Renters Insurance 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
- No Tennessee section we read requires renters insurance or names a coverage amount.
- A landlord may still require a policy by lease; $100,000 in liability is a typical Nashville ask.
- Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-203 voids clauses excusing the landlord or making you indemnify it for its own liability.
- The state act covers counties over 75,000 people, which includes Davidson County.
- Nashville cannot add its own rule: § 66-28-102 preempts local landlord-tenant ordinances.
Copy and send: Before you sign the lease, after reading the insurance clause and the sentences around it
Questions about the insurance clause
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How Tennessee compares
Typical required liability coverage, state by state
$100kNo figureGuide coming soonYou are here
See all 25 cities as a chart
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.
Understanding the Renters Insurance Clause
This page is for Nashville renters whose lease requires renters insurance. The clause usually does two things: it names a coverage amount you must keep in force for the whole lease term, and it says how the landlord must be listed on your policy.
Some clauses add a third thing, a promise to cover the landlord's own liability. That last sentence is the one Tennessee law speaks to, so read the whole insurance paragraph before you sign and raise anything you do not like in writing.
What renters assume
If my Nashville lease names a coverage amount, Tennessee law must require that amount.
What is actually true
No Tennessee section we read names a coverage amount. The figure in your lease is one your landlord chose, and you can question it before you sign like any other lease term.
Eleven of the 25 states on this chart land on the same $100,000 figure, and two write it into law: Oregon's cap on what a lease may demand, and California's waterbed policy under Civil Code 1940.5. In Tennessee it's an insurance-industry default your property manager pasted into the lease.
Renters Insurance 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.
The Resident is responsible for the insurance of their personal property in the case of fire or other perils that would be covered by a resident’s renters insurance policy, as Dattel Realty Company’s insurance policies do not cover personal property of the resident. Resident is also responsible for liability that resident may incur as the result of a negligent action by the Resident, both as to individual apartment leased or common areas, including elevators, stairwells, swimming pool, corridors, grounds, parking and paved areas.
Quoted from the published opinion in Dattel Family Ltd. Partnership v. Wintz, 250 S.W.3d 883 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2007). 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
“The Resident is responsible for the insurance”
The promise, and the whole case is about how far it reaches. The Court of Appeals read it as a promise to insure the resident's own property and nothing more, and said so in terms worth keeping: while the lease states explicitly that the tenant is expected to obtain renter's insurance to cover her personal property, “it does not state that Wintz is obligated to obtain insurance for the Building.” Adopting the Sutton rule, the court treated her as an implied co-insured under the landlord's fire policy.
See the example
“Dattel Realty Company’s insurance policies do not cover”
The landlord telling you what its own policy will not do for you. That is an accurate and even helpful disclosure - and the landlord's insurer then tried to use it as something more, arguing that the paragraph made the resident answerable for fire damage to the building. It failed. A statement about the limits of the landlord's coverage is not an express agreement that the tenant will insure the structure, and without that express agreement there is no subrogation against a residential tenant in Tennessee.
“Resident is also responsible for liability”
The liability half, and the half Tennessee actively polices. Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-203 voids a clause exculpating the landlord or requiring the tenant to indemnify it for that liability. So responsibility for liability the resident incurs through the resident's own negligence is one thing; a clause routing the landlord's liability onto the resident or the resident's policy is the thing the section strikes down. The word to look for in your own lease is whose negligence the sentence is about.
See the example
“corridors, grounds, parking and paved areas”
Now the clause leaves the apartment. Shared ground is the landlord's to control and maintain, and it is where a landlord's own negligence tends to live - the unlit stair, the broken handrail, the step nobody fixed. The sentence stretches the resident's responsibility across all of it, and what § 66-28-203 does not allow is using words like these to make the resident carry liability that belongs to the landlord.
The tenant won, and the landlord's fire insurer recovered nothing. Adopting the Sutton rule for Tennessee, the Court of Appeals held that telling a resident she is responsible for insuring her own personal property - and that the landlord's policies do not cover it - is not an “express agreement to the contrary” making her liable to the landlord's insurer for fire damage to the building. In the court's words: “While the Lease Agreement states explicitly that Wintz is expected to obtain renter's insurance to cover her personal property, it does not state that Wintz is obligated to obtain insurance for the Building.” Absent that express language, a residential tenant is an implied co-insured under the landlord's fire policy, so the carrier had no right of subrogation against her. Summary judgment for the tenant was affirmed. The practical lesson: a sentence about your possessions is a sentence about your possessions, and it does not quietly become a promise to insure the building.
