Mold in a rental in Nashville: what to do

Is your landlord responsible for mold?

Usually, when the mold comes from the building. Tennessee's Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act requires landlords to comply with building and housing codes that materially affect health and safety, and to make all repairs and do whatever is necessary to keep the premises fit and habitable. A roof leak, a broken pipe, a failed vapor barrier or a crawl space that floods every spring falls on the owner.

The act does not apply everywhere in the state. It covers counties with more than 75,000 people based on the 2010 federal census, which includes Davidson County. If you rent in a smaller county, the lease and local codes carry more weight, so check with your city's codes office or a lawyer.

Your side of the deal matters too. The law's remedies for renters do not apply when the condition was caused by the tenant's own deliberate or negligent act. Running bathroom fans, reporting leaks quickly and not blocking air vents protect both your health and your position.

What should you do first?

1. Photograph everything. Take wide shots and close-ups of the mold, water stains, the ceiling above and anything damaged. Phone photos carry dates automatically.
2. Look for the water. Mold almost always points to a leak, condensation or poor drainage. Note where it is: under a sink, around a window, along a ceiling below a bathroom, on walls next to a damp crawl space.
3. Notify the landlord in writing. Email, the property portal or a dated letter all work. Describe the location, how big the area is, when you noticed it and any active leak. Ask for a repair date.
4. Keep a log. Record every call, visit and reply. If a maintenance worker wipes the surface without fixing the leak, write that down too.
5. Protect your health. EPA says mold can irritate the eyes, skin, nose, throat and lungs, and people with asthma or weakened immune systems should stay away from moldy areas. If anyone in the home has symptoms, talk with a health professional.

Small surface mildew on a shower caulk line or a windowsill is often routine cleaning; our page on mold and mildew cleanup in Nashville explains the difference. Spreading growth, growth that returns, or anything tied to a leak belongs in your written notice. Not sure whether you are looking at mold? Our guide to the signs of mold in a house helps.

What should your written notice include?

Keep it short and factual. A landlord, a codes inspector or a judge should be able to read it in a minute and understand the problem. Include:

• Your name, unit address and the date
• Where the mold is, roughly how large the area is, and when you first saw it
• Any water source you can see: a drip, a stain that grows after rain, a wet crawl space, a leaking supply line
• Earlier reports, with dates, if you raised it before
• A request that the leak be repaired and the mold removed, and a reasonable date to reply
• Your contact details and the times maintenance can enter

Attach a few photos and keep a copy. Avoid threats or legal conclusions in the first notice; a clear, dated record does more for you later.

What does Metro Nashville say about rental mold?

Metro Public Health's "Mold, Moisture, and Your Home" handout says landlords should make repairs promptly and points renters to Metro Codes for building maintenance standards and to the Metro Public Health Department's Pollution Control Division (615-340-5653) for indoor air questions. The same handout stresses fixing leaks, drying wet areas within 24 to 48 hours and correcting the underlying water damage, and it says removing mold matters more than identifying the type.

If your landlord does not act, you can file a complaint with Metro Codes Property Standards through hubNashville or the Codes Hotline at 615-862-6590. An inspector looks at code violations such as leaks and water damage, not mold species. This applies across Metro, including Antioch, Madison and the rest of Davidson County.

What can you do if the landlord ignores the problem?

Tennessee law gives renters in covered counties several options, but each one starts with written notice and each has conditions.

• Damages or a court order. After giving the landlord 14 days' written notice, a tenant may recover damages, ask a court for injunctive relief and recover reasonable attorney's fees for the landlord's failure to follow the lease or the act. If the lease ends for that reason, the landlord must return prepaid rent and recoverable security deposits.
• Essential services. When a landlord deliberately or negligently fails to supply essential services, which the law defines to include obligations that materially affect the tenant's health and safety, a tenant who gives written notice may choose one remedy: obtain the service and deduct the reasonable cost from rent, recover damages for the reduced rental value while staying, or move to reasonable substitute housing and be excused from rent during the noncompliance.

These remedies cannot be combined for the same problem, and using the wrong one can backfire. Do not simply stop paying rent. Talk with a lawyer or a legal aid office before you withhold, deduct or move out.

Should a renter pay for mold testing?

Often not. EPA says that when mold is visible, sampling is usually unnecessary, and there are no EPA or federal limits for mold or mold spores, so a lab report alone will not prove a code or lease violation. What helps a renter more is documentation of the moisture source and the extent of the damage.

That said, an independent mold inspection in Nashville can be worth it when the mold is hidden, the landlord disputes the problem, or someone in the home has health concerns. A written report from a third party carries more weight than your own description. Angi's 2026 national figures put mold inspection at $303 to $1,075 and mold testing at $250 to $500; Middle Tennessee prices vary. Read whether mold testing is worth it before you book air or surface sampling.

What does a proper fix look like?

If you are the landlord, or you want to know what to expect, a real repair has three parts.

1. Fix the water. EPA is clear that mold returns if the moisture problem is not solved.
2. Remove the mold correctly. EPA says areas under about 10 square feet can usually be handled with basic cleaning, while larger areas call for professional remediation with containment. Porous materials such as moldy carpet and ceiling tiles may have to be thrown away, and painting over mold is not a repair. Larger jobs belong with a local mold remediation company.
3. Confirm the result. EPA notes surface sampling can help determine whether an area has been adequately cleaned. A clearance test after remediation by an inspector who did not do the removal, which Angi recommends, gives both sides an independent answer.

Landlords hiring out the work should know Tennessee's contractor rules. Residential jobs from $3,000 to under $25,000 in Davidson, Robertson and Rutherford counties require the state Home Improvement license, and jobs of $25,000 or more require a Tennessee contractor's license, which for mold work means the mold remediation (S-F) classification. Our guide to checking a mold company in Tennessee explains how to look one up on TDCI's Verify a License search.

Where do renters outside Davidson County report problems?

Most cities in the region enforce a property maintenance code through their own codes office:

• Murfreesboro: Building and Codes Department, online Property Maintenance form or (615) 893-3750
• Franklin: Building and Neighborhood Services, online or 615-794-7012
• Gallatin: Code Enforcement through the Gallatin Police Department, which takes tenant complaints about poor housing conditions, at 615-452-1313 or online

Unincorporated areas usually fall to the county codes office. Whether the state landlord-tenant act applies depends on your county's population, so confirm that before relying on its notice rules.