(a) The action to recover personal property shall be filed with the clerk and process shall issue. The process shall show on its face that a possessory hearing will be held on a date and a time specified before the judge or chancellor of the court where the action is filed.
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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 29-30-104

  • Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
  • Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. Source:
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
  • Personal property: All property that is not real property.
  • Personal property: includes money, goods, chattels, things in action, and evidences of debt. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
  • Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • signed: includes a mark, the name being written near the mark and witnessed, or any other symbol or methodology executed or adopted by a party with intention to authenticate a writing or record, regardless of being witnessed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Uniform Commercial Code: A set of statutes enacted by the various states to provide consistency among the states' commercial laws. It includes negotiable instruments, sales, stock transfers, trust and warehouse receipts, and bills of lading. Source: OCC
  • Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
(b) The purpose of the possessory hearing is to protect the defendant‘s use and possession of the property from arbitrary or mistaken deprivation. If the judge shall, after conducting the possessory hearing, find that the plaintiff‘s claim for immediate possession should be sustained, the judge shall issue a writ of possession.
(c) The possessory hearing shall be held in not less than five (5) nor more than twenty (20) days after the process is served upon the defendant; provided, failure to do so within the time period shall not be grounds for dismissal.
(d) The process shall notify the defendant that if the defendant fails to appear and offer evidence, the court shall issue the writ of possession, and in actions filed in courts of general sessions, the process shall also notify the defendant that if the defendant fails to appear and offer evidence, the judge shall enter a default judgment for the relief sought in the warrant.
(e) Whether or not the claim for immediate possession is allowed at a possessory hearing the action commenced hereunder shall be tried in all respects as other actions are tried in the particular court in which it is filed.
(f) The process in general sessions court shall have attached or annexed to it a blank form for the use of the court in entering its judgment and a blank form for the use of the defendant or defendants in waiving a hearing, all of which shall be in substantially the following form:

“State of Tennessee

County of ______________

To any lawful officer to execute and return:

Summon ______________ to appear before the court of general sessions of ______________ County, Tennessee, to be held in the courtroom of the court in that county, on the ____________________ day of ____________________, 20 ____________________, at ____________________ a.m., then and there to answer in a civil action brought by ______________ for ______________ under $____________________.

This is the ____________________ day of ____________________, 20____________________.

Clerk of the Court of General

Sessions

By: ____________________

Deputy Clerk

Judgment for the plaintiff for $____________________ and the costs of the cause, and for the possession of the property described in the warrant. The officer is hereby directed to take the property described in the warrant out of the possession of the defendant(s) and deliver the same to the plaintiff(s). The plaintiff(s) shall dispose of the property in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Uniform Commercial Code and shall notify the defendant(s) the amount to be credited against this judgment prior to the issuance of any writ of execution.

This ____________________ day of ____________________, 20____________________.

______________

Judge”

“WAIVER

I (we), ______________, the defendant(s) herein, acknowledge that the plaintiff is entitled to possession of the described property, and I (we) hereby voluntarily waive any right to a hearing by tendering the property herewith to the officer, and I (we) acknowledge that if I (we) do not appear and answer as to the merits of the matter on the date specified herein, that a default judgment may be entered against me (us). I (we) the defendant(s) herein acknowledge that the process server has read and explained to me (us) that I (we) have a constitutional right to a hearing and that I (we) are not required to sign this document of waiver and that I (we) have signed this document of waiver voluntarily.

______________

Defendant(s)”

If the action to recover personal property is an action to satisfy a lien on a motor vehicle for repayment of a loan, the process in general sessions court shall also have attached or annexed to it a blank inventory from which shall be in substantially the following form:

“INVENTORY

I (we), ______________ ______________, the defendant(s) herein, acknowledge that the following items are attached to or a part of the motor vehicle which is the subject of this action as described by the officer serving this process:

(1) ______________ ______________ ______________ (tires, type and model)
(2) ______________ ______________ (radio equipment)
(3) ______________ ______________ (stereo or tape equipment)
(4) ______________ ______________ (citizen’s band radio)
(5) ______________ ______________ (other special items added to vehicle after purchase)

______________

Defendant(s) ______________ (Date)

______________

Officer Serving Process ______________ (Date)

(g) No objection shall be made as to the form of process if the essential matters of this section are set forth in the process.
(h) The process in all other courts shall have attached or annexed to it a blank form for the use of the defendant or defendants in waiving a hearing, all of which shall be in substantially the following form:

“State of Tennessee

County of ______________

To the Sheriff of ______________ County:

I command you to summon the defendant, ______________, to appear before ______________, judge or chancellor for this county, on the ____________________ day of ____________________, 20____________________, and answer the complaint of the plaintiff, ______________, for recovery of the following property:

______________

(Describe property)

This the ____________________ day of ____________________, 20____________________

Circuit Court Clerk (or Clerk and Master)

By: ______________”

“WAIVER

I (we), ______________, the defendant(s) herein, acknowledge that the plaintiff is entitled to possession of the described property, and I (we) hereby voluntarily waive any right to a hearing by tendering the property herewith to the officer and acknowledge that if I (we) do not appear and answer as to the entire matter on the date specified herein, a default judgment may be entered against me (us).

______________

Defendant(s)”

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