You Talkin' To Me?

            I got a text message last week from a friend in south central Kentucky who has been reading kylandlordlaw.com. He said he thought the site is “a great resource for landlords that are under that particular law”. While I took a second to bask in the compliment (okay, several seconds), it struck me that my friend, an attorney who practices criminal law, was under the impression that kylandlordlaw.com is only of benefit to landlords in certain parts of the state.

             This impression was based upon my friend’s (correct) understanding that Kentucky is a bit divided as to the laws that apply to landlords. 19 cities and counties in Kentucky are under the Uniform Residential Landlord Tenant Act (URLTA), codified as KRS 383.500-383.715. Given that there are 120 counties and over 420 cities in the state, only a relatively few areas are covered by the URLTA. However, these areas include our two largest cities, plus dense population centers in northern Kentucky, so the number of landlords affected by URLTA is actually pretty significant, and you should only expect the number of areas that adopt the URLTA to grow in the coming years. The full list of cities and counties covered by the URLTA is as follows:

1. Barbourville
2. Bellevue
3. Bromley
4. Covington
5. Dayton
6. Florence
7. Lexington-Fayette County
8. Georgetown
9. Louisville-Jefferson County
10. Ludlow
11. Melbourne
12. Newport
13. Oldham County
14. Pulaski County
15. Shelbyville
16. Silver Grove
17. Southgate
18. Taylor Mill
19. Woodlawn

            But, if I’m a landlord that is not in a URLTA city or county, will I learn anything from kylandlordlaw.com? Absolutely, because while the URLTA is a significant piece of legislation, it is only a small piece of the total body of law affecting landlords. In fact, most landlord-tenant laws apply to the entire state. For example, so far, most blog articles have dealt with Fair Housing law issues, such as reasonable accommodations. Congress has passed certain Fair Housing laws that apply across the nation, and most states (and some cities) have adopted their own Fair Housing laws. Kentucky has adopted a set of Fair Housing laws (found in KRS 344) that applies to the entire state. So, every landlord in the state of Kentucky must follow both state and federal Fair Housing laws, and some have local Fair Housing laws as well. As a result, when you see an article on Fair Housing law on this site, you can be sure, no matter where you’re located in Kentucky, I’m talking to you. You can also be sure that, if an article on the site is addressing an issue where the law in the state is split, I’ll cover both sides. Because that’s how we roll at kylandlordlaw.com.

             I want to give a big thank you to all my readers throughout the state. Be on the lookout for an upcoming blog post on the rules and restrictions that landlords may lawfully put on assistance animals. As always, e-mail me at kylandlordlaw@gmail.com and let me know what topics you’d like to see covered on the blog. If anyone recognizes the movie being quoted in the title of this article, post it in the comments section (don’t use your Google machine). Bonus points if you can also name the actor. If you knew it without looking it up, well, you’re getting old like me.