Articles — fair housing

If you are a landlord in Lexington, I have bad news, and I mean very bad news. On October 10 at 1:00 p.m. Charlie Lanter, LFUCG’s Housing Commissioner, will be making a presentation about Source of Income Discrimination to the LFUCG Social Services & Public Safety Committee meeting. They already have a draft of an ordinance, and my guess is that they are looking to move this train down the tracks quickly.  Source of Income Discrimination?? What does that even mean? Well, there’s a technical legal answer to that question and there’s a practical answer. We’ll start with the technical...

MORE PROPOSED LANDLORD LEGISLATION There’s been a flurry of activity at our state legislature recently, with several new bills being filed that would impact the rental industry. Several of them repetitive, mirroring bills already filed in the other legislative chamber. And most of them are bad. Let’s take a look. LEGISLATIVE UPDATE  Senate Bill 289 – This bill is sponsored by Senator Reggie Thomas from Lexington. It would allow tenants to expunge any eviction judgment based on nonpayment of rent during the Covid-19 pandemic, beginning March 6, 2020. You can read the bill at this link. Senate Bill 357 –...

Greetings from a very icy Lexington, Kentucky. We’ve had some new developments that I wanted to update you about: (ANOTHER) NEW FAIR HOUSING EXECUTIVE ORDER  President Biden also signed an Executive Order asking federal government agencies to review laws that prohibit discrimination based on sex and to enforce those laws against discrimination based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.  In response, earlier today HUD issued a memo that they would be interpreting the Fair Housing Act as prohibiting housing discrimination based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity throughout the country. HUD and its state and local agencies will now be...

As we close out the first month of 2021, I hope your new year has gotten off to a good start. We’ve had some new developments in the rental industry, so here’s your update on where things stand: CDC Eviction Moratorium Likely to Be Extended  In my last update, I noted that it was almost certain that President Biden would seek to extend the moratorium beyond January 31. On his first day in office, he signed an Executive Order asking the CDC to extend their Eviction Moratorium through March 31, 2021, and they have agreed to do so.  He has...

I have two announcements today, both for Fayette County folks, and a Fair Housing update. JURY TRIALS POSTPONED First, all jury trials in Fayette County have been postponed until February. So, if you have a forcible detainer jury trial scheduled for November, December, or January, it has been postponed and you will get a new court date. NO IN-PERSON EVICTIONS DURING NOVEMBER Second, evictions in Fayette County will be done remotely during the month of November. That means if you have an eviction scheduled this month, you will need to contact the Fayette District Judges’ Office at (859) 246-2247 within...