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Kentucky

Kentucky Landlord-Tenant Laws

Security deposit limits, eviction notices, rent control, and more for Kentucky.

How we research these summaries

Every rule on this page is drawn from state statutes and municipal codes and summarized with AI assistance. Each one cites the statute it's based on and links to a published text of that law so you can read it firsthand. Where a page says a city or county has no local rule on a topic, that means none was found for the topics covered here — not that none exists. Local governments also regulate rental housing in ways these pages don't track, including registration, licensing, inspections and habitability standards. These summaries may be incomplete or out of date, laws change often, and every property and tenancy has specifics a summary can't capture — so treat this as a starting point for your own research, not as legal advice, and check with the local jurisdiction and a qualified attorney before acting on your particular situation.

What to Know in Kentucky

Sources last checked July 2026

Kentucky's landlord-tenant protections under KRS Chapter 383 apply only where a city or county has separately voted to adopt them — currently Louisville/Jefferson, Lexington/Fayette, Oldham, and Pulaski Counties, plus roughly fifteen smaller cities. Elsewhere, common law and the lease terms govern instead. Where it applies, a landlord must give 7 days' notice for nonpayment and 14 days to cure other lease violations. One rule reaches every Kentucky city and county regardless of adoption: KRS 65.875 reserves rent control to the General Assembly alone.

  • Kentucky's landlord-tenant law applies only in jurisdictions that adopted it.
  • Kentucky's landlord-tenant law applies only in jurisdictions that adopted it.
  • No rent control — no statutory cap on rent increases
  • Kentucky's landlord-tenant law applies only in jurisdictions that adopted it, and even there it contains no provision about rent increases at all.
  • No statutory cap on the security deposit amount
5 rules summarized · Each linked to the law it cites

Security Deposit Limits

Security Deposit Limits

What is the security deposit limit in Kentucky?

Kentucky's landlord-tenant law applies only in jurisdictions that adopted it. Where it applies: there is no cap on the deposit amount, but the landlord must hold it in a separate account and document damage at both ends of the tenancy, or forfeit the right to keep any of it. Kentucky's Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act applies only where a local government has separately voted to adopt it in full (KRS 383.500). Louisville/Jefferson County, Lexington/Fayette County, Oldham County and Pulaski County have adopted it, along with roughly fifteen smaller cities, most of them in northern Kentucky. Kentucky publishes no central registry of adopting jurisdictions and local adoption can change, so confirm with your city or county clerk before relying on these rules. Everywhere else in Kentucky this act does not apply, and the common law and your lease terms govern instead. Under KRS 383.580 prospective tenants must be informed of the location of the separate account holding security deposits and its account number. Before tendering anything treated as a security deposit, the prospective tenant must be presented with a comprehensive listing of any then-existing damage. A landlord who both fails to keep the deposit in a separate account and fails to provide the required initial and final damage listings is not entitled to retain any portion of the deposit. Kentucky does not set a single flat return deadline the way many states do — the statute works through that account, allowing the landlord to proceed against the funds only after the statutory waiting periods have run and the tenant has not responded.

KRS 383.580

Eviction Notice Requirements

Eviction Notice Requirements

What are the eviction notice requirements in Kentucky?

Kentucky's landlord-tenant law applies only in jurisdictions that adopted it. Where it applies: 7 days' written notice for nonpayment of rent, and 14 days to cure most other lease violations. Kentucky's Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act applies only where a local government has separately voted to adopt it in full (KRS 383.500). Louisville/Jefferson County, Lexington/Fayette County, Oldham County and Pulaski County have adopted it, along with roughly fifteen smaller cities, most of them in northern Kentucky. Kentucky publishes no central registry of adopting jurisdictions and local adoption can change, so confirm with your city or county clerk before relying on these rules. Everywhere else in Kentucky this act does not apply, and the common law and your lease terms govern instead. Under KRS 383.660, a landlord may terminate for nonpayment if the tenant fails to pay rent within seven days after written notice by the landlord of the nonpayment and of the landlord's intention to terminate the rental agreement. For other breaches, the landlord may deliver a written notice specifying the acts and omissions constituting the breach and stating that the rental agreement will terminate on a date not less than fourteen days after receipt of the notice, which gives the tenant that period to cure the violation.

KRS 383.660

Rent Increase Notice Periods

Rent Increase Notice Periods

How much notice is required for rent increases in Kentucky?

Kentucky's landlord-tenant law applies only in jurisdictions that adopted it, and even there it contains no provision about rent increases at all. The commonly cited 30 days is an inference from the termination rule, not a rent-increase statute. Kentucky's Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act applies only where a local government has separately voted to adopt it in full (KRS 383.500). Louisville/Jefferson County, Lexington/Fayette County, Oldham County and Pulaski County have adopted it, along with roughly fifteen smaller cities, most of them in northern Kentucky. Kentucky publishes no central registry of adopting jurisdictions and local adoption can change, so confirm with your city or county clerk before relying on these rules. Everywhere else in Kentucky this act does not apply, and the common law and your lease terms govern instead. KRS 383.695 provides that the landlord or the tenant may terminate a month-to-month tenancy by written notice given to the other at least thirty days before the periodic rental date. Because raising the rent on a month-to-month tenant functionally requires ending the existing terms and offering new ones, that thirty-day period is generally treated as the operative notice for a rent increase. Treat it as accepted practice rather than an explicit statutory requirement, and note that rent fixed by a lease for a definite term cannot be raised during that term.

KRS 383.695 (by analogy — Kentucky has no rent-increase notice provision)

Rent Control / Rent Increase Caps

Rent Control / Rent Increase Caps

Is there rent control in Kentucky?

Kentucky bars local rent control everywhere in the state: only the General Assembly may enact legislation which would control rents on private property (KRS 65.875). Unlike Kentucky's landlord-tenant act, which each city or county must adopt for itself, this provision sits in Chapter 65's general local-government provisions and binds every Kentucky city and county regardless of whether it adopted that act. There is accordingly no statutory ceiling on the size of a rent increase anywhere in Kentucky. The section carves out property owned by a housing authority and federal housing-assistance programs, neither of which affects private landlords.

KRS 65.875

Move-Out & Lease Termination Notice

Move-Out & Lease Termination Notice

What is the move-out notice requirement in Kentucky?

Kentucky's landlord-tenant law applies only in jurisdictions that adopted it. Where it applies: either party may end a month-to-month tenancy with 30 days' written notice given before the periodic rental date. Kentucky's Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act applies only where a local government has separately voted to adopt it in full (KRS 383.500). Louisville/Jefferson County, Lexington/Fayette County, Oldham County and Pulaski County have adopted it, along with roughly fifteen smaller cities, most of them in northern Kentucky. Kentucky publishes no central registry of adopting jurisdictions and local adoption can change, so confirm with your city or county clerk before relying on these rules. Everywhere else in Kentucky this act does not apply, and the common law and your lease terms govern instead. KRS 383.695 provides that the landlord or the tenant may terminate a month-to-month tenancy by a written notice given to the other at least thirty days before the periodic rental date. Because the notice runs to the periodic rental date rather than to any calendar day, a notice given mid-period generally takes effect at the end of the following rental period.

KRS 383.695

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