Here’s how Waverly tenants can get their money back after paying rent on flooded homes

The deadly flash flood that swept across Waverly in August left hundreds of renters without homes.

But even if a property isn’t livable, some of those tenants still have to make monthly payments.

This applies to tenants who decide to stay in their rentals while repairs are being made — no matter how bad the damage is — and tenants who leave without being allowed to do so by their lease agreement.

Renters, however, are exempt from paying rent if a landlord asks them to relocate while repairs are being made.

For many tenants, the only way out is for a landlord to allow them to break their lease. But if a property owner doesn’t, Vanderbilt University law professor Jennifer Prusak says it’s better if a tenant doesn’t take their grievance straight to court.

“That’s sort of really good generally advice, and obviously, it’s going to be very case-specific,” she says. “If you have a terrible relationship with your landlord, it could potentially be a waste of time.”

In Tennessee, it’s unusual for the court system to favor tenants over landlords. Waverly renters are also less protected than residents living in larger cities. That’s because Humphreys County isn’t governed by Tennessee’s Uniform Residential Landlord Tenant Act. The county doesn’t meet the population threshold.

Prusak, who also runs Vanderbilt’s housing law clinic, was recently part of a renter rights forum hosted by the Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands.

To view the Facebook Conversation Series for August 2021 #TennesseeFlood Survivors on Renters Rights click here: https://t.co/OvvhvAqgTm

— Community Foundation (@CFMT) October 5, 2021

In Waverly, Prusak says tenants stuck with uninhabitable properties can report the damage to local government boards.

If the rental is deemed not up to code, landlords may be given 30 days to make the property livable. Tenants will then be able to pay a court instead of their landlords.

“If six months go by, and the repairs have still not been made, the money that the tenant has been paying to the courts will be refunded to them,” says Prusak.

In the meantime, Prusak says, renters should be prepared to protect themselves against self-help evictions. Those happen when landlords lock tenants out of properties, or starts harassing people as a way to get them to move.

“Until a judge tells a landlord that they have the right to regain possession, the landlord cannot lock someone out,” she says, “I want Waverly residents to know that — even if it feels like they don’t have a lot of rights, and unfortunately, they don’t. That is one thing Tennessee law protects them against.”