Utilities Clause
in Your Lease
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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
- § 66-28-504 makes it unlawful to willfully interrupt essential services your rental agreement provides.
- You recover actual damages, punitive damages when appropriate and reasonable attorney's fees, with no fixed dollar amount.
- After a willful shutoff you can also recover possession or terminate the rental agreement.
- The ban covers services provided in the rental agreement, so the lease should name what the landlord furnishes.
- The Act applies in counties over 75,000 people, including Davidson County; Nashville adds no shutoff rule of its own.
Copy and send: As soon as service is off and the utility tells you the account was closed or went unpaid
Ask for the service back in writing
Fill in the brackets and keep a copy of what you send.
Understanding the Utilities Clause
This page is for Nashville renters reading the utilities paragraph of a lease, or sitting without power or water right now. Here the clause sorts out Nashville Electric Service power, Metro Water Services water and sewer, Piedmont gas and trash pickup.
Some leases put every account in your name. Newer complexes bundle water, sewer and trash into a monthly charge on top of rent.
Below is what Tennessee law says about a shutoff, what to check before you sign, and what to do first.
What renters assume
Tennessee names no dollar penalty for a utility shutoff, so a claim is not worth bringing.
What is actually true
§ 66-28-504 names no fixed sum. It gives actual damages, punitive damages when appropriate, and reasonable attorney's fees, which can make a case worth a lawyer's time even when your own loss is small.
Tennessee has no bar on this chart because the statute names no fixed penalty at all. That isn't automatically worse than Atlanta's $500, which is a criminal fine paid to the state while the renter collects nothing.
Tennessee's damages go to you and punitive damages have no cap - the catch is you have to prove them, where a Denver renter just points at $5,000.
Utilities 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.
[t]enant shall be responsible for all utilities and services incurred in connection with the Premises.
Quoted from the published opinion in Dinh v. Raines, No. S-18262 (Alaska Feb. 23, 2024). 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
“[t]enant shall be”
One tenant, one obligation - and in Tennessee the obligation is only half the document's work, because the same rental agreement is what defines the services the landlord has to keep on. T.C.A. § 66-28-504 attaches to essential services provided in the rental agreement, so what your lease promises is also what the statute protects.
See the example
“responsible for all utilities”
In Dinh this phrase did not license a landlord to run his restaurant employees' power and heating fuel through the tenants' meter and tank. Tennessee frames the same limit as willfully diminishing services: a landlord who interrupts an essential service is liable no matter who the lease says pays the bill, and the tenant may end the rental agreement or take possession back.
“and services”
The two words that decide which claim you have. The Alaska court affirmed willful diminution as to heat, hot water and electricity but reversed as to internet and cable, which are not essential services under the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act that governed that tenancy. T.C.A. § 66-28-504 turns on the same word: essential. So “and services” in your lease is a wider phrase than the one the statute covers. The tenants still recovered $1,050 for the internet and cable switch, but as an ordinary breach of the rental agreement rather than a diminution of essential services.
See the example
“the Premises”
The defined space, and the boundary of what you agreed to pay for. Dinh turned on exactly that boundary: utilities drawn for unpermitted garage units and a restaurant's staff were not incurred in connection with these tenants' premises, whatever the clause said. If your meter or your fuel tank serves anything you cannot see from inside your own door, that is the question to ask before the first winter bill.
The clause survived. The landlord did not. The Alaska Supreme Court held that a “tenant pays all utilities” clause does not let a landlord shift the cost of utilities he diverts. He had housed his restaurant employees in unpermitted garage units and let them draw electricity and heating fuel through the tenants' meter and fuel tank. That was a willful diminution of essential services under AS 34.03.210, which exposes a landlord to exemplary damages of up to one and one-half times actual damages. The court affirmed that finding as to heat, hot water and electricity, and reversed as to internet and cable, which are not “essential services” under the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. The same utilities clause still carried the day on ordinary contract grounds: the tenants recovered $1,050 under AS 34.03.160 for the internet and cable, once they had given notice. Two things a renter should take from it - a broad “all utilities” clause is normal and enforceable, and it still does not make you the landlord's utility company.
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 Utilities Clause
- Willfully diminishing services by interrupting essential services provided in the rental agreement is unlawful.
- The tenant may recover possession or terminate the rental agreement.
