Articles — CARES Act

In most parts of the state, the courts are accepting eviction filings, so I wanted to give an update on what I’m seeing and hearing: Some counties (Clark, Madison, Mercer) are interpreting the Kentucky Supreme Court’s order allowing evictions to proceed as requiring ALL landlords to give a 30-day notice prior to filing an eviction. I think that is the wrong interpretation of the order, as the 30-day language in the order is only mentioned in connection with the CARES Act. What’s more, if every property was required to give a 30-day notice, there would be no reason to also...

We’re a few days into the aftermath of the recent order from the Kentucky Supreme Court allowing nonpayment evictions to move forward as of August 1. That news has a lot of rental owners and managers scrambling to get notices out to tenants to pay or vacate. So, I wanted to address some logistical issues and questions that I’m getting. The new order requires all properties covered by the CARES Act to give 30-day notices to pay or vacate. There is an argument under the CARES Act that this 30-day notice requirement ONLY applies to rent that was due from...

In a few short days, July 25, the CARES Act will expire. Once it expires, landlords at properties who were covered by it will be allowed to begin charging late fees for rent accruing after it expires. What won’t happen, unless something changes, is the ability to file evictions based on the tenant’s failure to pay rent. Even though the CARES Act eviction moratorium will expire with it at the end of the day on July 25, we still have a statewide eviction moratorium based on orders of the Governor and the Kentucky Supreme Court. Despite my best efforts (and...

Well, it’s July 1, the day we had all hoped that the state would be open for eviction filings based on nonpayment of rent. But, sadly, that is not the case. For a while now my prediction has been that the Governor will open things up in late July or early August. And that the courts would follow suit shortly thereafter. I’m becoming less confident by the day that that will. My lack of confidence is not based on any hard evidence, but it is based on rumblings that I’m getting from people in contact with the Governor’s office.  Lawsuit against the...

As expected, the Courts opened in Kentucky on June 1. Both the Governor and the Kentucky Supreme Court are allowing evictions to go forward as long as they’re not based on failure to pay rent. For the most part, local courts throughout the state are accepting filings in accordance with those orders. I have 10-12 cases scheduled for hearing in and around Fayette County over the next few days. So, things are moving again. A few reminders on what is currently allowed: Your eviction must be based on lease violations, expirations, or non-renewals that are NOT connected to the tenant’s...