Tennessee is the state where the first question is not what the form says but where the building is. The state's uniform residential landlord and tenant act applies only in counties above a population threshold, and in the rest of Tennessee the common law and whatever the parties wrote govern the tenancy instead. A landlord with units on both sides of that line is running two legal regimes with one form, and most templates sold as Tennessee forms quietly assume the act applies everywhere.
Which law applies depends on where the unit is
Tennessee's uniform residential landlord and tenant act is written to apply in counties over a stated population, with the effect that the more urban counties are covered and much of the rest of the state is not. The threshold is in the act itself and the list of covered counties moves with the census. Establish which side of the line each property sits on and record it on the property, because everything downstream, from the deposit rules to the notice periods, follows from that one fact.
In a covered county, the act sets the frame
Where the act applies it deals with deposits, the landlord's and tenant's obligations, remedies and notice, and it supplies defaults that the lease cannot simply override. The application stage itself is largely left to the parties even there, but the tenancy the application leads to is shaped by the act, so a form that promises terms the act does not permit creates a problem at signing rather than at application.
Outside a covered county, the document is the whole of it
In the counties the act does not reach, the tenancy runs on the agreement and the general law of contract and property. That makes the written record more important rather than less: what is not written is unlikely to be implied for you. The practical answer is a fuller lease, an application that captures what the lease will need, and a deposit receipt that says on its face what the money is and what happens to it.
One form, two footnotes, is the practical answer
Rather than maintaining two Tennessee packs, keep one application and one lease with the county-dependent clauses marked, and set the property record so the right variant is selected when the unit is advertised. The federal layer does not vary by county: the consumer report duties and the fair housing obligations apply to every Tennessee unit whichever side of the threshold it is on.
Questions people ask about Tennessee rental application
Does the Tennessee landlord tenant act apply to my rental?
Only if the property is in a county above the population threshold the act sets. In the remaining counties the tenancy is governed by the lease and the general law, so the document has to carry more.
Is there a Tennessee application fee cap?
No statewide cap. Set the fee by written policy, apply it consistently and keep the record, because in the absence of a figure in the statute your own policy is the standard you will be measured against.
Do federal rules change by county in Tennessee?
No. The consumer report duties and fair housing obligations apply to every unit in the state regardless of whether the uniform act reaches it.