- Recovery is actual damages sustained, punitive damages when appropriate, and reasonable attorney's fees - no fixed dollar amount.
- The Act applies only in counties with more than 75,000 population, which includes Davidson County (Nashville).
Sources include T.C.A. § 66-28-504 - statutes change; verify the current text for your situation.
Tennessee covers utility shutoffs in T.C.A. § 66-28-504:
- Shutoff ban. A landlord may not willfully diminish services by interrupting essential services provided in the rental agreement. What your lease says the landlord furnishes is what the section protects. No section we read makes an exception for unpaid rent.
- Possession or exit. After a willful shutoff you may recover possession or terminate the rental agreement.
- Money. You recover the actual damages you sustained, punitive damages when appropriate, and reasonable attorney's fees. The section names no fixed dollar amount, so keep receipts and records of what the shutoff cost you.
The ban is about willful interruption, so texts, voicemails and the timing around any dispute help show the shutoff was deliberate.
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 on utility shutoffs and legally cannot: the state Act expressly preempts the entire field of landlord-tenant regulation in the counties where it applies. It applies only in counties over 75,000 people, and Davidson County is one.
The local issue is billing. Many Gulch, Midtown and East Nashville buildings bill water, sewer and trash back through a third-party allocation service, so "utilities included" can still mean a monthly line item.
Our record of § 66-28-504 is about interrupting service and does not reach how a building's bill is divided.
Electricity, water, sewer, gas and trash should each be assigned by name. A vague "tenant pays utilities" line is where an allocation charge hides.
§ 66-28-504 protects essential services provided in the rental agreement, so naming heat, water and power in the lease helps any later claim.
Strike it. Tennessee makes willful interruption of essential services unlawful, and no section we read makes an exception for unpaid rent.
Ask to remove it. With no fixed dollar amount in the statute, giving up actual and punitive damages leaves little to claim.
Sources
The law this guide relies on, and where to read it. Statutes change, so confirm the current text before you act on it.
- T.C.A. § 66-28-504, 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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Shutoff threatened over unpaid rent
A lease line or a text saying the power goes off if rent is late. Tennessee makes willful interruption of essential services unlawful, and that message is evidence.
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Utilities described as a courtesy
Wording that calls water, heat or trash an amenity the landlord may pause. It aims at services provided in the rental agreement, which § 66-28-504 protects.
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Landlord holds the account, no promise
You pay rent, the landlord pays NES or Metro Water, and nothing in the lease commits them to keep it current. Get that duty in writing.
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Allocation billing with no source bill
Water and sewer split across the building by occupancy, with no cap and no right to see the master bill. Ask for a written right to inspect it.
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Waiver of statutory utility remedies
Any clause giving up your rights under Tennessee's landlord-tenant Act. Those rights are actual damages, punitive damages and attorney's fees, with no fixed sum behind them.
Your Rights as a Nashville Tenant
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Willful shutoffs are unlawful
§ 66-28-504 bars a landlord from willfully interrupting the essential services your rental agreement provides.
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Actual and punitive damages
You recover the actual damages you sustained and punitive damages when appropriate.
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Terminate or recover possession
After a willful shutoff you can end the rental agreement or recover possession, so you are not stuck in a unit without service.
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Attorney's fees on top
Reasonable attorney's fees are recoverable, which can help a case with a small out-of-pocket loss find a lawyer.
What To Do - Step by Step
Document the outage now
Photograph the dark unit, the thermostat, the meter and a clock. With no fixed penalty, your evidence shows what the shutoff cost you.
Call the utility, not the landlord
Ask NES, Metro Water Services or Piedmont whether the account was closed, went unpaid, or is a wider outage. The answer shows who caused it.
Ask for service back in writing
Email your landlord the date and time service stopped and ask for it restored. Name T.C.A. § 66-28-504 and keep a copy.
Log every dollar it costs
Hotel nights, meals out, spoiled groceries, a space heater. Those receipts are your actual damages.
Save anything showing intent
Texts, voicemails and the timing around any dispute. The ban covers willful interruption, so proof it was deliberate matters.
Get Davidson County help
Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands helps income-eligible renters at no cost. Civil claims are filed in Davidson County General Sessions Court.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Utilities rules near Tennessee
The same clause in the nearest states we cover.
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