• Tennessee law covers apartment rental agreements.apartment for rent image by dead_account from Fotolia.com
  
  The Tennessee Code Annotated covers apartment rental agreements in its Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. It is divided into four sections that outline all of the legal requirements to which landlords and tenants have to adhere in reference to residential rental agreements.
  
  

Terms and Conditions

• Tennessee Code Annotated § 66-28-201 (terms and conditions) provides that a landlord and a tenant may include any terms and conditions in their rental agreement just as long as those terms and conditions are legal. All rental agreements must advise the tenant that the landlord is not "responsible for, and will not provide, fire or casualty insurance for the tenant's personal property."
  
  Pursuant to a rental agreement, tenants are required by law to pay their rent periodically (either by month or smaller units of time) without demand. If the tenant fails to pay the rent on the day specified in the rental agreement, the landlord is required by law to give the tenant a five-business-day grace period before charging any late payment; the late fee cannot exceed ten percent (10 percent) of the amount of rent past due. (Public housing tenants are given a 15-day grace period and cannot be charged more than $5 in late fees.)
  
  

Effect of Unsigned or Undelivered Agreement

• According to Tennessee Code Annotated § 66-28-202 (effect of unsigned or undelivered agreement), whenever a landlord accepts rent without reservation and a rental agreement has not been signed by the landlord and tenant or delivered to the tenant, the landlord is bound by law to a month-to-month tenancy. If a person who claims to be a tenant in this instance fails to pay rent, the person is legally a trespasser and can be evicted.
  
  

Prohibited Provisions

• Tennessee Code Annotated § 66-28-203 (prohibited provisions) states that any rental agreement that is written in a manner that any way causes the tenant to waive or forgo any rights or remedies under the Uniform Landlord and Tenant Act is unenforceable and the tenant has the right to seek damages against the landlord.
  
  

Unconscionability

• Pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated § 66-28-204 (unconscionability), a court of law can find that any part or all of a rental agreement is unjust, and thus void, after the landlord and tenant are given "a reasonable opportunity to present evidence as to the setting, purpose, and effect of the rental agreement."