How is renting different from home ownership? What are my duties as an occupant? 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 tenant? Fact sheets for renters and occupants during COVID-19 What about Residential Or Commercial Property Maintenance Codes? What is URLTA? What are the minimum requirements for rental housing? Can I make a protest? What if I live in federal government assisted housing? Does the USDA assist with tenants in backwoods? Where can I discover more about healthy housing policy? Additional resources

* * * Our Healthy Homes personnel are not doctors or attorneys. The details on our Healthy Homes Website does not provide medical or legal advice. This details is not an alternative for visiting your physician or for seeking advice from with a legal representative about your particular situation. * * *
vrbo.com
3 Actions a Worried Renter Should Do:

1. Put everything in composing. Take photographs and videos. Save emails, texts, letters, and voicemails. Write a calendar of events.

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

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

It is most likely prohibited for a landlord to retaliate against a tenant who files a problem, calls Buiding Codes, or takes legal action. Changing locks, turning off energies, revealing up often, or inappropriately raising rent can be retaliation.

How is leasing different from home ownership?

Renting is different from own a home in that the renter should rely on somebody else to make repair work. The tenant might not have the ability to make changes to the home without permission. An occupant has both rights and obligations. Renting can be a great option for many individuals to keep a healthy home environment, both inside and outdoors. Whether you rent a home, house, duplex, mobile home or cabin you can keep the 7 healthy homes principles. Bear in mind that great health begins at home.

What are my obligations as an occupant?

Renters are responsible for tidiness and security. You might rent without any formal agreement, or you may have a lease agreement. The most typical kind of tenant in Tennessee is a renter who signs a lease contract to pay lease each month throughout the year. Renters might be asked to provide a security deposit. Lease arrangements are legally binding contracts. You are accountable for following the terms of your lease. Some lease contracts have addendums such as pet policies, insect control agreements or for reporting water damage. You are responsible for: paying your rent on time, paying any late costs, keeping the place tidy and safe, not letting anyone else damage it, not breaking the law, getting rid of your garbage, and following your property manager's rules. If you break your lease, then it may end up being a legal issue.

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

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

There are eight fundamental principles to keeping a healthy home.

1. Keep it Dry. - Damp homes supply an excellent environment for mites, roaches, rodents and molds.

1. Keep it Clean. - Clean homes help in reducing insect problems and direct exposure to impurities.
2. Keep it Pest-Free. - Exposure to mice and cockroaches might increase asthma attacks. Improper pesticide treatments for insect invasions can aggravate illness, because pesticide residues in homes can present health threats.
3. Keep it Safe. - Most of children's injuries take place in the home. Falls are the most frequent reason for domestic injuries to kids, followed by injuries from objects in the home, burns, and poisonings.
4. Keep it Contaminant-Free. - Avoid exposure to lead, radon, carbon monoxide, pesticides, asbestos and ecological tobacco smoke. Remember exposure is often greater inside your home.
5. Keep it Ventilated. - Studies have shown increasing fresh air in a home enhances respiratory health.
6. Keep it Maintained. - Poorly-maintained homes are at threat of being unhealthy.
7. Keep it Thermally Controlled. - Houses that do not maintain appropriate temperatures might position the security of citizens at increased threat from direct exposure to extreme heat or cold.
   
   If you use these concepts as a guide, you can keep a safe and healthy home. If you are having a problem keeping any of these concepts, other parts of this site will know and resources to assist you.
   
   What if I have an unhealthy condition in my rental home?
   
   If you have an unhealthy condition in your rental home, then it may be your duty to fix the issue or it may be your property owner's responsibility to make repairs. Read your rental lease contract. Comply with any requirements for tidiness or security. Report any required repair work to the property manager as they develop. Putting your issues in composing is finest. This produces a record of your concerns. Repairs to your rental home must be made in a reasonable amount of time. The amount of time might be listed in your lease.
   
   If your landlord has not made repairs in a sensible quantity of time, you might require to communicate more straight, such as with additional composed complaints or a face-to-face meeting. If your proprietor continues to disregard your issues, you might require to pursue legal action.
   
   Disputes between a property manager and a renter are civil issues. Most property manager and renter issues are beyond the authority of the Health Department. These issues 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 an occupant you can a habitable place and to live in harmony. Your rights as an occupant may differ depending on which county you reside in. The Legal Aid Society has a beneficial reality sheet to help you understand your rights as a tenant. How to contact the Legal Aid Society or the Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services is listed below.
   
   If your rental home requires an emergency repair work to keep it healthy, such as a repair of the heat, gas, lights, water, sewage, pipes or air conditioning, you need to inform your landlord right away.
   
   If the need for repair in not an emergency, then 2 week is normally thought about as an affordable quantity of time for the property manager to make repair work. Hopefully, a lot of repair work will be made much quicker after a property owner is warned. Use your routine approach of reporting needs for repair such as a site, call, text, or office check out. Put something into writing to document when you made the property owner conscious of the requirement for repair.
   
