Tennessee Abandonment, Reentry, and Personal Property Notice Packet

TENNESSEE ABANDONMENT, REENTRY, AND PERSONAL PROPERTY NOTICE PACKET

Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-405

Mandatory Applicability and Abandonment Gate

Do not use this packet unless Tennessee counsel checks every applicable box:

• ☐ The rental premises are in [COUNTY] County.
• ☐ Counsel confirmed that Tenn. Code Ann. Title 66, Chapter 28 applies because the county had more than 75,000 people according to the 2010 federal census.
• ☐ No conflicting federal regulation excludes this occupancy under the public-housing limitation in Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-102.
• ☐ The property is a residential dwelling governed by the chapter.
• ☐ The landlord has documented rent due, communications, occupancy facts, utilities, keys, and the condition and contents of the premises.
• ☐ No known fact indicates military absence, hospitalization, incarceration, disability-related absence, domestic-violence flight, death, disaster displacement, or another explanation requiring separate review.
• ☐ No occupant, owner, estate representative, bankruptcy trustee, secured party, or other claimant has asserted a right to possession of the premises or property.

Select exactly one statutory route:

Route A — Thirty-Day Unexplained Absence

• ☐ The tenant has been unexplainedly or extendedly absent for at least 30 days.
• ☐ Rent was not paid as due during that period.
• ☐ Counsel confirms these facts establish prima facie abandonment under § 66-28-405(a).

First date of documented absence: [DATE]

Rent due date and unpaid amount: [DATE / AMOUNT]

Earliest counsel-approved reentry date: [DATE]

Route A does not use Part I as the statutory basis for reentry. After lawful reentry, use Part II to document storage and reclamation information.

Route B — Fifteen-Day Nonpayment Plus Permanent-Vacancy Facts

• ☐ Rent is at least 15 days past the rental due date.
• ☐ Other reasonable facts indicate that the tenant permanently vacated the premises.
• ☐ Counsel reviewed the facts; nonpayment alone is not being treated as sufficient under this route.
• ☐ Part I will be both posted at the rental premises and mailed by regular mail, postage prepaid, to the rental-premises address.
• ☐ The landlord will not reenter if the tenant contacts the landlord within the statutory 10-day period and indicates an intention to remain in possession.

Rental due date: [DATE]

Fifteenth day past due: [DATE — COUNSEL TO CALCULATE]

Other permanent-vacancy facts: [REMOVAL OF SUBSTANTIALLY ALL POSSESSIONS / VOLUNTARY UTILITY TERMINATION / OTHER FACTS]

PART I — ROUTE B PRE-REENTRY NOTICE

Use Part I only for Route B. Post and mail the same completed notice. Do not
use it to bypass judicial process after a timely tenant response stating an
intention to remain in possession.

Notice to Tenant

Date of notice: [DATE]

To: [TENANT NAME(S)]

Rental premises: [ADDRESS]

Landlord / authorized agent: [NAME]

The landlord has reason to believe that you have abandoned the rental premises. Rent due on [DATE] is more than 15 days past due, and the landlord has documented the following additional facts indicating that you permanently vacated the premises:

[FACTUAL DESCRIPTION]

The landlord intends to reenter and take possession of the premises unless you contact the landlord within 10 days of the posting and mailing of this notice.

If you do not contact the landlord within that 10-day period, the landlord intends to remove all possessions and personal effects remaining in or on the premises and to re-rent the dwelling unit.

If you do not reclaim those possessions and personal effects within 30 days after the landlord takes possession of them, the landlord intends to sell or otherwise dispose of them as provided in Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-405(c).

Contact the landlord immediately at:

Telephone: [PHONE NUMBER]

Mailing address: [MAILING ADDRESS]

Optional email: [EMAIL — SUPPLEMENTAL ONLY]

If you intend to remain in possession, state that intention when you contact the landlord. A timely contact stating that intention requires the landlord to use the chapter's termination and judicial-possession process rather than the abandonment reentry procedure.

Landlord / authorized agent signature: [SIGNATURE]

Date: [DATE]

Part I Posting and Mailing Record

Complete both methods. Email, text message, certified mail, or delivery to another address may supplement but does not replace the two statutory methods below.

