Landlord and Lease Agreement

[Michael Rogers]

Does anyone know of a legal source of documentation of how long a landlord has to give the tenant a copy of the lease? I signed my lease extension a couple weeks ago and the landlord keeps saying she hasn't had time to sign it and get me a copy.

This is a large complex (Germantown Gardens) in Chattanooga and I don't believe she is doing anything crooked, but just isn't following good landlording practices. I've asked for a copy of the lease 2 times.

I'm a landlord myself so I don't want to be a bad tenant and start threatening, but I'd at least like to be able to tell her the legal time frame that she has to give me a copy of my lease.

Whenever, I sign a lease on one of my rental properties I always bring two copies and give the tenant one copy and I keep one, too. I always assumed that with any contract both parties were entitled to copy of the contract immediately.

If anyone has a link to some legal info documenting the timeline requirements, it would be much appreciated.