Kentucky Residential Lease Agreement

• No statewide deposit limit and no fixed refund deadline. In cities and counties that have adopted Kentucky's Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, the landlord must hold deposits in a separate bank account, give move-in and move-out damage lists, and send notice of any refund due; the landlord may keep the deposit if the tenant does not respond within 60 days. A landlord who skips the account or the damage lists may not keep any of the deposit (KRS 383.580).

Reviewed 5 Oct 2026 · KRS 383.580

Reviewed 5 Oct 2026 · KRS 383.580

• URLTA JURISDICTIONS: written notice at least thirty days before the periodic rental date specified in the notice (KRS 383.695(2)); same for tenant.
• NON-URLTA JURISDICTIONS: a tenancy at will or by sufferance may be terminated by the landlord giving one month's notice in writing requiring the tenant to remove (KRS 383.195) — 'one (1) month', not 30 days.

Quoted from the source: “by a written notice given to the other at least thirty (30) days before the periodic rental date specified in the notice”

Reviewed 27 Sep 2026 · KRS 383.695(2); KRS 383.195; KRS 383.500

• URLTA JURISDICTIONS: week-to-week terminable by written notice at least seven days before the termination date specified in the notice (KRS 383.695(1)).

Quoted from the source: “written notice given to the other at least seven (7) days before the termination date”

Exceptions:

• Non-URLTA jurisdictions: KRS 383.195 (one month for tenancy at will) — no separate weekly rule found.

Reviewed 27 Sep 2026 · KRS 383.695(1)

• URLTA JURISDICTIONS: a tenancy begun upon the termination of a written lease may be terminated by written notice at least ten days before the termination date specified in the notice; if the tenant fails to pay rent within ten days after it becomes due, landlord may terminate at any time without notice (KRS 383.695(3)).
• Holdover without consent after expiration/termination: action for possession; willful bad-faith holdover exposes tenant to up to 3 months' rent or threefold actual damages (383.695(4)).

Quoted from the source: “a tenancy begun upon the termination of a written lease by written notice given to the other at least ten (10) days”

Exceptions:

• Non-URLTA jurisdictions: tenant by sufferance — one month's written notice (KRS 383.195).

Reviewed 27 Sep 2026 · KRS 383.695(3), (4); KRS 383.195

• No statewide good-cause requirement in either regime; periodic tenancies terminable without cause on 30 days (URLTA) or one month (non-URLTA).

Quoted from the source: “The landlord or the tenant may terminate a month-to-month tenancy by a written notice”

Reviewed 27 Sep 2026 · KRS 383.695; KRS 383.195

• URLTA JURISDICTIONS ONLY (KRS 383.500): rent unpaid when due and tenant fails to pay within seven days after written notice of nonpayment and of the landlord's intention to terminate if not paid within that period (KRS 383.660(2)).
• Notice is 'received' when hand-delivered or sent by registered/certified mail to the tenant's designated or last known residence, or when it comes to the tenant's attention (KRS 383.560).

Quoted from the source: “fails to pay rent within seven (7) days after written notice by the landlord of nonpayment and his intention to terminate the rental agreement”

Exceptions:

• Non-URLTA jurisdictions: no statutory pay-or-quit period was found in KRS ch. 383; the lease's forfeiture/notice clause governs, and KRS 383.695 does not apply. Product must branch on the property's local government.

Reviewed 27 Sep 2026 · KRS 383.660(2); KRS 383.500; KRS 383.560

• URLTA JURISDICTIONS ONLY: material noncompliance with the rental agreement or with KRS 383.605/383.610: written notice specifying the acts and omissions and stating the agreement terminates on a date not less than fourteen days after RECEIPT (KRS 383.660(1)).
• Statute then says 'If the breach is not remedied in fifteen (15) days, the rental agreement shall terminate as provided in the notice', but the agreement does not terminate if the tenant adequately remedies the breach before the date specified in the notice — draft the notice so the cure deadline equals the termination date (>= 14 days after receipt).

Quoted from the source: “the rental agreement will terminate upon a date not less than fourteen (14) days after receipt of the notice”

Exceptions:

• Non-URLTA jurisdictions: no statutory cure period; lease governs.

Reviewed 27 Sep 2026 · KRS 383.660(1); KRS 383.500

• URLTA JURISDICTIONS ONLY: substantially the same act or omission recurring within six months after a prior noncompliance notice: landlord may terminate on at least fourteen days' written notice specifying the breach and the termination date (KRS 383.660(1)); the statute contains no express 'without right to cure' words but provides no cure clause for this notice.

Quoted from the source: “the landlord may terminate the rental agreement upon at least fourteen (14) days' written notice specifying the breach and the date of termination”

Exceptions:

• Non-URLTA jurisdictions: lease governs; KRS 383.195 one-month notice for tenancies at will/sufferance.

Reviewed 27 Sep 2026 · KRS 383.660(1)

• URLTA (KRS 383.560): a person gives notice by taking steps reasonably calculated to inform the other in ordinary course, whether or not the other actually comes to know of it; a tenant 'receives' notice when it comes to the tenant's attention or when it is hand-delivered or sent by registered or certified mail to the tenant's designated residence or last known place of residence. Non-URLTA jurisdictions: KRS 383.195 requires only notice 'in writing'; no method prescribed.

Quoted from the source: “by taking steps reasonably calculated to inform the other in ordinary course whether or not the other actually comes to know of it”

Reviewed 27 Sep 2026 · KRS 383.560; KRS 383.195

• No statutory form; URLTA mandatory contents: nonpayment notice must state the nonpayment and the landlord's intention to terminate if unpaid within the period (KRS 383.660(2)); noncompliance notice must specify the acts and omissions constituting the breach and the termination date (383.660(1)); periodic-tenancy notice must specify the termination/periodic rental date (383.695).

Quoted from the source: “written notice to the tenant specifying the acts and omissions constituting the breach”

Reviewed 27 Sep 2026 · KRS 383.660; KRS 383.695