Quiet Enjoyment Clause
in Your Lease
How this page is sourced
Statutes verified against primary state sources
Every statute cited here was read in its published text before this page went live: on the state's own site where that site can be reached, otherwise on a republished copy of the code. Court decisions are quoted from the published opinion and linked to it, so you can read the original yourself.
Primary sourcesNot legal advice
Content verified against primary state statutes before publicationLast updated: October 2026
What it actually means, what Tennessee law says, what's specific to Nashville - and exactly what to do. In plain English.
Quick Summary - What You Need to Know
- Your written notice gives the landlord 14 days to cure before you can sue or end the lease.
- After that, remedies include actual damages, injunctive relief and reasonable attorney's fees.
- A lost essential service has its own track: substitute services, reduced rental value or substitute housing.
- Tennessee's act covers counties over 75,000 people, which includes Davidson County.
- Nashville adds nothing of its own, and state law preempts local rules.
Count it for your dates
14 days: when does it end?
What it means: The landlord's time to cure ends; if the problem is not cured, you may sue for actual damages, injunctive relief and reasonable attorney's fees, or terminate. Applies to a tenant facing landlord noncompliance in a county over 75,000 people, which includes Davidson County; a lost essential service has its own remedies after written notice under § 66-28-502 (Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-501). Calendar arithmetic only; check how the section counts days before you rely on a date.
Copy and send: As soon as the problem starts, sent where the lease says notices go
Written notice to cure
Fill in the brackets and keep a copy of what you send.
Understanding the Quiet Enjoyment Clause
This page is for Nashville renters whose landlord is getting in the way of a normal life at home: repairs that never come, a service that stops, or visits you did not agree to. A quiet enjoyment clause is the lease's promise that you can live in the unit in peace.
Tennessee backs that promise with a clock, not just words. The clock does not start until you put the problem in writing, so date your notice and keep a copy.
What renters assume
Most renters hear quiet enjoyment and think noise: the dog next door or the party upstairs.
What is actually true
It is aimed mostly at your landlord. The 14 day clock in § 66-28-501 runs on things the landlord controls, such as ignored repairs, and it starts only with your written notice.
Tennessee's 14 days sits at the slow end of the scale. Colorado makes a landlord start work within 24 hours when a condition threatens life, health, or safety, and Texas presumes 7 days is reasonable - so a Nashville renter waits twice as long for the same broken furnace.
Quiet Enjoyment Clause Example - What the Wording Looks Like in Nashville, TN
The sample clause below is real lease language - a court quoted it word for word, and then ruled on it. What the judge decided is at the bottom of this block.
Find the equivalent paragraph in your own lease and read the two side by side. The wording will differ; the moving parts rarely do.
Some leases give the covenant a paragraph. This one gave it a line:
shall and may peaceably and quietly have, hold and enjoy the leased premises
Quoted from the published opinion in Bartolomeo v. Runco, 162 Misc. 2d 485, 616 N.Y.S.2d 695 (Yonkers City Ct. 1994). Judicial opinions are not subject to copyright; the lease language is reproduced in limited part for commentary under 17 U.S.C. § 107.
What the 4 highlighted phrases mean
“shall and may peaceably”
What sits in front of these words in the opinion is the finding that the landlords expressly warranted them in the lease - which is why the passage above starts where it does rather than at a capital letter. The landlord's obligation and the tenant's permission in one breath. What decides whether a Tennessee renter can enforce it with a statute behind them is geography: the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act applies only in counties over 75,000 people. Davidson County is inside it, so a Nashville renter has statutory rights a tenant in a small Tennessee county simply does not have.
“quietly”
The whole promise turns on this word, and Tennessee attaches a number to it: § 66-28-501 requires 14 days' written notice before you may sue or terminate for the landlord's noncompliance. The notice is not a formality. It is what starts the clock, and without it the statutory route is not open at all.
See the example
“have, hold and enjoy”
Three verbs for continuous possession - and Tennessee has a separate track for the failures that make possession unbearable. Under § 66-28-502, where essential services fail, a tenant who has given written notice may procure substitutes and deduct the cost, claim the reduced rental value, or take substitute housing. For a week without heat that is a faster answer than a covenant claim.
“leased premises”
“Leased premises” is the thing you lose when the promise fails, which makes this the place to ask what losing it is actually worth. The case this wording comes from is one of the few that puts figures on it. The landlords had warranted quiet enjoyment and broken it, and the court awarded $674 in actual moving costs, increased to $1,000 under New York's General Business Law § 349 - a New York statute, so that enhancement is not part of the Tennessee menu - plus $250 for discomfort and aggravation and $250 in punitive damages. Modest numbers, and that is the honest answer for most tenants.
See the example
The opinion prints this promise as a fragment of the landlords' own warranty: they “expressly warranted in the lease that for the duration of plaintiffs tenancy she” would have the words above. Then they broke it. The court found the landlords had willfully rented a cellar apartment in a two-family house that violated the certificate of occupancy and both the state and city building codes, and the Yonkers building bureau ordered the tenant out roughly six months into a one-year lease - the lease ran to Oct. 30, 1994 and she vacated on Apr. 29, 1994. Having warranted quiet enjoyment, the landlords were liable for all damages flowing from the breach: $674 in actual moving costs, increased to $1,000 under New York's General Business Law § 349, $250 for discomfort and aggravation, and $250 in punitive damages. One caveat on reading it: the published text ends “[Portions of opinion omitted for purposes of publication.]”, so what is in the reporter is not the whole decision.
