Roommate 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 statute in our record sets a deadline for reporting a new roommate.
- § 66-28-102 applies the state act to counties over 75,000 people, which includes Davidson County.
- Joint and several liability is a lease term, so one signer can owe the entire rent.
- Your landlord may treat an unapproved roommate as a lease violation and serve a notice to cure.
- Our record finds no Nashville roommate ordinance, though a city rule outside what we read is not ruled out.
Copy and send: Before the new person moves in, once you have read your lease's roommate clause
Ask to add a roommate
Fill in the brackets and keep a copy of what you send.
How Tennessee compares
Deadline to notify the landlord of a new roommate, state by state
30 daysNo 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 Roommate Clause
This page is for Nashville renters who want to add a roommate, or already have one, and need to know what to tell the landlord and when. Our Tennessee record has no roommate statute, and our record finds no Metro rule on top of it.
That leaves the lease you signed as the document that sets the approval process, any notice deadline, any fee, and who owes the rent if a roommate stops paying. The few rules that do apply are below.
What renters assume
Tennessee gives renters a set number of days after a partner or friend moves in to tell the landlord, and the landlord has to answer.
What is actually true
No Tennessee statute in our record sets either deadline or gives a right to add an occupant. The roommate clause in your lease sets the process, and your landlord may treat an unapproved move-in as a lease violation.
The chart is mostly blanks, and Tennessee sits squarely in the majority. Only New York City and Seattle wrote real occupant rights into law, both built around a 30-day notice window - everywhere else, Nashville included, the lease is the whole statute.
Roommate 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 lease paragraph quoted here opens as shown and then runs on; only its first sentence is reproduced.
REIMBURSEMENT. You must promptly reimburse us for loss, damage, or cost of repairs or service caused anywhere in the apartment community by your or any guest's or occupant's improper use or negligence. […]
Quoted from the published opinion in Churchill Forge, Inc. v. Brown, 61 S.W.3d 368 (Tex. 2001). 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
“REIMBURSEMENT”
A heading, and in a shared tenancy a heading is how a paragraph of this kind gets skipped. It is worth finding the equivalent one in your own lease before a roommate moves in, because Tennessee's act supplies no rule to fall back on: Title 66, Chapter 28 does not address adding roommates at all.
See the example
“damage, or cost of repairs or service”
The full span of what can be billed, and nothing in our Tennessee record narrows it. Whether cotenants are jointly and severally liable for that amount is set by the lease rather than by the act, so the sentence deciding how a Nashville roommate bill gets divided is somewhere in your own document. It is usually short, and it is usually near the signature block.
See the example
“the apartment community by”
A reimbursement paragraph does two jobs, and this is where it turns from one to the other. First it draws a map, and the map is the whole complex rather than your own front door. Then it names the people whose conduct can trigger a charge anywhere on that map, and a roommate who signed nothing is on the list.
“improper use or negligence”
The fault test, and the reason an unapproved roommate is two problems rather than one. A landlord may treat an unapproved occupant as a lease violation and serve a notice to cure, and that problem exists whether or not anything is damaged. This sentence is the money problem, and it arrives only where a loss can be traced to improper use or negligence on your side. They can happen together, and they are answered separately.
See the example
The co-signer's defence failed. JoAnn Brown signed an apartment lease as a cotenant with her adult son. He was alleged to have started a fire that damaged the complex, the landlord sued only her, and she argued she could not be charged for damage she had not caused. The Texas Supreme Court disagreed, reversed the summary judgment she had won and held this sentence enforceable against a cotenant who was not herself negligent. The route ran through two sections. Tex. Prop. Code § 92.052(b) gives a landlord no duty to repair damage caused by the tenant, an occupant or a guest, so § 92.006(e) had no repair duty to stop the parties contracting over; and the fair-notice doctrine did not apply, because the sentence does not shift the landlord's own negligence onto the tenant. The court added that neither statute, common law nor the Restatement bars “requiring a tenant to reimburse the landlord for damages negligently caused by the tenant or one occupying the premises with the tenant's consent.” A dissent would have held the sentence unenforceable outright because it was not underlined or conspicuous, as § 92.006(e)(4) requires. This is 2001 Texas law, decided on the Texas Property Code - state-specific, and not a national rule.
