Every landlord has a lease. Fewer have one that holds up when a tenant gets a dog, a roommate walks out, or rent stops showing up. If you own a rental and want to know what belongs in a lease agreement, this post covers the clauses that matter most and how they play out in Memphis.
This is for first-time landlords, out-of-state investors, and owners who inherited a house and a stack of paperwork. We manage 1,200 properties and have been doing it for 15 years, so most of what follows comes from watching what a lease needs to say when things go sideways. You’ll leave with a checklist you can hold your own lease up against.
“We manage 1,200 properties and have been doing it for 15 years, so most of what follows comes from watching what a lease needs to say when things go sideways.”
In This Guide
Start With the Basics That Make It a Real Contract
Boring, yes. Skipping any of these is how a lease turns into a headache.
- Every adult tenant by full name: Anyone 18 or older who will live there should sign. Someone who never signed is hard to hold responsible.
- Property address and what’s included: Appliances, parking, storage, yard care. If it matters, write it down.
- Start and end dates: A specific calendar date, not “about a year.”
- Rent amount, due date and payment method: Say how rent gets paid and where. Running payments through one system gives tenants one place to pay and one record of what they paid.
- Who to contact: A phone number and email for the owner or manager, plus how to submit maintenance requests.
Pick the End Date on Purpose
Most owners choose a 12-month term and never think about when it ends. That’s a mistake in a market with seasons.
Leasing here is busiest in spring and summer. A lease that starts in June ends in June, when applicants are plentiful. A lease that ends in December can leave the house empty for weeks while the phone stays quiet.
So if you’re signing a tenant in October, consider a 14-month or 8-month term so the lease ends in a stronger month. One odd-looking term can save you a vacancy.
Spell Out Rent, Late Fees and Every Other Charge
Rent seems simple until a tenant pays on the 9th and says nobody told them the due date was the 1st. Your lease should state:
- The due date and the exact amount.
- Any grace period, or a clear statement that there isn’t one.
- The late fee, written as a specific amount or percentage.
- The returned-payment fee.
- What happens if rent stays unpaid.
Tennessee has rules about when a late fee can be charged and how much it can be, so check the current statute before you pick a number. Don’t copy one from a friend. Also settle how late fees are handled between you and your manager. We keep late fees, and that belongs in writing so no one finds out later.
A lease that promises remedies Tennessee law doesn’t allow can undermine the clauses around it. Check any fee or late-payment language against the current statute before you sign anything.
Your lease should also explain what happens when rent isn’t paid. We reach out to the tenant first. If non-payment continues, we follow the legal process, which starts with a written eviction notice. Tennessee sets how long that notice period runs, so confirm the current rule instead of relying on what a neighbor remembers. If a case reaches Shelby County eviction court, the timeline can stretch out. A lease with clear default language gets the paperwork started without a do-over.
Say a tenant loses hours at work. A lease that tells them to contact you early gives you room to point them toward rental assistance in Memphis, TN, or toward groups like Memphis Area Legal Services before a missed payment becomes a court date. Early conversations cost less than filings.
Security Deposits and Roommates Need Their Own Rules
Tennessee sets rules for how deposits are held, itemized and returned, so your lease and your process should match the current statute. Don’t guess at the return deadline.
Beyond the statute, decide how your lease handles roommates. Our policy is simple. No portion of a security deposit is refunded before the lease terminates. If one roommate moves out early, the remaining tenants reimburse them. That’s between the tenants, not between them and us.
Picture three roommates on one lease with no clause about this. Six months in, one leaves and expects a third of the deposit back. The other two say it’s staying until move-out. The owner ends up refereeing, and the dispute is about their own lease.
One sentence in the lease prevents that. Write it in plain language and have everyone sign.
Write a Pet Policy You Can Enforce
Unauthorized pets are among the most common problems on our list. A real pet clause covers:
- Written permission: No pet moves in without it.
- A signed Pet Agreement: Spell out the animal, the rules and who pays for damage.
- A pet deposit: Collected before the animal arrives, not after the damage.
- Breed restrictions: Ours exclude Pit Bulls, Staffordshire Terriers, Chows, Rottweilers, Dobermans and mixed wolf breeds. Breed rules also vary by owner, and some insurance policies set their own limits.
Now picture a landlord using a generic online template with no pet addendum. A tenant moves in with no pets, then adopts a large dog three months later. The owner has no written policy, no deposit and no approval process to point to.
One more thing. Assistance animals are treated differently from pets under federal fair housing rules, so don’t apply your pet clause to them automatically. Get advice before you say no to anyone who asks.
Control Who Lives There and What Happens There
A lease should say who can live in the home and how the space can be used. The clauses that matter most:
- Authorized occupants only: Everyone over 18 applies and gets screened. We screen every applicant before they’re approved.
- No subletting: A tenant can’t hand the house to someone you never approved.
- No assigning the lease without written consent: Otherwise the person paying rent may not be the person living there.
- No business operated from the home: This one protects you from traffic, noise and insurance questions.
