2020 Tennessee Code
Title 35 - Fiduciaries and Trust Estates
Chapter 5 - Judicial or Trust Sales
§ 35-5-101. Twenty Days' Notice by Publication

1. In any sale of land to foreclose a deed of trust, mortgage or other lien securing the payment of money or other thing of value or under judicial orders or process, advertisement of the sale shall be made at least three (3) different times in some newspaper published in the county where the sale is to be made.
2. The first publication shall be at least twenty (20) days previous to the sale.
3. This section shall not apply where the amount of indebtedness for the payment of which the property being sold does not amount to more than two hundred dollars ($200), in which event the owner of the property may order that advertisement be made by written notices posted as provided in § 35-5-103, instead of by notices published in a newspaper.
4. Nothing in this section shall be construed as applying to any notice published in accordance with any contract entered into heretofore, and expressed in a mortgage, deed of trust or other legal instruments.
5. In any sale of land to foreclose a deed of trust, mortgage, or other lien securing the payment of money or other thing of value or under judicial orders of process, the trustee or other party that sells the property shall send to the debtor and any co-debtor a copy of the notice required in § 35-5-104. The notice shall be sent on or before the first date of publication provided in subsection (b) by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested. The notice shall be sent to the following:
   1. If to the debtor, addressed to the debtor at:
      1. The mailing address of the property, if any; and
      2. The last known mailing address of the debtor or any other mailing address of the debtor specifically designated for purposes of receiving notices provided at least thirty (30) days prior to the first publication date in written correspondence or written notice in accordance with the loan agreement from the debtor to the creditor, but only if the last known mailing address of the debtor or other mailing address designated by the debtor is different from the mailing address of the property; and
   2. If to a co-debtor, addressed to the co-debtor at the last known mailing address of the co-debtor or any other mailing address of the co-debtor specifically designated for purposes of receiving notices provided at least thirty (30) days prior to the first publication date in written correspondence or written notice in accordance with the loan agreement from the co-debtor to the creditor, but only if the last known mailing address of the co-debtor or other mailing address designated by the co-debtor is both different from the mailing address of the property and different from the mailing address of the debtor determined as provided in subdivision (e)(1)(B).
6. Unless postponement or adjournment is contractually prohibited, any sale hereunder may be adjourned and rescheduled one (1) or more times without additional newspaper publication, upon compliance with the following provisions:
   1. The sale must be held within one (1) year of the originally scheduled date;
   2. Each postponement or adjournment must be to a specified date and time, and must be announced at the date, time and location of each scheduled sale date;
   3. If the postponement or adjournment is for more than thirty (30) days, notice of the new date, time, and location must be mailed no less than (10) calendar days prior to the sale date via regular mail to the debtor and co-debtor; and
   4. Notice of the right to postpone or adjourn without additional newspaper publication shall not be required to be published in any newspaper publication.

Code 1858, § 2145 (deriv. Acts 1855-1856, ch. 83, § 1); Acts 1859-1860, ch. 60; Shan., § 3838; mod. Code 1932, § 7793; Acts 1943, ch. 123, § 1; mod. C. Supp. 1950, § 7793; Acts 1957, ch. 41, § 1; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 35-501; Acts 2006, ch. 801, § 10; 2008, ch. 743, § 1; 2011, ch. 505, § 2.

Compiler's Notes. Acts 2006, ch. 801,  § 1 provided that the act shall be known and may be cited as the “Tennessee Home Loan Protection Act of 2006.”

Cross-References. Advertising sales of land by execution, §26-5-101.

Application to enjoin sale, title 29, ch. 23, part 2.

Certified mail in lieu of registered mail, §1-3-111.

Court officer purchasing property sold through court, §39-16-405.

Officer purchasing at own sale, misdemeanor, §39-16-405.

Power of court to sell land, §16-1-107.

Registration of decree, §16-1-109.

Sales on execution, §§26-5-101 —26-5-114.

Sheriff's duty to advertise, §8-8-201.

Vesting of title by decree, §16-1-108.

Warranty of title and covenant of seizin, §16-1-110.

Textbooks. Gibson's Suits in Chancery (7th ed., Inman), § 282.

Pritchard on Wills and Administration of Estates (5th ed., Phillips and Robinson), § 895.

Tennessee Jurisprudence, 16 Tenn. Juris., Judicial Sales, §§ 8, 13; 19 Tenn. Juris., Mortgages and Deeds of Trust, § 52.

Law Reviews.

Simple Real Estate Foreclosures Made Complex: The Byzantine Tennessee Process (John A. Walker, Jr.), 62 Tenn. L. Rev. 231 (1995).

Tennessee and the Installment Land Contract: A Viable Alternative to the Deed of Trust, 21 Mem. St. U.L. Rev. 551 (1991).

Attorney General Opinions. Minimum requirements for publication and notice to be given to the owner of real property during a foreclosure, OAG 05-095 (6/14/05), 2005 Tenn. AG LEXIS 97.

The provisions of T.C.A. §35-5-501 do not apply to delinquent tax sales, OAG 07-135 (9/12/07), 2007 Tenn. AG LEXIS 135.