Tennessee House Bill HB0781

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/4/25
• Refer: 2/6/25
• Refer: 3/5/25
• Refer: 3/12/25
• Chaptered: 4/8/25
• Passed: 4/8/25

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 47 and Title 66, relative to wholesaling real property.

Summary

HB0781 regulates the practice of wholesaling real property in Tennessee. The bill defines an “equitable interest” as a buyer’s right to benefit from property after entering a purchase contract but before title transfers, and it defines wholesaling as assigning that equitable interest to a later purchaser for a higher price. Under the bill, a buyer may engage in wholesaling only if the buyer provides written disclosures about the nature of the equitable interest to the subsequent purchaser or assignee, and discloses to the seller the intent to market that interest before contract execution and the effective date of any assignment at least three business days before the assignment takes effect, if the contract permits assignment. The bill also requires these disclosures to be in bold, large-font print and included in the written agreement. It creates a two-year limitations period for actions alleging violations of the new part, measured from execution of the purchase-and-sale contract, and limits the new provisions to transactions involving real property. The act amends Tennessee Code Annotated Titles 47 and 66 and takes effect upon becoming law. The bill appears to have been broadly supported in the legislature. It passed the House Business and Utilities Subcommittee, the House Commerce Committee, and then passed the House on consent calendar third consideration with no recorded opposition. The available voting history shows unanimous committee votes and a 92-0 floor vote, suggesting little controversy in the formal legislative process. There is little evidence of substantive opposition in the provided materials, but the bill’s requirements suggest the main policy concern is transparency in real-estate assignment transactions. The likely point of contention, if any, would be whether the disclosure obligations and timing rules place additional burdens on wholesalers and assignment-based investors, versus protecting sellers and downstream purchasers from unclear or potentially misleading practices.

Impact

The bill adds a new part to Tennessee Code Annotated Title 66 governing wholesaling of real property and creates statutory definitions and disclosure duties for buyers who assign contractual interests in property. It affects real-estate investors, wholesalers, sellers, and subsequent purchasers by requiring written notice of the buyer’s equitable interest and assignment intent, and by establishing a private enforcement window of two years for violations. It also signals legislative recognition of wholesaling as a distinct real-estate practice subject to consumer-protection-style disclosure rules.

Sentiment

The overall sentiment around the bill was strongly favorable and largely noncontroversial. It moved through subcommittee, full committee, and floor consideration with unanimous or near-unanimous support, culminating in a 92-0 House vote. The absence of recorded dissent in the provided history suggests broad agreement that the bill was a reasonable transparency measure for real-estate transactions.

Contention

No formal opposition is reflected in the provided votes or transcripts, so there is no documented dispute over the bill in the materials supplied. The most likely area of debate, based on the text, would be the balance between regulating wholesaling to protect sellers and buyers and avoiding added compliance burdens on real-estate investors who assign contracts. The disclosure timing, bold-font requirement, and two-year limitations period are the provisions most likely to draw scrutiny from industry participants.