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Today’s Lesson from Eviction Court demonstrates the old adage that “no good deed goes unpunished”. For most landlords, any time a tenant becomes past due on the rental payment, a notice is sent advising the tenant that if the payment is not made within a certain number of days, depending on the applicable lease and law, the tenancy will be terminated. In some cases, the tenant pays the rent and the problem is solved. In other cases, the tenant moves out and the problem is partly solved. In still other cases, the tenant fails to pay and the landlord files...

I recently encountered an interesting situation in eviction court that provided an opportunity for clarification on the best practices for evictions. The tenant being evicted lived in a building containing multiple units. The building had access doors in the front and rear. Each access door was locked, but had a coded entry pad. When the tenant failed to pay the monthly rent, the landlord taped a notice on the door of the tenant’s rental unit indicating that the tenant would be evicted if the rent was not paid in full. When the tenant failed to pay within the proper time...

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...