Kentucky security deposit law

No section of KRS chapter 383, Kentucky's landlord and tenant chapter, caps the amount of a security deposit. No broader deposit-limit review is recorded for this page.

KRS chapter 383 KRS 383.580

• In a URLTA locality, a deposit brings account and damage-listing duties, and missing them can cost you the right to keep any of it. KRS 383.580(1) to (4) See Returning the deposit on the Kentucky page

No section of KRS chapter 383 sets a deadline for returning a security deposit, so the lease should set one. In a URLTA locality, KRS 383.580(4) says: "No landlord shall be entitled to retain any portion of a security deposit if the security deposit was not deposited in a separate account as required by subsection (1) of this section and if the initial and final damage listings required by subsections (2) and (3) of this section are not provided."

KRS chapter 383 KRS 383.580(4)

• At the end of the tenancy in a URLTA locality, inspect the home and compile a comprehensive listing of any damage you will charge against the deposit, with the estimated dollar cost of repairing it. The tenant may inspect the home to check it, and you both sign it, or the tenant signs a specific written statement of dissent. KRS 383.580(3)
• A tenant who neither signs the move-out listing nor signs a statement of dissent may not recover damages under the deposit section. KRS 383.580(5)
• If the tenant leaves without paying the last month's rent and does not ask for the deposit back, you may apply the deposit to the rent owed after 30 days. KRS 383.580(6)
• If the tenant leaves owing no rent and a refund is due, send notice of the refund amount to the tenant's last known or reasonably determinable address. If the tenant does not respond within 60 days after you send it, you may keep the deposit free from any claim of the tenant. KRS 383.580(7)
• The account and move-in listing rules are under deposit account and move-in condition. KRS 383.580(1), (2) See Deposit account and interest on the Kentucky page

In a URLTA locality, deposit the security deposit in an account used only for that purpose, in a bank or other lending institution subject to regulation by Kentucky or by an agency of the United States government, and tell the tenant where the account is and its account number. This page states no interest rule: the review of chapter 383 it relies on recorded none, and no other chapter was read.

KRS 383.580(1)

• A deposit not held in the separate account can cost you the right to keep any of it. KRS 383.580(4) See Returning the deposit on the Kentucky page

In a URLTA locality, before the tenant pays anything treated as a security deposit, give the tenant a comprehensive listing of any existing damage you would charge against the deposit, with the estimated dollar cost of repairing it. The tenant may inspect the home before moving in to check it. You both sign it, or, if the tenant refuses to sign, the tenant states in writing the specific items they dissent from and signs that statement.

KRS 383.580(2)

• The signatures are conclusive evidence that the listing is accurate, but not as to latent defects. KRS 383.580(2)
• Skipping the listings (and the separate account) can cost you the right to keep any of the deposit. KRS 383.580(4) See Returning the deposit on the Kentucky page