Posting

Posted at the rental premises on: [DATE / TIME]

Exact posting location: [LOCATION]

Posted by: [NAME / TITLE]

Photograph or other proof stored at: [FILE / LOCATION]

Signature: [SIGNATURE]

Regular Mail

Mailed by regular mail, postage prepaid, on: [DATE / TIME]

Addressed to the tenant at the rental premises: [ADDRESS]

Mailed by: [NAME / TITLE]

Certificate, receipt, or other mailing record: [DETAILS]

Signature: [SIGNATURE]

Ten-Day Response Control

Counsel-approved last day for tenant contact: [DATE / TIME]

Counsel-approved earliest reentry date: [DATE / TIME]

Tenant contact received: ☐ No ☐ Yes — [DATE / TIME / METHOD]

Substance of contact: [DETAILS]

Tenant indicated an intention to remain in possession: ☐ No ☐ Yes

If “Yes,” stop. Do not reenter under § 66-28-405(b); obtain Tennessee legal review for termination and recovery of possession through judicial process.

PART II — REMOVAL, STORAGE, AND RECLAMATION NOTICE

Use Part II after lawful reentry under Route A or Route B. It is a
supplemental notice and record. Section 66-28-405(c) requires storage for not
less than 30 days when the landlord proceeds under either route.

Notice to Former Tenant / Property Owner

Date of notice: [DATE]

To: [TENANT / PROPERTY OWNER]

Former rental premises: [ADDRESS]

Landlord / authorized agent: [NAME / ADDRESS / PHONE / EMAIL]

The landlord took possession of the following possessions and personal effects after proceeding under:

• ☐ Route A — Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-405(a)
• ☐ Route B — Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-405(b)

Date and time landlord took possession of the items: [DATE / TIME]

Date and time items were removed from the premises: [DATE / TIME]

Storage location: [NAME / PHYSICAL ADDRESS]

Storage contact and retrieval hours: [PHONE / EMAIL / HOURS]

Inventory: [ATTACH ITEMIZED INVENTORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS]

The landlord will store the possessions and personal effects for not less than 30 days. You may reclaim them from the landlord during that period.

Counsel-approved final day of the minimum storage period: [DATE / TIME]

No sale or disposal before: [DATE / TIME]

To reclaim the property, dispute abandonment or ownership, or report a bankruptcy, probate, military-service, disability-access, secured-interest, or other legal issue, contact [NAME / PHONE / EMAIL / MAILING ADDRESS] immediately.

If you do not reclaim the possessions and personal effects within the statutory period, the landlord may sell or otherwise dispose of them after legal review. If property is sold, § 66-28-405(c) permits sale proceeds to be applied to unpaid rent, damages, storage fees, sale costs, and attorney's fees. Any balance must be held by the landlord for six months after the sale.

This notice does not waive rights, validate every asserted charge, or authorize disposition of property governed by another law.

Landlord / authorized agent signature: [SIGNATURE]

Date: [DATE]

Part II Delivery Record

Section 66-28-405(c) does not state a separate delivery method for this supplemental storage notice. Counsel selected the following record-preserving methods:

• ☐ Regular mail to rental-premises address
• ☐ Mail to last-known forwarding address
• ☐ Certified mail / tracking number: [NUMBER]
• ☐ Email: [ADDRESS]
• ☐ Personal delivery: [DETAILS]
• ☐ Other counsel-approved method: [DETAILS]

Delivery date(s): [DATE(S)]

Proof retained at: [LOCATION]

Inventory, Retrieval, and Disposition Control

Inventory and Special-Property Review

Separately secure and obtain legal direction for medication, identity and financial documents, titled vehicles, firearms, hazardous materials, animals, third-party property, estate property, secured property, and property implicated by bankruptcy or criminal proceedings.

Retrieval Log

Sale or Other Disposition Gate

• ☐ The property remained stored for not less than 30 days after the landlord took possession of it.
• ☐ No timely reclamation demand, ownership dispute, stay, court order, or other legal hold bars disposition.
• ☐ Tennessee counsel approved the proposed method and date.
• ☐ Any additional law governing the item or sale method has been satisfied.

Disposition method: ☐ Sale ☐ Other — [DESCRIPTION]

Date and location: [DATE / LOCATION]

Purchaser / recipient and consideration: [DETAILS]

Sale proceeds: $[AMOUNT]

Applied to unpaid rent: $[AMOUNT]

Applied to damages: $[AMOUNT]

Applied to storage fees: $[AMOUNT]

Applied to sale costs: $[AMOUNT]

Applied to attorney's fees: $[AMOUNT]

Balance held for former tenant: $[AMOUNT]

Six-month hold-through date: [DATE — COUNSEL TO CALCULATE]

Account / ledger where balance is held: [DETAILS]

Final disposition record approved by: [TENNESSEE COUNSEL]

Sources and References

• Tennessee General Assembly — Public Chapter 156 (2005), § 5 (official enacted text of Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-405)
• Tennessee Secretary of State — Public Chapter 847 (2012), § 1 (75,000-person, 2010-census coverage rule)
• Tennessee Secretary of State — Public Chapter 182 (2021), § 2 (removal of the subsequent-census language)