Say an owner skips the occupants clause to keep the lease short. A tenant’s partner moves in permanently, never gets screened, and the owner has no basis to ask for an updated lease or another application.
Cover Maintenance, Utilities and Entry
Most tenant complaints and most owner surprises come from vague maintenance language. Spell out:
- How to report a problem: One channel, in writing, so there’s a record.
- What the tenant handles: Light bulbs, filters, yard care, whatever you decide.
- What happens when a request is abused: We see maintenance abuse and lockouts often enough that both belong in the lease.
- Owner or manager access: Tennessee has rules on entry and notice, so check the current statute and write the notice process into the lease.
On our end, we oversee maintenance as part of management. One longtime tenant wrote that whenever they needed maintenance “it was quick and painless as well.” That’s what a clear maintenance clause supports.
Utilities belong in the lease too. Say which ones the tenant must put in their name before move-in, like the MLGW account, and when. We handle utility transfers as part of leasing so the house isn’t sitting without power on day one.
Plan the Exit Before the Tenant Moves In
Notice to Vacate
Put the rule in writing. Ours says notice must be in writing and received on or before the 1st of the month, with a minimum of 30 days, even on a month-to-month lease. A text that says “we’re probably leaving” doesn’t count.
Early Termination
Our lease holds tenants responsible for the full term of a fixed-term lease, including if their employer transfers them. That’s a clear line and we state it up front.
But a lot of tenants here are military or relocating for work, and those aren’t the same thing.
Federal law, including the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, gives service members certain rights to end a lease. A “no exceptions” clause that contradicts the law can cause more problems than it solves, so have your early termination wording reviewed.
Write what a break costs, what notice is required and whether you’ll accept a replacement tenant. A clear rule beats a case-by-case argument every time.
Add the Disclosures That Depend on Your Property and Tenant
A few items aren’t in every lease because they depend on the house or the person.
- Lead-based paint: Homes built before 1978 come with lead-based paint federal disclosure requirements. Check the current rules and attach the required materials.
- Owner or manager information: Tennessee’s landlord-tenant law asks landlords to share certain information with tenants, such as who can receive notices for the owner. Confirm the current rule.
- Housing Choice Voucher tenants: Memphis has a lot of voucher tenants. The HUD lease addendum must line up with your standard lease, and conflicts happen when the lease is written carelessly. This is a case for specialized property management, not a generic template.
A Firearm Rule Is Coming in 2027
Tennessee passed Public Chapter 606 of 2026, which limits landlords from banning lawful firearms in leases. It doesn’t apply yet. It covers leases signed, amended, extended or renewed on or after January 1, 2027.
If your template has a firearm-ban clause, take it out of any lease you’ll use for renewals or new tenants starting January 1, 2027. Changing it now is easier than catching it at renewal time.
Keep It Clean, Then Actually Use It
A lot of owners think a longer lease protects them better. We think it often does the opposite. A 20-page document borrowed from another state can contain clauses that conflict with Tennessee law, and a judge can set aside a clause that doesn’t hold up. Owners asking rental property owner questions on Memphis Tennessee Reddit threads often get told to grab a template. Don’t. A clean lease with fewer, solid clauses beats a long one full of language you can’t enforce.
The same goes for how you treat the lease afterward. It isn’t a document you sign and forget. If a tenant gets a dog without permission or has someone move in, put it in writing early. Tolerating a violation for months makes it harder to enforce later, in court or in a deposit dispute.
Renewals matter too. Our renewal fee is $100, and renewing early keeps everyone ahead of the calendar. One tenant who has been with us a long time said “Miss Debbie” is flexible with her work schedule at renewal time. Small courtesies like that keep good tenants longer.
Here’s a quick check of the clauses covered above.
| Clause | What it prevents |
|---|---|
| Roommate and deposit language | Disputes when one tenant leaves early |
| Pet addendum and deposit | Unauthorized animals and unpaid damage |
| Occupant and subletting rules | Unscreened people living in the home |
| Notice and early termination terms | Surprise move-outs and unclear liability |
Home rental companies in Memphis, TN, write their own leases, and ours is built around the details above. That’s why we pay close attention to the small stuff. A missed clause is an expense later.
If writing or updating a lease feels harder than it should, we’re open to a conversation.
FAQ
How long should a residential lease be?
As long as it takes to cover the clauses above in plain language, and no longer. Shorter, clean and compliant usually beats long and borrowed.
Do I need a separate pet agreement?
Yes. A signed Pet Agreement, written permission and a pet deposit give you a record to point to if the animal causes damage or you need to enforce the policy.
Can a tenant leave early if their employer transfers them?
Under our lease, no. Tenants are responsible for the full term of a fixed-term lease, even if transferred. Federal law does give service members certain early-exit rights, so have your wording reviewed.
Can I ban firearms in my lease?
For now, that depends on your lease. Starting with leases signed, amended, extended or renewed on or after January 1, 2027, Tennessee’s new law will limit those bans.
Should I use a free online lease template?
We wouldn’t. A generic template can miss Tennessee-specific rules and may contain clauses that don’t hold up. Start with one that reflects current Tennessee law and review it at every renewal.