TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Sep 24, 2020

Despite a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) moratorium, many landlords are continuing to press for residential evictions, the Nashville Post reports. For actions brought by private landlords, renters must show up for their court date to assert the CDC protection. If residents do not show up, the Davidson County General Sessions Court is granting some default judgments, with evictions possibly following in as few as 10 days. Additional confusion has been caused by the presence of Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency (MDHA) residents, who do not need to appear because the agency is halting evictions for failure to pay through the end of the year. To help get control of the situation, the court yesterday decided to limit the number of cases it will hear each day and prohibit outside observers, including housing advocates, from watching the sessions. In addition, tenant advocates are praising the addition of Bass Berry & Sims attorney Marc Tahiry as a temporary law clerk in the court. Tahiry is tasked with informing tenants of their rights and helping them navigate eviction proceedings. In response to the growing eviction crisis, the Tennessee Supreme Court will host a virtual eviction summit on Oct. 1 for stakeholders to learn more and explore solutions.