Tips From Codes Enforcement For Renting Apartments

With Tennessee Tech’s fall semester beginning later this month, rental agents and landlords will be hopping.

Cookeville Codes Department Director Jeff Littrell said if he was looking for an apartment, there’s some simple things he’d look for.

“I’d look for a place with working smoke detectors, interconnected, make sure the windows are operable in all the bedrooms, make sure there’s no damage to any steps or stairs or anything like that,” Littrell said.

Littrell said he’d also look for an apartment with a sprinkler system. They’re standard equipment on newer apartment complexes, he said.

“And also if there’s something wrong with the rental property when you agree to move into it, talk to your landlord and say ‘hey this needs fixed,’ don’t move in and complain about there’s something wrong with the apartment,” Littrell said.

The Cookeville Codes Department inspects properties when they’re built, when they’re renovated or upon request, Littrell said.