Tennessee House Bill HB0565

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/29/25
• Refer: 2/5/25
• Failed: 3/18/26

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 40, Chapter 33, Part 2; Title 47; Title 65 and Title 66, relative to consumer protection.

Summary

HB0565, titled the "Tennessee Homebuyer Harassment Prevention Act," creates new consumer-protection rules aimed at limiting repeated unsolicited contacts to property owners about buying their real estate. The bill generally prohibits a person from contacting a property owner more than once in a calendar year with an unsolicited offer or request to buy the property, and it applies to contact by phone, text, email, mail, fax, or similar methods. Before making such a solicitation, the person must disclose identifying information, including their legal name, business address, phone number, and email address. The bill also clarifies that ongoing negotiations are not considered unsolicited contact unless the owner says they do not want to continue.

Impact

The bill adds a new part to the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act and gives the Division of Consumer Affairs and the Attorney General enforcement authority over violations. Property owners may file complaints with the division, which must review them within 20 business days and notify the complainant of the findings. Courts may impose civil penalties of up to $2,000 per violation, award attorneys’ fees and investigative costs, and treat each prohibited contact by a person or affiliate as a separate violation. The bill also expands Tennessee’s caller-ID spoofing prohibition to cover misleading caller identification used to evade the new solicitation limits, and it makes related changes to the Do Not Call framework and enforcement provisions in Title 65. The act takes effect July 1, 2025, and applies prospectively to conduct on or after that date.

Sentiment

The bill’s overall tone is protective of homeowners and property owners, reflecting a consumer-protection approach to aggressive real-estate solicitation. Based on the text provided, there is no recorded committee debate or vote history, so no formal opposition or support is documented in the supplied materials. The legislation appears designed to curb harassment and deceptive outreach while preserving legitimate real-estate negotiations and licensed-agent activity.

Contention

The main policy tension in the bill is between protecting property owners from repeated unsolicited purchase attempts and preserving lawful real-estate marketing and investment activity. The bill addresses this by allowing only one unsolicited contact per year, requiring disclosure of contact information, and exempting licensed real estate agents and government agencies. Another point of potential contention is enforcement: the bill authorizes civil penalties, affiliate-based counting of violations, and expanded caller-ID spoofing liability, which could be viewed as strong deterrents by supporters but burdensome by those engaged in property acquisition outreach. No specific stakeholder objections or amendments are included in the provided record.