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 Roommate Clause
- Tennessee's Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, Title 66 Chapter 28, does not address adding roommates.
- Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-102 limits the act to counties over 75,000 population, which includes Nashville's Davidson County.
- Whether co-tenants are jointly and severally liable is set by the lease, not by statute.
- A landlord may treat an unapproved occupant as a lease violation and serve a notice to cure.
Sources include Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-102 - statutes change; verify the current text for your situation.
What our Tennessee record says about roommates:
- No roommate rule. Tennessee's Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, Title 66, Chapter 28, does not address adding roommates. Our record finds no approval right, no deadline for a landlord to answer, and no cap on screening fees.
- Who the act covers. Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-102 limits the act to counties over 75,000 people. Davidson County is one of them.
- Shared rent. Whether roommates are jointly and severally liable is set by the lease, not by statute, which makes it something you can negotiate before you sign.
- Unapproved occupants. A landlord may treat one as a lease violation and serve a written notice to cure.
Compare New York, where N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 235-f gives a tenant 30 days to name a new occupant. Tennessee law can change, so check the current text of Title 66, Chapter 28 before you rely on it.
What's Specific to Nashville
Our record finds no Metro Nashville roommate ordinance: no local approval right, no fee cap, and no deadline for a property manager to answer. A city rule outside what we read is not ruled out.
Seattle went the other way under Seattle Mun. Code ch. 7.24, where landlords must allow added roommates. In Nashville, ask your landlord or property manager for the add-a-roommate process and any fee in writing before anyone moves in.
Look for a written request, an application and a decision date. Our Tennessee record supplies no default procedure.
Look for rent split per person. If the lease makes roommates jointly and severally liable, one signer can owe the entire rent.
Get the dollar amount in writing before anyone applies. No Tennessee section we read caps these fees.
Some leases add a per-occupant charge. Our record finds no Tennessee or Nashville limit on it, so ask for the figure before you sign.
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. § 66-28-102, 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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Short guest limits
The lease calls a guest who stays more than a few nights an unauthorized occupant. Ask how many nights count before a visit turns into a lease violation.
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Fees set by management
The clause says fees are set later rather than named. With no cap in our Tennessee record, the number can change before you are approved.
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Approval with no reply window
The clause needs consent but gives no date for an answer. Our Tennessee record finds no response deadline, so ask for a reply window in writing.
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Blanket joint and several liability
One roommate leaves and you owe 100% of the rent. That comes from the lease, not a Tennessee statute, so push back before signing.
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No roommate release clause
Nothing lets a departing roommate off the lease, so you stay liable until the term ends. Chicago's ordinance requires a reasonable replacement; our record finds no Nashville equivalent.
Your Rights as a Nashville Tenant
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A chance to fix it
If your landlord treats an unapproved roommate as a lease violation, a notice to cure gives you written notice and a chance to fix it before anything harsher follows.
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Coverage under the state act
Because Davidson County is over the 75,000-person line, Nashville tenancies get the full state landlord-tenant act that small rural counties do not.
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Room to negotiate liability
Joint and several liability is a lease term, not Tennessee law, so you can ask for a per-room split or a release when one roommate leaves.
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Lease promises bind your landlord
A written approval process, a reply window, a named fee: once it is in the lease it binds your landlord too, and that language is your strongest tool.
What To Do - Step by Step
Read the roommate clause first
Search the lease for occupant, guest, roommate and assignment. Our Tennessee record shows no default roommate rules, which leaves those paragraphs to set the process.
Ask in writing, always
Email the person's full name and move-in date. No Tennessee section we read sets a response deadline, so your email is your proof of when you asked.
Get every fee quoted upfront
Ask for the application fee, any added-occupant rent and any deposit change in one written reply before anyone applies.
Push for a rent split
Ask that the lease split rent per person, or add a release when a roommate leaves. Joint liability comes from the lease, so it is negotiable.
Sign a roommate agreement
A separate agreement between roommates covers utilities, shares and move-out notice. It does not bind your landlord, but it settles disputes between you.
Get the yes before boxes
Your landlord may treat moving someone in first as a lease violation. If a denial seems tied to family status or disability, ask Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Roommate rules near Tennessee
The same clause in the nearest states we cover.
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