Articles

THE NARRATIVE Clint is the property manager of a mid-size suburban apartment complex called Eastwood Village. The complex markets itself as a quiet community where its residents can get away from the hustle and bustle of the city. The owner has directed Clint to create and strictly enforce rules that will ensure a quiet and orderly community. To that end, each resident is required to sign a lease in which they agree not to disturb other residents, that children under the age of 16 are not to use the amenities without supervision by an adult, that children under the age...

Every landlord has to deal with arrests at some point. For some, that day comes when you’re in the management office and look outside to see a convoy of police cars rolling onto your property with lights on and sirens blaring. Shortly thereafter, the officers are leading one of your tenants away in cuffs, for everyone to see. For others, the experience is not quite so dramatic, as you only deal with arrests on paper, typically when a criminal background check on an applicant shows a history of arrests. So what do we do when confronted with the arrest or...

The Background For years, Kentucky law was arguably unsettled on whether a non-attorney, such as a property manager, could file evictions in court on behalf of the owner of the property. As a result, the standard practice of many property owners was to have their property managers handle evictions. By "handle", I mean completely handle. The manager would sign the Forcible Detainer Complaint, file it with the local court, then appear at the hearing to present the case against the tenant in an effort to obtain a judgment of eviction. If successful, that same manager would then obtain a writ of...

Last week we talked about one landlord’s frightening introduction to KRS 258.500, which is Kentucky’s law allowing trainers of assistance dogs to have the dog live with them in their rental unit. For those who missed it, you can find the entire post here. The law requires that the dog be licensed and vaccinated, and that the trainer carry a trainer identification card in his or her possession. However, if the trainer complies with these requirements, the dog is allowed to live in the rental unit, regardless of whether the landlord allows pets. Unfortunately, the full scope of the law remains unclear. For...

As Billy Currington so aptly noted a few years ago, "God is great, beer is good, and people are crazy". Few groups of people know this last item to be true better than landlords. For those of you who follow my Facebook page (Kentucky Landlord Law, found here) or subscribe to my e-mail list, you are familiar with an article I posted a few weeks ago about the criminal ingenuity of an evicted tenant in Spokane, Washington. For the rest of you, here’s the direct link to the article. The news wasn’t that a tenant was being evicted. That happens...