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Kentucky residential lease agreement

Answer the questions, download the lease. Free, no account, and it holds your figures to what Kentucky allows.

Kentucky's Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act binds only in the cities and counties that adopted it whole (KRS 383.500), which is a minority of the state. Outside them the common law and the lease itself govern, and none of the figures on this page apply. Check whether your city or county adopted the Act before relying on them.

What Kentucky law does to your lease

These are the figures the builder holds you to. Each one is the statute's, not ours, and the citation is there so you can read it yourself.

RuleKentuckyWhere it says so
Most a landlord may take as a depositNo statutory limitKentucky caps nothing but conditions everything: the deposit goes in an account used for no other purpose, the tenant is told where it is and its number, and a landlord who skips the account or either signed damage listing may keep none of it.KRS 383.580
Earliest a late fee may be chargednot sourced yet-
Most a late fee may benot sourced yet-
Notice before the landlord may enter48 hoursKRS 383.615(3)
Notice to end a month-to-month tenancy30 daysA tenancy that began when a written lease ended takes only 10 days' notice.KRS 383.695(2)

What Kentucky makes you disclose

Where the deposit is kept
The lease must tell the tenant the location of the separate account holding the security deposit and its account number. The account may be used for nothing else. KRS 383.580(1)
Signed listing of existing damage
Before the tenant hands over any deposit the landlord must present a comprehensive listing of the damage already in the unit and the estimated cost of repairing it. The tenant may inspect the unit against the list, and both sign it. A tenant who disagrees writes down which items and signs that instead. KRS 383.580(2)

The clause most landlords get wrong

Rent stated as a base figure with mandatory fees bolted on beside it. If a fee is not optional, it is rent, and several states now say so outright: the lease has to carry one total figure that the landlord may not charge above. The builder asks for the total and then asks how much of it is fees, which is the same information in the order the law wants it.

The second is the assistance animal. A no-pets clause that does not carve one out is a fair-housing problem, not a pet problem, and no pet rent or pet deposit may be charged for one. Your lease says so whether or not you allow pets.

After it is signed

Download the PDF and it is yours, account or not. If you want the tenant to sign it without printing anything, a free Kouzr account sends it for signature, files the executed copy against the tenancy, and keeps it beside the listing, the rent record and the deposit accounting, so the paperwork for that home is in one place when the tenancy ends.

Is this Kentucky lease legally binding?

A written lease signed by the landlord and every adult tenant is a contract, and this one is built to say what Kentucky requires a residential lease to say. What it is not is legal advice, and no lawyer has reviewed it. It is a form you complete yourself, the same category as the fill-in-the-blank lease sold in an office supply shop, and it is worth having a lawyer in your state read it before you rely on it, especially on a property you will hold for years.

How much can a landlord charge as a security deposit in Kentucky?

Kentucky sets no statutory ceiling (KRS 383.580), so the figure is yours to choose. One month is the usual ask and two is the most a tenant will normally accept; every dollar above that is money you have to hold, account for line by line at move-out, and return on the state's clock.

Can a landlord charge a late fee in Kentucky?

We have not sourced a late fee rule for Kentucky. Several states set a grace period, a percentage ceiling, or both, and a fee a court finds punitive rather than compensatory is unenforceable in every state. Keep it to a reasonable estimate of what a late payment actually costs you.

How much notice does a landlord have to give before entering in Kentucky?

48 hours for anything that is not an emergency, at a reasonable hour (KRS 383.615(3)). A lease cannot shorten it, so the builder raises your figure if you enter a smaller one. Genuine emergencies need no notice anywhere.

How much notice ends a month-to-month tenancy in Kentucky?

30 days of written notice from either side (KRS 383.695(2)). The builder writes that figure into the term clause. A lease may agree on longer notice than the statute; one that gives less is unenforceable to that extent, and the statutory period governs instead. A tenancy that began when a written lease ended takes only 10 days' notice.

Do I have to include a lead-based paint disclosure?

Only if the home was built before 1978, and then yes, everywhere in the country. Federal law requires the landlord to disclose known lead-based paint, hand over any report they have, and give the tenant the EPA pamphlet before the tenant is committed to the lease (42 U.S.C. 4852d). Enter the year built and the builder attaches it for you.

Can I have the tenant sign it online?

Yes. Download the PDF and sign it however you like, or make a free Kouzr account and send it to the tenant for signature from here: they get a link, sign on a phone, and the executed copy files itself against the tenancy alongside rent and the deposit record. The PDF is free either way and does not require an account.

Kouzr is not a law firm and this is not legal advice. The builder produces a form you complete yourself, and no lawyer has reviewed the document it assembles. Have one admitted in Kentucky read it before you rely on it.