What Public Notice Requirements are There for a Real Estate Foreclosure in Tennessee?

A Tennessee lender can sue a borrower in state court for foreclosure. The filing of the lawsuit serves as public notice and the court may require additional public notification.

If loan documents contain a power of sale clause then a Tennessee lender can proceed to foreclosure without the court’s involvement. The lender must abide by any public notice terms in the loan documents. However, if the loan documents do not contain specific public notice requirements then the lender is required to publish a Notice of Sale at least three times in a county newspaper. The first publication must be at least 20 days prior to the sale. In cases where there is no suitable newspaper, the lender must post the Notice of Sale in at least 5 public places in the county. One of those places must be the court house and another must be in the neighborhood of the property being foreclosed upon. The neighborhood property could include a post office, a library or a town hall.