Property Maintenance in Tennessee (2026)
23 rules on the books across Tennessee, 11 cities and counties. Select a rule to read the full details.
Severity: Few Restrictions · Light Restrictions · Some Restrictions · Significant Restrictions · Heavy Restrictions
Property Blight
Standards for property appearance including peeling paint, broken windows, junk accumulation, and other conditions the city considers blight.
Tennessee: statewide
StatewideHeavy RestrictionsTennessee state law in T.C.A. Title 13 authorizes municipalities to declare and abate blighted property, but sets…
Read full rule →Clarksville
Heavy RestrictionsClarksville did not adopt the International Property Maintenance Code. It wrote its own as Title 4, Chapter 6, and…
Read full rule →Memphis
Heavy RestrictionsMemphis aggressively enforces blight through Code Enforcement under Ordinance No. 5708 (International Property…
Read full rule →Shelby County
Heavy RestrictionsIn unincorporated Shelby County, the litter-control division of the Code (Chapter 44) prohibits maintaining a nuisance…
Read full rule →Chattanooga
Significant RestrictionsChattanooga's Code Official condemns any building matching the 23-part "unsafe structure" definition in City Code…
Read full rule →Franklin
Significant RestrictionsFranklin's unsafe and unsanitary structures ordinance lets the building official order repair, vacate-and-close, or…
Read full rule →Hendersonville
Significant RestrictionsHendersonville's code official can order an owner to repair, board up, or demolish any structure so deteriorated or…
Read full rule →Knox County
Significant RestrictionsKnox County adopted Tennessee's blighted-property statute wholesale, letting the code official order an owner to fix a…
Read full rule →Knoxville
Significant RestrictionsKnoxville declares unfit or dangerous buildings public nuisances and can order the owner to repair or demolish them…
Read full rule →Murfreesboro
Significant RestrictionsMurfreesboro's public officer can order owners to repair or demolish dwellings found unfit for human habitation, then…
Read full rule →Nashville
Significant RestrictionsMetro's Department of Codes Administration can order owners of dwellings unfit for habitation to repair, vacate, or…
Read full rule →Sumner County
Some RestrictionsSumner County can order removal of debris, overgrowth, and dilapidated conditions that endanger health or safety, and…
Read full rule →Vacant Lot Maintenance
Requirements for maintaining vacant or undeveloped land, including mowing, fencing, and preventing dumping and trespassing.
Clarksville
Heavy RestrictionsClarksville makes every owner or tenant periodically cut grass and weeds, and it is unlawful to ignore a cutting order…
Read full rule →Memphis
Heavy RestrictionsMemphis requires owners of vacant lots to maintain their properties free of high weeds, trash, and debris under…
Read full rule →Murfreesboro
Heavy RestrictionsDumping or depositing litter on any open or vacant lot in Murfreesboro is banned outright: the prohibition applies even…
Read full rule →Shelby County
Heavy RestrictionsShelby County Code section 44-89 bars anyone in charge of property, improved or vacant, from allowing litter to…
Read full rule →Chattanooga
Some RestrictionsChattanooga caps grass, weeds, and underbrush at 10 inches on all premises and exterior property, vacant and unimproved…
Read full rule →Hendersonville
Some RestrictionsVacant and undeveloped lots in Hendersonville get an 18-inch weed and grass limit instead of the 10-inch rule for…
Read full rule →Knox County
Some RestrictionsKnox County's Lot Cleanliness chapter of the 2018 IPMC amendments declares overgrown vegetation and accumulated debris…
Read full rule →Knoxville
Some RestrictionsVacant and unimproved lots in Knoxville are held to the same 12-inch rule as occupied property: owners must keep weeds…
Read full rule →Nashville
Some RestrictionsMetro Nashville bars excessive vegetation and debris on any lot, occupied or vacant; weeds over twelve inches violate…
Read full rule →Sumner County
Some RestrictionsOwners of vacant lots in unincorporated Sumner County must keep them free of overgrowth, accumulated debris, and dumped…
Read full rule →Snow & Sidewalk Clearing
Your responsibility to clear snow and ice from sidewalks next to your property, including deadlines after a snowfall and penalties for not clearing.