What your board needs to know about licensing, fine authority, towing, and contract terms before you sign a security guard agreement.
In Tennessee, HOA security personnel are guards licensed under the state’s Private Protective Services Licensing and Regulatory Act (T.C.A. Title 62, Chapter 35), regulated by the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance. They can patrol, check access at gates, verify credentials, and tell uninvited visitors to leave. They cannot issue fines, write citations, or tow a vehicle themselves; those actions stay with the board, its governing documents, and the licensed tow operator under separate state law.
A licensed guard can patrol common areas, staff a gate, check visitor and resident credentials, observe and log activity, and ask someone without authorization to leave the property. Like any private citizen in Tennessee, a guard may detain a person who commits a felony or a breach of the peace in their presence under T.C.A. §§ 40-7-109 through 40-7-115, but must then deliver that person to a law enforcement officer without unnecessary delay. Tennessee Attorney General opinions 03-018 and 14-93 both confirm security officers hold no greater arrest authority than an ordinary private citizen.
Guards cannot impose fines or run a violation hearing. For condominiums governed by Tennessee’s Horizontal Property Act, fine and hearing procedures sit with the association under T.C.A. §§ 66-27-401 and 66-27-402(a)(11), which require notice and an opportunity to be heard. Tennessee has no comparable statewide statute for non-condominium HOAs, so that authority comes from the community’s own recorded covenants and bylaws. Towing works the same way: T.C.A. Title 55, Chapter 16 requires posted signage and written authorization under § 55-16-112 from the property owner before a licensed tow company can remove a vehicle.
Under T.C.A. § 39-14-405, consent to be on a property can be revoked, so a guard who has told a visitor to leave and is refused can document the refusal and call local police to enforce criminal trespass; the guard does not make a prosecutable determination alone. Before signing, boards should confirm the guard company’s Title 62, Chapter 35 license directly with the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, require proof of commercial general liability insurance, spell out post orders and shift/incident reporting in the contract, and include a short-notice termination clause.
No. Fines are the HOA board’s authority under the community’s governing documents, and for condominiums, under the notice-and-hearing process in T.C.A. § 66-27-402. A guard can document a violation and report it to the board, but has no independent legal authority to impose a fine.
Not directly. T.C.A. Title 55, Chapter 16 requires posted warning signage and written authorization from the property owner before a licensed towing company can remove a vehicle. A guard can flag the violation, but the board and the tow operator carry out the tow under that statute.
Tell us about your community and we’ll help you build a staffing plan and contract that holds up.
Request a Consultation