Healthy Homes - Renters

How is renting various from home ownership?
What are my obligations as a renter?
What can I do to keep my rental home a healthy home?
What if I have an unhealthy condition in my rental home?
What are my rights as a renter?
Fact sheets for occupants and tenants during COVID-19
What about Residential Or Commercial Property Maintenance Codes?
What is URLTA?
What are the minimum standards for rental housing?
Can I make a protest?
What if I live in government assisted housing?
Does the USDA help with renters in rural areas?
Where can I find out more about healthy housing policy?
Additional resources

* * * Our Healthy Homes staff are not medical professionals or attorneys. The details on our Healthy Homes Website does not supply medical or legal advice. This information is not an alternative to visiting your doctor or for consulting with a lawyer about your particular scenario. * * *

3 Actions a Worried Renter Should Do:

1. Put everything in writing. Take photos and videos. Save emails, texts, letters, and voicemails. Write a calendar of occasions.

2. Do not stop paying rent. It would likely protest the lease or the law. Keep your rent invoices as proof you paid.

3. Read your lease. Whatever is composed in the lease is a legal contract. Both renter and landlord have responsibilities.

It is likely unlawful for a property manager to strike back versus an occupant who submits a complaint, calls Buiding Codes, or takes legal action. Changing locks, turning off utilities, appearing typically, or wrongly raising lease can be retaliation.

How is leasing different from own a home?

Renting is different from own a home in that the tenant must depend on somebody else to make repairs. The occupant might not have the ability to make modifications to the home without approval. A tenant has both rights and obligations. Renting can be a great choice for numerous people to keep a healthy home environment, both inside and outdoors. Whether you lease a house, apartment, duplex, mobile home or cabin you can keep the seven healthy homes concepts. Remember that health starts at home.

What are my responsibilities as an occupant?

Renters are accountable for cleanliness and safety. You may lease with no official agreement, or you might have a lease agreement. The most typical type of occupant in Tennessee is a renter who signs a lease arrangement to pay lease every month throughout the year. Renters may be asked to supply a down payment. Lease agreements are lawfully binding contracts. You are accountable for following the terms of your lease. Some lease arrangements have addendums such as pet policies, insect control agreements or for reporting water damage. You are accountable for: paying your lease on time, paying any late charges, keeping the place clean and safe, not letting anybody else damage it, not breaking the law, getting rid of your garbage, and following your proprietor's rules. If you break your lease, then it may end up being a legal concern.

The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance shared Tips for First-Time Renters along with Tips on How to Spot Rental and Moving Scammers.

What can I do to keep my rental home a healthy home?

There are 8 fundamental principles to maintaining a healthy home.

1. Keep it Dry. - Damp homes offer an excellent environment for mites, roaches, rodents and molds.
2. Keep it Clean. - Clean homes help in reducing pest invasions and direct exposure to contaminants.
3. Keep it Pest-Free. - Exposure to mice and cockroaches may increase asthma attacks. Improper pesticide treatments for pest invasions can worsen illness, considering that pesticide residues in homes can posture health dangers.
4. Keep it Safe. - The majority of kids's injuries happen in the home. Falls are the most regular cause of domestic injuries to children, followed by injuries from items in the home, burns, and poisonings.
5. Keep it Contaminant-Free. - Avoid direct exposure to lead, radon, carbon monoxide gas, pesticides, asbestos and environmental tobacco smoke. Keep in mind direct exposure is typically higher indoors.
6. Keep it Ventilated. - Studies have actually shown increasing fresh air in a home improves breathing health.
7. Keep it Maintained. - Poorly-maintained homes are at danger of being unhealthy.
8. Keep it Thermally Controlled. - Houses that do not keep sufficient temperatures may place the safety of citizens at increased danger from direct exposure to extreme heat or cold.

If you use these principles as a guide, you can maintain a safe and healthy home. If you are having a problem maintaining any of these concepts, other parts of this website will have details and resources to help you.

What if I have an unhealthy condition in my rental home?

If you have an unhealthy condition in your rental home, then it might be your duty to fix the issue or it may be your property manager's obligation to make repair work. Read your rental lease agreement. Adhere to any requirements for tidiness or security. Report any needed repair work to the landlord as they arise. Putting your concerns in composing is finest. This develops a record of your issues. Repairs to your rental home must be made in a sensible amount of time. The amount of time might be noted in your lease.

If your landlord has actually not made repairs in a reasonable amount of time, you might need to interact more directly, such as with extra written grievances or an in person meeting. If your proprietor continues to disregard your concerns, you may need to pursue legal action.

