How is renting various from own a home? 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 renters and occupants 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 reside in federal government assisted housing? Does the USDA assist with occupants in backwoods? Where can I find out more about healthy housing policy? Additional resources

* * * Our Healthy Homes personnel are not doctors or attorneys. The info on our Healthy Homes Website does not supply medical or legal guidance. This information is not an alternative to visiting your physician or for consulting with an attorney about your specific scenario. * * *

3 Actions a Concerned Renter Should Do:

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

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

3. Read your lease. Whatever is written in the lease is a legal contract. Both renter and property owner have responsibilities.

It is likely prohibited for a proprietor to retaliate versus an occupant who submits a complaint, calls Buiding Codes, or takes legal action. Changing locks, shutting down energies, revealing up frequently, or inappropriately raising lease can be retaliation.

How is renting different from home ownership?

Renting is various from own a home because the renter should count on somebody else to make repairs. The occupant may not be able to make modifications to the home without consent. A tenant has both rights and duties. Renting can be a good alternative for lots of people to keep a healthy home environment, both inside your home and outdoors. Whether you rent a house, home, duplex, mobile home or cabin you can keep the 7 healthy homes concepts. Keep in mind that health starts in your home.

What are my duties as a tenant?

Renters are accountable for cleanliness and safety. You might lease with no formal contract, or you may have a lease arrangement. The most typical kind of renter in Tennessee is an occupant who signs a lease arrangement to pay lease each month throughout the year. Renters may be asked to supply a security deposit. Lease arrangements are legally binding contracts. You are accountable for following the regards to your lease. Some lease agreements have addendums such as pet policies, bug control contracts or for reporting water damage. You are accountable for: paying your lease on time, paying any late charges, keeping the location clean and safe, not letting anyone else damage it, not breaking the law, dealing with your trash, and following your proprietor's rules. If you break your lease, then it may end up being a legal problem.

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 standard principles to keeping a healthy home.

1. Keep it Dry. - Damp homes offer a good environment for mites, roaches, rodents and molds.

1. Keep it Clean. - Clean homes help in reducing pest invasions and direct exposure to pollutants.
2. Keep it Pest-Free. - Exposure to mice and cockroaches might increase asthma attacks. Improper pesticide treatments for pest invasions can intensify health problems, considering that pesticide residues in homes can posture health dangers.
3. Keep it Safe. - Most of kids's injuries happen in the home. Falls are the most frequent reason for property injuries to kids, followed by injuries from things in the home, burns, and poisonings.
4. Keep it Contaminant-Free. - Avoid exposure to lead, radon, carbon monoxide, pesticides, asbestos and environmental tobacco smoke. Bear in mind exposure is typically greater inside.
5. Keep it Ventilated. - Studies have revealed increasing fresh air in a home improves breathing health.
6. Keep it Maintained. - Poorly-maintained homes are at threat of being unhealthy.
7. Keep it Thermally Controlled. - Houses that do not maintain adequate temperatures might place the security of citizens at increased risk from direct exposure to extreme heat or cold.
   
   If you use these concepts as a guide, you can maintain a safe and healthy home. If you are having an issue preserving any of these concepts, other parts of this site 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 may be your obligation to repair the issue or it might be your proprietor's obligation to make repairs. Read your rental lease contract. Comply with any requirements for cleanliness or security. Report any required repair work to the landlord as they develop. Putting your concerns in writing is finest. This develops a record of your concerns. Repairs to your rental home must be made in an affordable quantity of time. The amount of time might be listed 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 neglect your concerns, you might need to pursue legal action.
   
   Disputes between a property manager and an occupant are civil concerns. Most property owner and tenant concerns are beyond the authority of the Health Department. These issues would be ruled on by a civil court judge interpreting the law. There are some programs that support tenants.
   
   What are my rights as a renter?
   
   According to the Legal Aid Society, as a tenant you deserve to a habitable location and to live in harmony. Your rights as a tenant may vary depending upon which county you reside in. The Legal Aid Society has a useful reality sheet to assist you comprehend your rights as an occupant. How to get in touch with the Legal Aid Society or the Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services is noted below.
   
   If your rental home requires an emergency situation repair work to keep it healthy, such as a repair work of the heat, gas, lights, water, sewage, plumbing or cooling, you need to inform your property manager right now.
   
   If the need for repair in not an emergency situation, then 14 days is typically considered as an affordable amount of time for the property manager to make repair work. Hopefully, many repairs will be made much quicker after a property manager is made aware. Use your regular method of reporting requirements for repair such as a website, phone call, text, or workplace go to. Put something into writing to document when you made the property owner familiar with the need for repair work.
   
