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Your rights · Tennessee
Tennessee runs two very different systems under one roof. Condominium owners get a real statute, the Tennessee Condominium Act of 2008, with a notice-and-hearing rule for fines, a records duty, and a tightly regulated assessment lien. Subdivision HOA owners get no general HOA act at all; their statutory rights come from the Nonprofit Corporation Act, which quietly hands members record inspection, a 10% special-meeting demand, and the power to remove directors with or without cause.
Guides in this state
Controlling law: Tennessee Condominium Act of 2008 (Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 66-27-201 et seq.) & Nonprofit Corporation Act fallback (§ 48-51-101 et seq.)
Last reviewed July 10, 2026· Citations link to the statute text
The first question in Tennessee is which system you are in. If you own a condominium created on or after January 1, 2009, the Tennessee Condominium Act of 2008 (Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 66-27-201 et seq.) governs your association in full. If your condominium predates 2009, a defined list of the Act's sections still reaches you for events after that date, including the fines rule (§ 66-27-402(a)(11)), the assessment lien (§ 66-27-415), and the records duty (§ 66-27-417). But if you live in a subdivision of houses under an HOA, there is no Tennessee homeowners association act. The only HOA-specific statute in the property code, Part 7 of chapter 27, is a narrow 2021 law about rental-restriction amendments. Your association's power comes from your recorded covenants, and your statutory rights come from corporate law.
That corporate law matters more than most owners realize. Nearly every Tennessee HOA is a nonprofit corporation, which makes you a member with rights under the Tennessee Nonprofit Corporation Act: the right to inspect corporate records on five business days' written demand (§ 48-66-102), a right that the statute says cannot be abolished or limited by the charter or bylaws; the right, with owners holding 10% of the votes, to force a special meeting of the members (§ 48-57-102); and the right to remove directors with or without cause at a meeting called for that purpose (§ 48-58-108). Boards rarely mention that the corporate statutes bind them, because the covenants they quote at you usually don't.
For condo owners the 2008 Act sets real floors. A fine can be levied only after notice and an opportunity to be heard (§ 66-27-402(a)(11)), and that provision is one of the sections that applies to older condominiums too. The association must keep financial and other records reasonably available for examination by any unit owner (§ 66-27-417). Meetings of the association must happen at least annually, special meetings can be forced by owners holding 20% of the votes (or a lower bylaw threshold), and meeting notices must go out 10 to 60 days ahead and state the real agenda, including any proposed amendment, budget change, or removal of a director (§ 66-27-408).
The lien statute cuts both ways, and owners should know both edges. Under § 66-27-415, unpaid assessments become a lien automatically, unless the declaration says otherwise fines ride along as enforceable assessments, and if the declaration permits it the association can foreclose nonjudicially, like a deed of trust, without a courtroom. But the same section requires notice to the owner and every recorded lienholder before the first publication of sale, caps the association's priority over a first mortgage at six months of assessments (never more than 1% of the mortgage principal), and extinguishes any lien the association fails to enforce within six years.
The local twist
Tennessee has never enacted a comprehensive homeowners association statute for subdivisions. Part 7 of chapter 27 (§§ 66-27-701 to -706) covers only rental-restriction amendments. For everything else, fines, records, meetings, elections, an HOA owner's rights come from the recorded covenants read as a contract, plus the Nonprofit Corporation Act's member rights, which most boards have never read.
Under § 66-27-415, fees, charges, late charges, fines, and interest are enforceable as assessments, and thus lienable, unless the declaration provides otherwise. A condo fine you ignore in Tennessee does not just sit on a ledger; it can join the lien that supports foreclosure. Contest fines early, before they harden into secured debt.
The 2008 Act lets an association foreclose its assessment lien judicially, or nonjudicially in like manner as a deed of trust with power of sale, but the nonjudicial route exists only if the declaration permits it, and the association must first notify the owner and all recorded lienholders by mail before the first publication of sale. A lien not enforced within six years is extinguished outright.
Under § 66-27-703, if the declaration is amended to prohibit long-term rental of single-family residential property, an owner who held the property at the time keeps a vested right to rent it long-term until title transfers. And under § 66-27-702, the association must, on written request, hand over the record of votes cast on such an amendment, so a claimed majority can actually be audited.
Owner guides
Each guide explains your rights from the owner’s side, cites the controlling statute, walks the steps, and answers the questions boards hope you won’t ask.
Notice, hearing, and cure rights before a fine can stick.
When unpaid dues become a lien, and what limits foreclosure of your home.
The books and records you can inspect, how to ask, and the clock the board is on.
Quorum, ballots, proxies, recalls, and open-meeting rights that check board power.
ARC timelines, approvals, and the laws that protect solar, flags, and antennas.
Fined when a neighbor wasn't? How the docs and statute frame the defense.
Tennessee Condominium Act of 2008 (Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 66-27-201 et seq.) & Nonprofit Corporation Act fallback (§ 48-51-101 et seq.), full text, section by section — the primary source behind every guide above.
The HOA and condo legislation we track in Tennessee, with plain-English notes on what each bill means for homeowners.
The violation-letter analyzer reads your fine or notice and points you at the Tennessee rights that apply.
Browse Tennessee associations — homeowner reviews, ratings, and the public records behind each community.