How long does a landlord in Kentucky have to return a security deposit?
KRS 383.580 sets no number of days within which the landlord must return the deposit, so there is no return deadline to name. The day counts the statute does contain run the other way, in the landlord's favour, and both turn on the tenant. Under subsection (6), where the tenant leaves without paying the last month's rent and does not demand a return of the deposit, the landlord may after thirty days take the deposit out of the account and apply it to the debt. Under subsection (7), where the tenant leaves owing no rent and a refund is due, the landlord sends notice of the refund to the last known or reasonably determinable address, and if the tenant does not respond within sixty days the landlord may keep the money free of the tenant's claim. So a tenant demand or response is what preserves the claim; it does not start a return clock, because there is no return clock in the text.
In plain terms, the statute says
No landlord is entitled to retain any portion of a security deposit if the deposit was not kept in a separate account and the required move-in and move-out damage listings were not provided, and that forfeiture is strict — it needs no finding of bad faith, willfulness or wrongful intent. The section provides no multiple-damages remedy and no fixed dollar penalty of any kind.
Who this covers
Only in local jurisdictions that have adopted Kentucky's URLTA. KRS 383.500 authorises cities, counties and urban-county governments to enact KRS 383.505 to 383.705 — which is the range containing 383.580 — in their entirety and without amendment; the Act is not statewide law, and outside an adopting jurisdiction there is no statutory security-deposit scheme at all. Within an adopting jurisdiction, KRS 383.535 further excludes seven arrangements: residence at an institution incidental to detention or medical, geriatric, educational counseling, religious or similar service; occupancy under a contract of sale by the purchaser or a successor; occupancy by a member of a fraternal or social organization in a portion of a structure run for the organization; transient occupancy in a hotel, motel or lodgings subject to the transient lodgings or room occupancy excise tax; occupancy by an employee of the landlord whose right to occupy is conditional on employment about the premises; occupancy by a condominium owner or the holder of a proprietary lease in a cooperative; and occupancy of a dwelling unit on land devoted to livestock, poultry, tobacco, other crops or timber.
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Questions people ask
How long does a landlord in Kentucky have to return a security deposit?
KRS 383.580 sets no number of days within which the landlord must return the deposit, so there is no return deadline to name. The day counts the statute does contain run the other way, in the landlord's favour, and both turn on the tenant. Under subsection (6), where the tenant leaves without paying the last month's rent and does not demand a return of the deposit, the landlord may after thirty days take the deposit out of the account and apply it to the debt. Under subsection (7), where the tenant leaves owing no rent and a refund is due, the landlord sends notice of the refund to the last known or reasonably determinable address, and if the tenant does not respond within sixty days the landlord may keep the money free of the tenant's claim. So a tenant demand or response is what preserves the claim; it does not start a return clock, because there is no return clock in the text.
Who does Kentucky's security-deposit law cover?
Only in local jurisdictions that have adopted Kentucky's URLTA. KRS 383.500 authorises cities, counties and urban-county governments to enact KRS 383.505 to 383.705 — which is the range containing 383.580 — in their entirety and without amendment; the Act is not statewide law, and outside an adopting jurisdiction there is no statutory security-deposit scheme at all. Within an adopting jurisdiction, KRS 383.535 further excludes seven arrangements: residence at an institution incidental to detention or medical, geriatric, educational counseling, religious or similar service; occupancy under a contract of sale by the purchaser or a successor; occupancy by a member of a fraternal or social organization in a portion of a structure run for the organization; transient occupancy in a hotel, motel or lodgings subject to the transient lodgings or room occupancy excise tax; occupancy by an employee of the landlord whose right to occupy is conditional on employment about the premises; occupancy by a condominium owner or the holder of a proprietary lease in a cooperative; and occupancy of a dwelling unit on land devoted to livestock, poultry, tobacco, other crops or timber.
Where can I read Kentucky's security-deposit law?
Kentucky's rule is in Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 383.580. The link on this page goes to the official text, so you can read the section yourself rather than take our word for it.
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