   In some counties you can use a few of your rent money to make these immediate repair work. If the issue was your fault, you may have to assist pay for the repairs.
   
   You can not be forced out of your rental home. You can not be forced out without notice. The property manager can not alter the locks or shut down your energies to make you leave. Most of the time, a property owner needs to go to court before evicting you. If you did something unsafe or threatening, the proprietor just needs to offer you three (3) days to vacate. If you did not pay lease or broke your lease arrangement, you might be provided a thirty (30) day see to vacate. If you have legal questions about housing, you must consult with a lawyer or legal services.
   
   The Tennessee Alliance for Legal Serices has a HELP4TN site, chatbot, and telephone to help individuals 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 on income or assistance status, the Legal Aid Society may be able to help. Remember, Legal Aid has a client waiting list and hardly ever will cases occur quick. Contact the office near you for more info.
   
   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 fact sheets to help you comprehend your rights and tasks as an occupant. Click the left image for counties of 75,000 or more population and the right image for smaller sized 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 evaluations can occur at any time, though they are most common with new building and construction or remodelling. Building regulations help to guarantee security within a building. It is necessary to have structures 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 federal governments have codes departments. Though, many villages and backwoods do not have any standardized minimum residential or commercial property maintenance codes. Several codes departments across the state have actually adopted the International Residential or commercial property Maintenance Code. Codes inspectors might inspect electrical, pipes, gas, zoning, and other physical aspects of a home. Contact your local codes department for details specific to your area.
   
   Often Building Codes will ask if an occupant has currently informed their property manager about the need for repair work and provided the landlord affordable time to make the repair work. Afterward, Buiding Codes might carry out an assessment. If there is an examination, make certain to request a copy of any notes or citations. Remember that Building regulations can only check out homes where the renter has legal right to enable their check out.
   
   What is URLTA?
   
   Tennessee Code Annotated § 66-28 is the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. URLTA just applies in counties of greater than 75,000 population as of the 2010 U.S. Census. For these more populated counties, there are written requirements and securities to rental contracts consisting of responsibilities for maintenance by the property manager to abide by requirements of appropriate 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 promoting guidelines for minimum health requirements for rental housing. These guidelines are part of Tennessee Code Annotated § 53-5502 rearranged as § 68-111 in Chapter 1200-1-2. The guidelines cover standard equipment and facilities, light and ventilation, temperature level, and sanitation.
   
   Can I make a formal complaint?
   
   If a rental residential or commercial property violates minimum health requirements it may be unfit for habitation. According to Tennessee Code Annotated § 68-111-101, renters whose rent is $200 or less per week might submit a grievance with their regional building inspector or county public health department. Complaints require to be filed in writing with your county health department and a copy should be forwarded by qualified mail to the . A qualifying problem can lead to a home investigation. This part of the law does not use to renters who pay their lease month-to-month or for a term greater than regular monthly. For non-qualifying complaints, other structure codes or regulations that the structure inspector is authorized to impose, may be relevant to home leased at higher rates.
   
   What if I reside in government assisted housing?
   
   The federal government helps low-income households, the senior, and the handicapped to afford decent, safe, and sanitary housing in the private market. Participants discover their own housing, including single-family homes, townhouses, and apartment or condos. There is an annual Housing Quality Standards (HQS) assessment treatment to make sure that homes are clean and safe. Renters with assisted housing, such as Section 8, need to begin by talking with the office that released their rental Housing Choice Voucher (HCV).
   
   The Tennessee Housing Development Agency performs agreement administration for Section 8 residential problems in 76 counties. If the residential or commercial property owner or representative is not fulfilling their obligations, TDHA may step in. For more details, call THDA at 1-800-228-THDA (8432) during typical company hours or check out the THDA web page anytime. Local public housing agencies (PHAs) provide services in the other counties. A few 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 assistance can call their regional U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development office. A lot of HUD's programs have specific requirements for housing quality. If your housing is not up to standards, then HUD may step in to have the property manager make repair work 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 assist with renters in rural locations?
   
   Yes. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has a rural development program. USDA helps with some 360 multi-family residential or commercial properties in Tennessee. If you have a question about residing in USDA-assisted rural housing you can call your rural advancement regional workplace.
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   Where can I find out more about healthy housing policy?
   
   Our Healthy Places webpage supplies more information about the places we live, work and play. Click here for more information about healthy housing policies.