Can I Sue My Landlord in Kentucky?
Yes — in many situations. These are the main claims Kentucky tenants bring, what the law lets you recover, and where to file. Each rule links to the statute or official source. Most claims under the small claims limit can be filed without a lawyer.
Before you sue
- Write down what happened, with dates, and keep photos, texts, emails and receipts.
- Send your landlord a written demand (templates below) and give a reasonable deadline.
- Check the deadline to sue and the court's dollar limit (below).
- If the amount is over the small claims limit, or you are facing eviction, talk to a lawyer or legal aid first.
Your security deposit wasn't returned
| Penalty for withholding | URLTA areas: a landlord who did not keep the deposit in a separate account and provide both move-in and move-out damage lists may not retain any portion of the deposit. No multiple-damages penalty. Non-URLTA areas: no statute. Source: KRS 383.580(4) |
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| Deposit return deadline | Non-URLTA areas: no statute. URLTA areas: no fixed refund deadline; if the tenant leaves owing no rent with a refund due, the landlord must send notice of the refund amount to the tenant's last known address and may keep the deposit if the tenant does not respond within 60 days. If the tenant leaves without paying the last month's rent and does not demand the deposit, the landlord may apply it after 30 days. URLTA (KRS 383.505-383.705) applies only where locally adopted (KRS 383.500). Source: KRS 383.580(6)-(7) |
Free Kentucky security deposit demand letter
You were locked out or your utilities were cut off
| Lockouts & utility shutoffs | URLTA areas: if the landlord unlawfully removes or excludes the tenant or willfully interrupts heat, water, hot water, electric, gas or other essential service, the tenant may recover possession or terminate and recover up to 3 months' rent plus reasonable attorney fees. Statewide: a landlord's entry on the possession of a tenant at will or by sufferance is a forcible entry, remediable through a forcible entry and detainer action in District Court. No explicit statewide utility-shutoff statute found outside URLTA. |
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Your landlord retaliated after you complained
| Landlord retaliation | URLTA areas: landlord may not raise rent, decrease services, or bring or threaten eviction after a tenant complains to a code agency, complains to the landlord about KRS 383.595 maintenance duties, or joins/organizes a tenants' union. A complaint within one year before the act creates a presumption of retaliation. Remedies: those in KRS 383.655 (up to 3 months' rent plus attorney fees) and a defense to eviction. Non-URLTA areas: no statute. Source: KRS 383.705 |
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Your landlord won't make repairs
| Repair and deduct | URLTA areas: if the landlord willfully fails to fix a health/safety violation costing less than the greater of $100 or one-half month's rent within 14 days after written notice (sooner in emergencies), the tenant may have the work done and deduct the paid, itemized cost from rent. For willful failure to supply heat, water, hot water, electric, gas or other essential services, the tenant may buy them and deduct the cost. Non-URLTA areas: no statute. Essential services: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=35745 Source: KRS 383.635; KRS 383.640 |
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| Withholding rent | No general withholding right. URLTA areas: in a nonpayment possession action the tenant may counterclaim and the court may order rent paid into court; a tenant who obtains substitute housing during an essential-services failure is excused from rent for that period. Non-URLTA areas: no statute. Source: KRS 383.645; KRS 383.640(1)(c) |
| Mold | No statute — Kentucky has no mold-specific landlord-tenant law. Where the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (URLTA) has been locally adopted, mold falls under the landlord's duties to comply with building and housing codes materially affecting health and safety and to do whatever is necessary to keep the premises fit and habitable. Outside URLTA areas, no statewide habitability statute applies; the lease and local codes govern. URLTA (KRS 383.505–383.705) applies only in cities and counties that have adopted it. Tenants under URLTA must keep their part of the premises clean and safe (KRS 383.605(2)). |
| Pests & bed bugs | No statute — Kentucky does not specifically assign pest or bed-bug treatment and has no bed-bug disclosure rule. In URLTA areas, infestations fall under the landlord's code-compliance and fit-and-habitable duties and the tenant's duty to keep the unit clean and dispose of garbage properly. Elsewhere, the lease and local codes govern. Check whether your city or county has adopted URLTA and any local property-maintenance code. |
| Heat | In URLTA areas, yes: the landlord must supply running water, reasonable amounts of hot water at all times, and reasonable heat between October 1 and May 1 — unless the building is not required by law to be so equipped or heat/hot water is produced by equipment under the tenant's exclusive control with a direct utility connection. Heating facilities the landlord supplies must be kept in good and safe working order. No numeric minimum temperature is set. Outside URLTA areas, there is no statewide heat statute. For a single-family residence, the parties may agree in writing, in good faith, that the tenant supplies heat and hot water (KRS 383.595(3)). Local codes may set temperatures. Source: KRS 383.595(1)(d), (e) |
Free Kentucky repair request letter to landlord
Your landlord entered without notice or invaded your privacy
