Tennessee HOA Compliance

1. Introduction

Tennessee splits its common-interest community law by property form. No single statewide planned-community act covers non-condominium subdivision HOAs. Their authority typically flows from recorded covenants, bylaws, corporate charters, and, when an association incorporates as a nonprofit corporation, the Tennessee Nonprofit Corporation Act at Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 48-51-101 et seq.¹ Condominiums follow a different track. The Tennessee Condominium Act of 2008, Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 66-27-201 et seq., governs newer projects, and the older Horizontal Property Act, Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 66-27-101 et seq., still applies to earlier ones.²

A civil HOA dispute may start in Circuit Court or Chancery Court, depending on the claim. Civil appeals then move to the Tennessee Court of Appeals, with possible review by the Tennessee Supreme Court.³ Tennessee does not run a dedicated HOA regulatory agency. The Tennessee Real Estate Commission regulates real-estate licensees,⁴ and the Attorney General's Division of Consumer Affairs handles general consumer complaints.⁵

Recent activity stays targeted rather than sweeping. Lawmakers enacted 2025 and 2026 measures on condominium escrow funds, EV chargers, and HOA fidelity bonds, and the Court of Appeals issued decisions on covenant enforcement and HOA access disputes.⁶ Place Tennessee within the national HOA-law landscape, and it remains a lighter-regulation state for non-condominium planned communities, with narrower statutory overlays for specific issues.⁷

2. Primary statute and key resources

• Subdivision HOA baseline, Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 48-51-101 et seq. Non-condominium HOA governance leans heavily on recorded documents and nonprofit corporate law.⁸
• Condominium statutes, Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 66-27-101 et seq. and 66-27-201 et seq. These chapters frame Tennessee's condominium regime.⁹
• Tennessee courts. Circuit and Chancery Courts handle trial-level civil disputes, the Court of Appeals hears civil appeals, and the Supreme Court takes discretionary review.¹⁰
• Tennessee Real Estate Commission. TREC regulates real-estate license categories. It does not issue a stand-alone HOA manager license.¹¹
• Tennessee Attorney General, Division of Consumer Affairs. DCA receives consumer complaints and forwards them for attempted resolution.¹²

4. Tennessee's recent regulatory landscape

Recent Legislation

Tennessee's recent HOA legislation stays issue-specific. The General Assembly hasn't passed a general planned-community act, but it has enacted targeted rules on fidelity bonds, EV chargers, and condominium escrow.

Recent Court Rulings

Tennessee's recent HOA appellate opinions cluster in the Court of Appeals. They often turn on covenant text, declaratory judgment procedure, and the record supporting summary judgment.

Regulatory Developments

Tennessee doesn't run a dedicated HOA regulator. When association-run utility systems come up, the Public Utility Commission can step in alongside ordinary covenant disputes.

Active Policy Debates

Policy debate in Tennessee stays bill-specific rather than moving toward a general HOA act. Recent proposals took on child-care use restrictions, first-responder emergency-vehicle parking, and the TVPOA utility-jurisdiction issue that TPUC Docket No. 25-00048 raises.^19,20,21

5. Closing note

HOA Weekly's Tennessee coverage will grow as new bills, appellate rulings, utility dockets, and agency materials surface. Federal frameworks — the Fair Housing Act, the ADA, the FDCPA, the SCRA, and the FCC's Over-the-Air Reception Devices Rule — may also apply to Tennessee associations depending on the facts. Deeper federal coverage will live at /federal/.^{22,23,24,25,26}

Footnotes

1. Tennessee Code public access, Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 48-51-101 et seq. ↩
2. Tennessee Code public access, Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 66-27-101 et seq. and 66-27-201 et seq. ↩
3. Tennessee Courts, Circuit, Criminal, Chancery Courts; Tennessee Courts, Court of Appeals; Tennessee Courts, Supreme Court ↩
4. Tennessee Real Estate Commission ↩
5. Tennessee Attorney General, Division of Consumer Affairs ↩
6. Tennessee General Assembly, SB2326/HB2338; Tennessee General Assembly, HB1875/SB1787; Tennessee General Assembly, SB1079/HB0871; Hurley v. Green Shadows Homeowners Association, Inc.; Morris v. Foster, et al. ↩
7. Tennessee Code public access, Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 48-51-101 et seq.; §§ 66-27-101 et seq.; §§ 66-27-201 et seq. ↩
8. Tennessee Code public access, Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 48-51-101 et seq. ↩
9. Tennessee Code public access, Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 66-27-101 et seq. and 66-27-201 et seq. ↩
10. Tennessee Courts, Circuit, Criminal, Chancery Courts; Tennessee Courts, Court of Appeals; Tennessee Courts, Supreme Court ↩
11. Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, Tennessee Real Estate Commission ↩
12. Tennessee Attorney General, File a Consumer Complaint ↩
13. Tennessee Public Chapter 731, property owners' associations' responsibility to maintain fidelity bonds (SB2326/HB2338) ↩
14. Tennessee General Assembly, HB1875/SB1787 bill text, electric vehicle charging stations ↩
15. Tennessee Public Chapter 180, use of escrow funds for condominium projects (SB1079/HB0871) ↩
16. Tennessee Court of Appeals, Hurley v. Green Shadows Homeowners Association, Inc., No. W2024-00556-COA-R3-CV ↩
17. Tennessee Court of Appeals, Morris v. Foster, et al., No. M2024-00711-COA-R3-CV ↩
18. Tennessee Public Utility Commission, Electronic Docket No. 25-00048; Order Holding Docket in Abeyance ↩
19. Tennessee General Assembly, SB2534/HB2164 ↩
20. Tennessee General Assembly, HB1069/SB1013 child-care property-use bill text ↩
21. Tennessee General Assembly, HB1462/SB1763 first-responder vehicle parking bill text ↩
22. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Fair Housing Act overview ↩
23. ADA.gov, Americans with Disabilities Act text ↩
24. Federal Trade Commission, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act text ↩
25. U.S. Department of Justice, Servicemembers Civil Relief Act summary ↩
26. Federal Communications Commission, Over-the-Air Reception Devices Rule ↩