Articles — state legislation

Update on Source of Income Legislation

Posted by Stephen Marshall on

Update on Source of Income Legislation

  Earlier this month, Lexington's Urban County Council passed an ordinance that would prohibit housing providers from discriminating based on a tenant's "source of income". That ordinance is set to take effect tomorrow, March 1. The upshot of the ordinance is that if a tenant applies and qualifies to live at your rental property, you could not reject that tenant because part of their income includes a housing voucher, such as Section 8 vouchers. However, the state legislature has been considering two bills that would prohibit local governments from adopting or enforcing such ordinances. The two bills were merged into...

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New Lease Provisions to Avoid Liens

Posted by Stephen Marshall on

New Lease Provisions to Avoid Liens

The Kentucky General Assembly recently wrapped up its 2023 Legislative Session. There was no movement on most of the bills that would have been detrimental to rental owners, but one bill was passed into law that is concerning.  KRS 376.010 is known as the Mechanic's Lien Statute. You can read it here. It lays out the terms under which a contractor has the right to put a lien on real estate because he provided labor or materials to improve the property but was not paid for his work. Liens were available if the contractor provided the labor or materials under an agreement with...

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Update on Rental Assistance, Tenants' Bill of Rights, and State Legislation

Posted by Stephen Marshall on

Update on Rental Assistance, Tenants' Bill of Rights, and State Legislation

RENTAL ASSISTANCE UPDATE Lexington's rental assistance program has become much more landlord-friendly. The Housing Stabilization Program has removed the 45-day waiting period and the 30-day notice requirement from its settlement agreements. This means that if your tenant receives assistance but fails to resume paying rent once the money runs out, you may proceed to give your usual notice to pay or vacate immediately rather than waiting for 45 days then giving a 30-day notice. This is good news that should encourage more landlords to participate in the program and get their rent paid. The settlement agreement still requires that you...

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More Proposed Legislation for Landlords

Posted by Stephen Marshall on

More Proposed Legislation for Landlords

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 –...

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An Update on Rental Assistance and New Proposed Legislation

Posted by Stephen Marshall on

An Update on Rental Assistance and New Proposed Legislation

As I mentioned in my last update, millions of dollars in rental assistance are still available. In Lexington, the Housing Stabilization Program has now opened the application process for tenants to receive a second round of funding. That means tenants who received HSP funding already are again eligible to receive additional assistance. The caveat is that the tenant may only receive a total of 15 months of funding.  So, if your tenant received 10 months of funding already, that tenant is now eligible to receive up to five months of additional funding. The same eligibility requirements are in place, and...

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