Disputes in between a property owner and an occupant are civil concerns. Most property owner and tenant issues are outside of the authority of the Health Department. These concerns would be ruled on by a civil court judge analyzing the law. There are some programs that support occupants.

What are my rights as an occupant?

According to the Legal Aid Society, as a tenant you have the right to a habitable location and to live quietly. Your rights as a renter may differ depending on which county you reside in. The Legal Aid Society has a beneficial fact sheet to assist you understand your rights as a tenant. How to call the Legal Aid Society or the Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services is listed below.

If your rental home needs an emergency situation repair to keep it healthy, such as a repair work of the heat, gas, lights, water, sewage, pipes or a/c, you ought to inform your proprietor immediately.

If the need for repair work in not an emergency, then 14 days is generally considered as a reasonable quantity of time for the landlord to make repairs. Hopefully, many repair work will be made rather after a landlord is warned. Use your regular technique of reporting requirements for repair such as a website, call, text message, or workplace visit. Put something into writing to document when you made the property manager familiar with the requirement for repair.

In some counties you can utilize a few of your lease money to make these instant repairs. If the problem was your fault, you might need to help pay for the repair work.

You can not be displaced of your rental home. You can not be evicted without notice. The property owner can not change the locks or shut down your utilities to make you leave. The majority of the time, a landlord needs to go to court before evicting you. If you did something hazardous or threatening, the proprietor just needs to provide you 3 (3) days to vacate. If you did not pay rent or broke your lease arrangement, you might be given a thirty (30) day see to leave. If you have legal concerns about housing, you should consult with a lawyer or legal services.

The Tennessee Alliance for Legal Serices has a HELP4TN site, chatbot, and telephone to assist people who require help with their legal concerns. If you do not have your own legal representative, this is an excellent site to start.

If you certify based on earnings or help status, the Legal Aid Society may have the ability to assist. Keep in mind, Legal Aid has a customer waiting list and seldom will cases occur fast. Contact the workplace near you to learn more.

Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands - 1-800-238-1443
Offices in Clarksville, Columbia, Cookeville, Gallatin, Murfreesboro, Nashville, Oak Ridge, and Tullahoma

Legal Aid Society of East Tennessee - 1-865-637-0484
Offices in Knoxville, Johnson City, Chattanooga, and Cleveland

West Tennessee Legal Services - 1-800-372-8346
Offices in Jackson, Dyersburg, Huntingdon, and Selmer

Memphis Area Legal Services - 1-888-207-6386
Offices in Memphis and Covington

The Legal Aid Society created these truth sheets to assist you comprehend your rights and responsibilities as a renter. Click the left image for counties of 75,000 or more population and the ideal image for smaller counties.

Anderson, Blount, Bradley, Davidson, Hamilton, Knox, Madison, Maury, Montgomery, Rutherford, Sevier, Shelby, Sullivan, Sumner, Washington, Williamson, or Wilson

Bedford, Benton, Bledsoe, Campbell, Cannon, Carroll, Carter, Cheatham, Chester, Claiborne, Clay, Cocke, Coffee, Crockett, Cumberland, Decatur, DeKalb, Dickson, Dyer, Fayette, Fentress, Franklin, Gibson, Giles, Grainger, Greene, Grundy, Hamblen, Hancock, Hardeman, Hardin, Hawkins, Haywood, Henderson, Henry, Hickman, Houston, Humphreys, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Lake, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Lewis, Lincoln, Loudon, McMinn, McNairy, Macon, Marion, Marshall, Meigs, Monroe, Moore, Morgan, Obion, Overton, Perry, Pickett, Polk, Putnam, Rhea, Roane, Robertson, Scott, Sequatchie, Sevier, Smith, Stewart, Tipton, Trousdale, Unicoi, Union, Van Buren, Warren, Wayne, Weakley, or White

What about Residential Or Commercial Property Maintenance Codes?

Residential Or Commercial Property Maintenance Codes or Building and Safety Codes are minimum residential or commercial property maintenance standards. Codes can use to residential or non-residential residential or commercial properties or both. Codes inspections can happen at any time, though they are most common with brand-new building or remodelling. Building regulations assist to make sure safety within a structure. It is very important to have buildings up to code. Landlords are accountable for satisfying Codes.

All cities in Tennessee have their own codes departments to impose Residential or commercial property Maintenance Codes. Many big county or city governments have codes departments. Though, lots of villages and backwoods do not have any standardized minimum residential or commercial property upkeep codes. Several codes departments throughout the state have embraced the International Residential or commercial property Maintenance Code. Codes inspectors might inspect electrical, plumbing, gas, zoning, and other physical elements of a home. Contact your local codes department for details particular to your area.