How this state's law treats this clause
One court, one lease, one state. That answer is not automatically yours, and your lease may be worded to land differently. Use this to know what to look for and what to ask - your state's tenant hotline or a local tenant attorney can answer it for your document.
Tennessee Law on Quiet Enjoyment Clause
- The Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act applies only in counties with more than 75,000 people, which includes Davidson County.
- Section 66-28-501 requires fourteen days' written notice before the tenant may sue or terminate for landlord noncompliance.
- For essential services, section 66-28-502 lets the tenant procure substitutes and deduct costs, claim reduced rental value, or take substitute housing after written notice.
- Available remedies include actual damages, injunctive relief, and reasonable attorney's fees.
Sources include Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-501 - statutes change; verify the current text for your situation.
Tennessee's Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act does this work. It applies only in counties with more than 75,000 people, which includes Davidson County. Three rules matter here:
- § 66-28-501, the cure period. Your written notice gives the landlord 14 days to cure a material noncompliance. You generally cannot sue or end the lease before that window closes, and you may terminate if it is not cured.
- § 66-28-501, remedies. Once the window closes, you can seek actual damages, ask a court for injunctive relief ordering the fix, and recover reasonable attorney's fees.
- § 66-28-502, essential services. If an essential service such as heat, water or power is lost, written notice lets you buy substitute services and deduct the cost, claim the reduced rental value of the unit, or take substitute housing.
Statutes change, so check the current text of § 66-28-501 before you rely on a date.
What's Specific to Nashville
Figures are the state rule, or the stronger city ordinance where one exists. Verify the current law for your own situation before relying on it.
Nashville adds nothing of its own on this, and state law preempts local rules. What Davidson County gives you is coverage: its size puts it inside the state act, so Nashville renters get statutory rights that tenants in small Tennessee counties do not.
If your building sends every complaint through a maintenance app, send written notice too. A ticket management can quietly close may not show when your 14 days began.
It should. Your written notice starts the 14 day clock under § 66-28-501, so the address and delivery method matter.
Good sign. A promised turnaround shorter than 14 days gives you a firmer date to hold the landlord to.
Red flag. Wording that gives up damages, injunctive relief or attorney's fees tries to remove remedies § 66-28-501 gives you.
Red flag. Entry whenever they like is the kind of disturbance a quiet enjoyment clause is about. Ask to change it before signing.
Sources
The law this guide relies on, and where to read it. Statutes change, so confirm the current text before you act on it.
- Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-501, read on codes.findlaw.com. Tennessee publishes its official code through LexisNexis; there is no free government edition. FindLaw marks its copy of this section current as of January 2, 2024; confirm the current text with the Tennessee General Assembly before relying on it.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
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Repairs promised in a 'reasonable time'
Vague wording standing in for the statute. § 66-28-501 already counts 14 days from your written notice, and a lease should not blur that into someday.
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Complaints only through the app
A clause that funnels everything into a portal. Send written notice as well, because a ticket a manager can close may never start your clock.
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A phone call counted as notice
The 14 days in § 66-28-501 run from written notice. A call or a chat at the leasing desk starts nothing.
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Remedies limited to a rent credit
Wording that caps what you can get after the cure period cuts into actual damages, injunctive relief and attorney's fees under § 66-28-501.
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Utilities cut for late rent
Any hint that services stop when rent is late. Losing an essential service puts you under § 66-28-502: substitute services, reduced rental value or substitute housing.
Your Rights as a Nashville Tenant
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A 14 day cure period
Your written notice gives the landlord 14 days to fix a material noncompliance before you can act (§ 66-28-501).
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Damages, a court order and fees
Once the 14 days pass, you can seek actual damages, injunctive relief and reasonable attorney's fees, or end the lease if the problem is not cured.
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Options when a service is cut
After written notice, buy substitute services and deduct the cost, claim reduced rental value, or take substitute housing (§ 66-28-502).
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Coverage in Davidson County
The act reaches counties over 75,000 people. Davidson County is one, so it covers your Nashville tenancy.
What To Do - Step by Step
Write down what is happening
Log dates, times, photos, indoor temperatures and every call you make. Dated notes turn 'they keep ignoring me' into something a judge can weigh.
Send written notice and keep a copy
Date it, describe the problem and send it where the lease says notices go. A phone call buys you zero days.
Mark day one and day 14
Put both dates on a calendar. Under § 66-28-501 you generally cannot sue or end the lease before the 14 day window closes.
Handle lost services separately
If heat, water or power is gone, § 66-28-502 gives you its own options after written notice. Keep every receipt for substitute services or housing.
Keep paying rent
Pay on time while the clock runs. Withholding rent on your own judgment hands your landlord a clean reason to file against you.
Call Legal Aid before leaving
Talk to the Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee before you move out or sue. Attorney's fees are recoverable under § 66-28-501.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Quiet Enjoyment rules near Tennessee
The same clause in the nearest states we cover.
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