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 Renters Insurance Clause
- The Tennessee Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act contains no provision on tenant insurance.
- Section 66-28-203 voids clauses exculpating the landlord or requiring the tenant to indemnify it for that liability.
- The act applies only in counties over 75,000 population under the 2010 census, which includes Nashville's Davidson County.
- No Tennessee statute sets a required liability coverage amount.
Sources include Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-203 - statutes change; verify the current text for your situation.
No section we read in the Tennessee Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act mentions tenant insurance or sets a coverage amount. A requirement to carry a policy comes from your lease, and it binds you as a lease term once you sign.
Where the act does speak is Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-203. It voids clauses that excuse the landlord from its own liability or require you to indemnify it for that liability.
Look for words like indemnify, hold harmless or release near the insurance paragraph. A void clause does not bind you, even after you sign.
The act applies only in counties over 75,000 people under the 2010 census, and Davidson County is one of them. Check the current text of § 66-28-203 with the Tennessee General Assembly before you rely on it.
What's Specific to Nashville
Nashville cannot add its own rule. Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-102 preempts local landlord-tenant ordinances in Davidson County, so your lease and the state act set the terms.
In newer buildings around The Gulch, Wedgewood-Houston and Germantown, proof of coverage is often a move-in item, and the leasing office may offer a bundled policy. Compare an outside quote first, and read the perils list: standard renters policies exclude flood, which takes a separate policy.
Good. A written figure shows exactly what you agreed to carry. A vague 'adequate insurance' line leaves the number to the landlord.
Additional interest only notifies the landlord if your policy lapses. It does not pull the landlord's exposure onto your coverage.
§ 66-28-203 voids clauses requiring you to indemnify the landlord for its own liability, however the paragraph words it.
No Tennessee section we read names a coverage amount for renters. The number came from whoever drafted the lease.
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. § 66-28-203, 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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Indemnity or hold harmless language
Any sentence making you cover the landlord's own liability, losses or claims. § 66-28-203 voids it, whichever paragraph it sits in.
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Landlord listed as additional insured
That pulls your policy toward covering the landlord's exposure. Additional interest is the fairer ask: it only tells them when your coverage lapses.
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No coverage amount written down
'Adequate' insurance with no figure lets management set the bar after you move in. Ask for a number before you sign.
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A required bundled policy
A clause locking you into the leasing office's insurer. Ask in writing whether a policy from any licensed insurer qualifies.
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Waiver of subrogation against the landlord
This stops your insurer from recovering from the landlord after a loss the landlord caused. Read it against § 66-28-203 before you initial it.
Your Rights as a Nashville Tenant
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No promise to cover the landlord's liability
A clause excusing the landlord or making you indemnify it for its own liability is void under § 66-28-203, even if you signed it.
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No state coverage amount to meet
No Tennessee section we read sets a coverage amount. The figure in your lease is a term you can question before you sign.
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The state act covers Davidson County
The act reaches counties over 75,000 people. Davidson County is one, so Nashville renters get the § 66-28-203 protection.
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Ask about your choice of insurer
No Tennessee section we read requires the leasing office's bundled policy. Unless the lease names an insurer, ask whether any licensed insurer meets the clause.
What To Do - Step by Step
Find the insurance paragraph
Search the lease for insurance, liability, indemnify and hold harmless. Note the required amount and how the landlord must be listed on your policy.
Treat the amount as the landlord's ask
No Tennessee section we read names a coverage amount. If the figure seems high, ask in writing where it comes from.
Flag any indemnity wording
Mark every sentence making you answer for the landlord's own liability, losses or claims, and ask in writing for it to be removed (§ 66-28-203).
Compare outside quotes
Price a policy with two or three licensed insurers before taking the leasing office's bundled option, and ask about flood coverage.
Put changes in the lease
If the amount or wording changes, get it initialed into the lease itself, not promised in an email.
Get help if already signed
Contact the Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands or the Tennessee Division of Consumer Affairs. A void clause stays void after you sign.
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