Tennessee: Security Deposit Return Deadlines & Deductions

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: "This chapter applies only in
counties having a population of more than seventy-five thousand (75,000),
according to 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 (2010 census).
  https://unicourt.github.io/cic-code-tn/transforms/tn/octn/r75/gov.tn.tca.title.66.html (accessed 2026-07-06)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-301(a) — segregated-account requirement.
  https://unicourt.github.io/cic-code-tn/transforms/tn/octn/r75/gov.tn.tca.title.66.html (accessed 2026-07-06)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-301(c) — forfeiture for skipping both the account and the damage listing.
  https://unicourt.github.io/cic-code-tn/transforms/tn/octn/r75/gov.tn.tca.title.66.html (accessed 2026-07-06)
• 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/r75/gov.tn.tca.title.66.html (accessed 2026-07-06)
• 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/r75/gov.tn.tca.title.66.html (accessed 2026-07-06)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-301(f) — refund notice and 60-day response window.
  https://unicourt.github.io/cic-code-tn/transforms/tn/octn/r75/gov.tn.tca.title.66.html (accessed 2026-07-06)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-301(g) — 30-day/7-day window to discover additional physical damage.
  https://unicourt.github.io/cic-code-tn/transforms/tn/octn/r75/gov.tn.tca.title.66.html (accessed 2026-07-06)