| Landlord entry notice | URLTA areas: at least 2 days' notice and entry only at reasonable times, except in emergencies or where impracticable; no abuse of access. Non-URLTA areas: no statute. Statewide, a landlord's entry on the possession of a tenant at will or by sufferance is a 'forcible entry' (KRS 383.200(2)(b)). Source: KRS 383.615 |
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| Cameras & privacy | No landlord-specific statute. Using a camera or other recording device (or entering or remaining unlawfully on another's premises) to view or record another person's sexual conduct, genitals, undergarments not publicly visible, or female nipple without consent, where the person reasonably expects not to be observed, is voyeurism (Class A misdemeanor). Using a device to overhear or record others' oral or wire communications without the consent of at least one party is eavesdropping (Class D felony). In URLTA areas, landlords must give at least two days' notice before entry (except emergencies or impracticability), enter at reasonable times, and not use access to harass. Audio-recording devices inside a tenant's unit capture conversations to which the landlord is not a party and are likely unlawful eavesdropping. Eavesdropping statute: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=19949 |
You were refused or treated differently because of Section 8 or other income
| Statewide ban on refusing Section 8 / source of income | No. There is no statewide protection, and since 2024 local governments may not adopt or enforce ordinances that bar landlords from refusing to rent to someone whose rent is paid in part with a federal housing assistance program (e.g., Section 8 vouchers). This overrides the Louisville and Lexington source-of-income ordinances to the extent they cover federal housing assistance. KRS 65.874 took effect March 6, 2024. It reaches only rules about federal housing assistance; whether local protections for other income sources survive under KRS 383.198 (no local landlord-tenant ordinance in conflict with state law) is unsettled. |
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Other claims tenants bring in Kentucky
| Constructive eviction (conditions forced you out) | No Kentucky statute uses the term "constructive eviction." Where the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act has been adopted locally, a tenant facing a material breach of the lease or of the landlord's maintenance duties affecting health and safety may give written notice that the lease ends at least 30 days after the landlord receives it if the breach is not fixed within 14 days. If the landlord locks out the tenant or willfully cuts off heat, water, hot water, electricity, gas or other essential service, the tenant may recover possession or end the lease and recover up to three months' rent plus a reasonable attorney's fee. These rules come from Kentucky's Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (KRS 383.505-383.705), which applies only in cities and counties that have adopted it (KRS 383.500). Elsewhere, the lease and older statewide statutes and court decisions control. Source: KRS 383.625(1), 383.655 |
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| Injuries on the property | No Kentucky statute sets a general rule on landlord liability for injuries. Where the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act applies, a lease clause that excuses or limits the landlord's liability under the law, or makes the tenant indemnify the landlord, is unenforceable, and the tenant may recover damages for the landlord's breach of the lease or maintenance duties (KRS 383.595). These rules come from Kentucky's Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (KRS 383.505-383.705), which applies only in cities and counties that have adopted it (KRS 383.500). Elsewhere, the lease and older statewide statutes and court decisions control. Injury liability is otherwise decided under court decisions on negligence. Source: KRS 383.570, 383.625(2) |
Where and when to sue
| Small claims limit | $2,500, exclusive of interest and costs, for money, damages or the value of personal property. The division can also hear suits to cancel (disaffirm, avoid or rescind) a contract for goods or services of $2,500 or less. Libel, slander, alienation of affections, malicious prosecution and abuse of process cases are excluded. The division cannot issue prejudgment attachment, garnishment or replevin (KRS 24A.230(3)). Source: KRS 24A.230 |
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| Small claims filing fee | A filing fee is charged when the complaint (form AOC-175) is filed, in person or by eFiling; ask the circuit court clerk for the current amount. There is no fee for a counterclaim of $2,500 or less. A Waiver of Costs and Fees guided interview is offered for people who cannot afford the fee. Fee-waiver interview listed on https://www.kycourts.gov/Legal-Help/Pages/Self-Help-Portal.aspx. |
| Deadline to sue on a written lease | 10 years for an action on a written contract (such as a written lease) signed after July 15, 2014 (KRS 413.160). 15 years for written contracts signed on or before that date (KRS 413.090(2)). 5 years for a contract not in writing, such as an oral lease, and for profits of or damages for withholding real property (KRS 413.120(1), (5)). The 10-year rule for post-July 15, 2014 written contracts comes from 2014 Ky. Acts ch. 142. KRS 413.090: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=43545. KRS 413.120: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=44670 |
How small claims court works in Kentucky →
Tenant lawyers and free legal aid in Kentucky · Kentucky tenant rights · Suing a landlord in other states
General legal information, not legal advice. Laws change and local rules can differ; check the linked official source or talk to a lawyer about your situation.