Tennessee (TN) · Open house rules

Open house rules for Tennessee agents

What Tennessee asks of an agent at the door: the verbal disclosure of your status owed to an unrepresented visitor you assist, the prior express permission a marketing text needs, why agency cannot be implied without a written bilateral agreement, and the breach trigger on a sign-in list.

Last reviewed September 1, 2026Every claim links to a primary source

This is not legal advice

We are software people, not lawyers. This page is a plain reading of public Tennessee sources, gathered so you can go read them yourself. Rules change, and how any rule applies to your situation is a question for your broker, your association, or an attorney licensed in Tennessee.

Say who you represent before you help anyone

At an open house you are normally there as the seller's agent and most visitors are unrepresented, which is the exact situation this section addresses. If you personally assist a prospective buyer or seller who is not represented by any licensee, you have to verbally disclose your status in the transaction, facilitator, agent, subagent or designated agent, before any real estate services are provided, so say it out loud as soon as the conversation turns to the house. The written step comes later: with an unrepresented buyer the disclosure of agency status must be confirmed in writing before the preparation of an offer to purchase, and you then have to obtain a signed receipt for it. Keep the disclosure form with the sign-in station so the writing step never depends on memory.

the licensee shall verbally disclose to the buyer or seller the licensee's facilitator, agent, subagent or designated agent status in the transaction before any real estate services are provided
Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-13-405, Written disclosure (opens the source in a new tab)

Checked at the source on September 1, 2026

Get permission on the form before you call or text

Tennessee regulates the follow-up rather than the sign-in. A marketing text to a Tennessee residential subscriber is a regulated text message solicitation unless it fits an exclusion, and the first exclusion listed is the subscriber's prior express permission; the same section carves out marketing voice calls on the same terms. Ask for that permission in plain words on the sign-in form and store the visitor's answer alongside the lead, so you can show later which visitors opted in. The statute also excludes an existing customer, meaning a residential subscriber you have had a prior relationship with within the previous twelve months, so the stranger who ticked nothing at the door is the one to be careful with.

Does not include a text communication to a residential subscriber: (i) With the subscriber's prior express permission;
Tenn. Code Ann. § 65-4-401, Part definitions (telephone and text message solicitation) (opens the source in a new tab)

Checked at the source on September 1, 2026

Showing someone around does not make you their agent

In Tennessee agency comes from paperwork, not from conversation. Until a licensee enters a specific written agreement with a party, the licensee is a facilitator and is not that party's agent or advocate, and an agency relationship cannot be assumed, implied or created without a written bilateral agreement. So walking an open house visitor through the house does not turn you into their buyer's agent, and if you hold the listing you are still the seller's agent the whole time. If a visitor wants you to represent them, get a written buyer representation agreement signed before you start advising them on this house or any other.

Until such time as a licensee enters into a specific written agreement to establish an agency relationship with one (1) or more parties to a transaction, the licensee shall be considered a facilitator and shall not be considered an agent or advocate of any party to the transaction.
Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-13-401, Creation of agency relationship (opens the source in a new tab)

Checked at the source on September 1, 2026

Your sign-in list is computerized personal data

Tennessee handles a sign-in list under its general data rules, which reach any person or business conducting business in the state that owns or licenses computerized personal information about residents. The notice trigger is narrow: a first name or initial and last name together with a Social Security number, a driver license number, or an account, credit card or debit card number combined with the security or access code that would permit access to a financial account. A plain name, email and phone list sits outside that trigger, but the moment you photograph a driver license at the door you are holding notifiable data and owe affected Tennesseans disclosure no later than forty-five days from discovering the breach. Keep the list in the account that captured it instead of mailing spreadsheets around.

the information holder shall disclose the breach of system security to any resident of this state whose personal information was, or is reasonably believed to have been, acquired by an unauthorized person. The disclosure must be made no later than forty-five (45) days from the discovery or notification of the breach of system security
Tenn. Code Ann. § 47-18-2107, Release of personal consumer information (opens the source in a new tab)

Checked at the source on September 1, 2026

How this page is put together

  • Every claim above carries a link to a primary source, plus the exact words from that source that support it. If a claim cannot be quoted, it is not on this page.
  • Each claim shows the date a human last opened that link and confirmed the quote still says what it says.
  • We only cover what we could source. A topic you were hoping to find may be one we have not confirmed yet, so treat this as a starting point rather than a complete list of everything Tennessee expects of you.

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