.title.66.html (accessed 2026-08-24)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-301(e) — landlord may apply the deposit to unpaid rent. https://unicourt.github.io/cic-code-tn/transforms/tn/octn/r76/gov.tn.tca.title.66.html (accessed 2026-08-24)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-301(f) — refund notice and 60-day response window. https://unicourt.github.io/cic-code-tn/transforms/tn/octn/r76/gov.tn.tca.title.66.html (accessed 2026-08-24)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-301(g) — 30-day/7-day window to discover additional physical damage. https://publications.tnsosfiles.com/acts/107/pub/pc0272.pdf (accessed 2026-08-24)