Articles — legislation

As some of you might have noticed yesterday, the state House of Representatives passed House Bill 41, which addresses victims of domestic violence in rental housing, by a 90-3 vote. I wrote a blog post on HB 41 f few weeks ago, found here, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of the bill from a landlord’s perspective. As those of you on my e-mail list know, I was able to meet with Representative Joni Jenkins, the sponsor of HB 41, and the bill’s advocates in order to discuss the concerns of landlords with the early version of the bill. Representative Jenkins...

As everyone who’s watched Kentucky Evictions from A-Z knows, the Uniform Residential Landlord Tenant Act (URLTA) is an odd piece of legislation. It was passed into law by the state legislature, but it only applies in a particular city or county when it is adopted by that city or county’s government. As a result, the URLTA only applies in 19 jurisdictions in Kentucky. For a complete list, check out this article.  HB 380 Last week, a bill was filed in the state House of Representatives to change that. House Bill (HB) 380 amends the URLTA to make it apply to...

As I noted in my last message to my e-mail list (you can subscribe at the bottom of the page), there is a lot happening legislatively that has implications for Kentucky landlords. In my last post, I discussed “the Dog-Bite Bill” (SB 68), which has passed the Senate and is sitting in the House. Click here to get the details on the bill and what you can do to support it. Today, I’m going to take a look at House Bill (HB) 41. HB 41 is a revised version of a bill that was filed last year seeking protection for...

In my very first post on this site, found here, I wrote about the 2012 case of Benningfield v. Zinsmeister in which the Kentucky Supreme Court interpreted the state’s dog-bite statutes in such a way as to hold landlords liable for injuries caused by dogs that they permit to be cared for or housed on their property if the dog causes damage on the property or within immediate physical reach of the property. The relevant liability statute, found here, holds owners liable for injuries and damages caused by their dog, and the Court interpreted the definition of “owner” to include...