   In some counties you can use some of your rent cash to make these instant repairs. If the problem was your fault, you may have to help pay for the repair work.
   
   You can not be required out of your rental home. You can not be evicted without notification. The landlord can not alter the locks or turned off your utilities to make you leave. Most of the time, a property manager needs to go to court before evicting you. If you did something dangerous or threatening, the property owner just requires to give you three (3) days to vacate. If you did not pay lease or broke your lease contract, you might be provided a thirty (30) day see to move out. If you have legal questions about housing, you need to talk to a lawyer or legal services.
   
   The Tennessee Alliance for Legal Serices has a HELP4TN website, chatbot, and telephone to assist people who need aid with their legal concerns. If you do not have your own lawyer, this is a good site to begin.
   
   If you certify based upon earnings or assistance status, the Legal Aid Society may be able to assist. Keep in mind, Legal Aid has a client waiting list and seldom will cases happen quick. Contact the workplace near you to find out 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 developed these reality sheets to help you understand your rights and tasks as a tenant. Click the left image for counties of 75,000 or more population and the right 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 upkeep standards. Codes can use to domestic or non-residential residential or commercial properties or both. Codes assessments can take place at any time, though they are most typical with brand-new building or remodelling. Building regulations help to ensure safety within a structure. It is crucial to have structures up to code. Landlords are accountable for satisfying Codes.
   
   All cities in Tennessee have their own codes departments to implement Residential or commercial property Maintenance Codes. Many large county or local government have codes departments. Though, numerous little towns and backwoods do not have any standardized minimum residential or commercial property maintenance codes. Several codes departments throughout the state have actually adopted the International Residential or commercial property Maintenance Code. Codes inspectors may examine electrical, plumbing, gas, zoning, and other physical elements of a home. Contact your local codes department for info specific to your place.
   
   Often Building regulations will ask if an occupant has already their landlord about the need for repair work and given the proprietor sensible time to make the repair work. Afterward, Buiding Codes might perform an assessment. If there is an inspection, be sure to ask for a copy of any notes or citations. Bear in mind that Building Codes can only check out homes where the renter has legal right to enable their visit.
   
   What is URLTA?
   
   Tennessee Code Annotated § 66-28 is the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. URLTA only uses in counties of higher than 75,000 population as of the 2010 U.S. Census. For these more populated counties, there are written requirements and protections to rental contracts including commitments for upkeep by the property owner to abide by requirements of relevant building and housing codes materially impacting healthy and security, as noted in 66-28-304.( a).
   
   What are the minimum requirements for rental housing?
   
   The Tennessee Department of Health is accountable for promulgating guidelines for minimum health standards for rental housing. These rules become part of Tennessee Code Annotated § 53-5502 rearranged as § 68-111 in Chapter 1200-1-2. The rules cover fundamental equipment 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 unfit for habitation. According to Tennessee Code Annotated § 68-111-101, renters whose rent is $200 or less weekly might file a problem with their regional structure inspector or county public health department. Complaints require to be filed in composing with your county health department and a copy must be forwarded by licensed mail to the proprietor. A qualifying complaint can lead to a home examination. This part of the law does not apply to occupants who pay their lease regular monthly or for a term higher than regular monthly. For non-qualifying complaints, other structure codes or regulations that the structure inspector is authorized to enforce, may apply to home rented at higher rates.
   
   What if I live in government assisted housing?
   
   The federal government helps low-income families, the elderly, and the disabled to manage decent, safe, and sanitary housing in the private market. Participants find their own housing, consisting of single-family homes, townhouses, and houses. There is a yearly Housing Quality Standards (HQS) inspection treatment to guarantee that homes are tidy and safe. Renters with assisted housing, such as Section 8, need to begin by talking with the office that issued their rental Housing Choice Voucher (HCV).
   
   The Tennessee Housing Development Agency carries out contract administration for Section 8 residential problems in 76 counties. If the residential or commercial property owner or agent is not fulfilling their responsibilities, TDHA may step in. For more info, call THDA at 1-800-228-THDA (8432) during typical service hours or go to the THDA website anytime. Local public housing firms (PHAs) supply services in the other counties. Some of the local offices are the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency, Murfreesboro Housing Authority, Memphis Housing Authority, and Knox County Housing Authority.
   
   Renters who get support can contact their local U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development workplace. A number of HUD's programs have particular requirements for housing quality. If your housing is not up to requirements, then HUD might step in to have the landlord make repairs as needed. Tennessee's HUD workplace 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 help with renters in rural areas?
   
   Yes. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has a rural advancement program. USDA assists with some 360 multi-family residential or commercial properties in Tennessee. If you have a concern about living in USDA-assisted rural housing you can contact your rural advancement local office.
   
   Where can I find out more about healthy housing policy?
   
   Our Healthy Places web page provides more information about the places we live, work and play. Click on this link for more information about healthy housing policies.