Often Building regulations will ask if a tenant has already notified their landlord about the need for repair work and given the landlord affordable time to make the repair. Afterward, Buiding Codes might carry out an assessment. If there is an evaluation, make certain to request a copy of any notes or citations. Remember that Building regulations can just check out homes where the renter has legal right to enable their see.

What is URLTA?

Tennessee Code Annotated § 66-28 is the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. URLTA just uses in counties of greater than 75,000 population since the 2010 U.S. Census. For these more inhabited counties, there are written requirements and defenses to rental contracts including commitments for upkeep by the proprietor to abide by requirements of suitable structure and housing codes materially affecting healthy and security, as listed in 66-28-304.( a).

What are the minimum requirements for rental housing?

The Tennessee Department of Health is accountable for promulgating rules for minimum health requirements for rental housing. These guidelines are part of Tennessee Code Annotated § 53-5502 restructured as § 68-111 in Chapter 1200-1-2. The rules cover basic devices and centers, light and ventilation, temperature, and sanitation.

Can I make a protest?

If a rental residential or commercial property breaches minimum health standards it might be unsuited for habitation. According to Tennessee Code Annotated § 68-111-101, renters whose lease is $200 or less each week may file a complaint with their local building inspector or county public health department. Complaints need to be submitted in writing with your county health department and a copy should be forwarded by certified mail to the landlord. A certifying complaint can lead to a home investigation. This part of the law does not apply to renters who pay their lease month-to-month or for a term greater than month-to-month. For non-qualifying problems, other building regulations or regulations that the building inspector is licensed to impose, might be suitable to residential home leased at higher rates.

What if I live in federal government assisted housing?

The federal government assists low-income households, the senior, and the disabled to pay for decent, safe, and sanitary housing in the personal market. Participants find their own housing, consisting of single-family homes, townhouses, and homes. There is a yearly Housing Quality Standards (HQS) examination procedure to make sure that homes are clean and safe. Renters with assisted housing, such as Section 8, ought to start by talking with the workplace that issued their rental Housing Choice Voucher (HCV).

The Tennessee Housing Development Agency carries out agreement administration for Section 8 residential issues in 76 counties. If the residential or commercial property owner or representative is not fulfilling their duties, TDHA may intervene. For more details, call THDA at 1-800-228-THDA (8432) throughout typical service hours or visit the THDA website anytime. Local public housing companies (PHAs) supply services in the other counties. Some of the regional workplaces are the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency, Murfreesboro Housing Authority, Memphis Housing Authority, and Knox County Housing Authority.

Renters who receive help can call their local U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development workplace. Many of HUD's programs have particular requirements for housing quality. If your housing is not up to requirements, then HUD may intervene to have the property owner make repairs as necessary. Tennessee's HUD office contact numbers are:

HUD Knoxville Field Office - (865) 545-4370
Jurisdiction: Anderson, Bledsoe, Blount, Bradley, Campbell, Carter, Claiborne, Cocke, Cumberland, Fentress, Grainger, Greene, Grundy, Hamblen, Hamilton, Hancock, Hawkins, Jefferson, Johnson, Knox, Loudon, McMinn, Marion, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Pickett, Polk, Roane, Rhea, Scott, Sequatchie, Sevier, Sullivan, Unicoi, Union, Washington

HUD Memphis Field Office - (901) 544-3367
Jurisdiction: Benton, Carroll, Chester, Crockett, Decatur, Dyer, Fayette, Gibson, Hardeman, Hardin, Haywood, Henderson, Henry, Lake, Lauderdale, Madison, McNairy, Obion, Shelby, Tipton, Weakley

HUD Nashville Field Office - (615) 736-5600
Jurisdiction: Bedford, Cannon, Cheatham, Clay, Coffee, Davidson, De Kalb, Dickson, Franklin, Giles, Hickman, Houston, Humphreys, Jackson, Lawrence, Lewis, Lincoln, Macon, Marshall, Maury, Montgomery, Moore, Overton, Perry, Putnam, Robertson, Rutherford, Smith, Stewart, Sumner, Trousdale, Van Buren, Warren, Wayne, White, Williamson, Wilson

Does the USDA assist with tenants in rural locations?

Yes. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has a rural development program. USDA assists with some 360 multi-family residential or commercial properties in Tennessee. If you have a concern about residing in USDA-assisted rural housing you can contact your rural advancement regional office.