A Kentucky eviction notice is a written demand that tells a tenant to pay, fix a lease problem, or move out within a set number of days, and it must be served before a landlord can file anything in court. The required number of days depends on the reason for ending the tenancy and on whether the property sits in a city or county that has adopted the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. The Kentucky Court of Justice publishes a standardized template, Form AOC-215, that covers the fields a judge will look for.1Kentucky Court of Justice. AOC-215 Eviction Notice Getting the days, the content, and the delivery right is what keeps the case from being thrown out before a judge hears the facts.
First, Find Out Whether URLTA Applies
Kentucky has no single statewide landlord-tenant code. The state lets individual cities and counties adopt URLTA, codified at KRS 383.500 through KRS 383.705.2Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Revised Statutes Chapter 383 – Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act Where it has been adopted, the notice periods, delivery rules, and tenant protections are standardized. Where it has not, the lease itself and older common law control, and the requirements can look very different.
URLTA jurisdictions include Louisville, Lexington, Covington, Newport, Florence, Shelbyville, Danville, Pikeville, and roughly two dozen other cities, along with Lexington-Fayette, Louisville-Jefferson, Oldham, and Pulaski counties.3Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Landlord Tenant Laws – Impact of Pandemic Orders If your rental is not in one of those places, treat it as a non-URLTA property and look to the lease for the notice terms.
How Many Days the Notice Must Give
URLTA Properties
The reason you want the tenant out sets the clock.
For unpaid rent, the notice gives the tenant seven days to pay. It must state the amount owed and say the lease will terminate if the balance is not paid in full within that window. Pay-in-full within seven days ends the matter.4Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Revised Statutes 383.660 – Tenants Noncompliance With Rental Agreement – Failure to Pay Rent
For a material lease violation such as an unauthorized occupant, a pet-policy breach, or property damage, the notice must describe the specific conduct and state that the lease will terminate no sooner than 14 days after the tenant receives the notice. The tenant has 15 days to cure the problem; an adequate fix within that time keeps the lease alive.4Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Revised Statutes 383.660 – Tenants Noncompliance With Rental Agreement – Failure to Pay Rent
If substantially the same violation that triggered a prior notice happens again within six months, the landlord can terminate on 14 days’ written notice without offering another chance to cure.4Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Revised Statutes 383.660 – Tenants Noncompliance With Rental Agreement – Failure to Pay Rent
To end a month-to-month tenancy for no reason at all, either side gives at least 30 days’ written notice before the next periodic rental date.5Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Revised Statutes 383.695 – Periodic Tenancy – Holdover Remedies
Non-URLTA Properties
Outside URLTA jurisdictions, the general standard for ending a tenancy is 30 days’ written notice, but a written lease can specify its own notice period and the lease controls where it does.3Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Landlord Tenant Laws – Impact of Pandemic Orders Read the lease closely before you decide how many days to put on the notice.
What the Notice Has to Say
Form AOC-215 is a free template from the Kentucky Court of Justice and the simplest way to make sure nothing is missing.1Kentucky Court of Justice. AOC-215 Eviction Notice Using it is not required; a landlord can draft a notice from scratch. Either way, these elements belong on the page:
- The full legal name of every adult tenant on the lease. Leaving a name off invites a service objection at the hearing.
- The complete property address, including any apartment or unit number.
- The specific reason for the notice. For unpaid rent, state the exact dollar amount past due and the period it covers. For a lease violation, describe the behavior and cite the lease clause being breached.
- The deadline. Give both the number of days (7, 14, or 30) and the calendar date by which the tenant must pay, cure, or vacate.
- Your signature, the date, and your printed name, address, and phone number.
A few things trip landlords up. Late fees do not belong in the past-due rent total unless the lease explicitly allows them. Generic language like “you violated the lease” is weaker than a specific description tied to a lease section. And the notice clock runs from the day the tenant receives the notice, not the day you sign it, so count days from delivery.
Delivering the Notice
A well-written notice is only as good as its service. The allowed methods depend, again, on whether URLTA governs.
Under KRS 383.560, URLTA jurisdictions allow personal hand-delivery to the tenant, which is the most reliable method.6Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Revised Statutes Chapter 383 – Section 383.560 Notice If the tenant is not home, the notice can be left with a person of suitable age and discretion who lives there. Posting the notice conspicuously on the premises, usually on the front door, is a permitted fallback when personal delivery fails.
In non-URLTA jurisdictions, delivery is limited to hand delivery or certified or registered mail.3Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Landlord Tenant Laws – Impact of Pandemic Orders
Whatever your jurisdiction, sending a copy by certified mail with return receipt requested creates a paper trail that holds up in court. Keep the green card. A judge will ask for proof of service at the hearing, and without it you may have to start the process over. Many landlords use both personal delivery and certified mail together.
If the Tenant Doesn’t Pay, Cure, or Leave
If the tenant pays the overdue rent, fixes the violation, or moves out within the notice period, the matter ends. If none of that happens, the next step is filing a forcible detainer action in the district court for the county where the property sits.
What you cannot do, no matter how far behind the tenant is, is remove them yourself. Kentucky prohibits self-help eviction. A landlord who changes the locks, removes doors, or shuts off heat, water, electricity, or other essential services exposes themselves to a tenant lawsuit for possession or lease termination plus up to three months’ rent and attorney fees.7Justia Law. Kentucky Revised Statutes 383.655 – Tenants Remedies for Unlawful Ouster Exclusion or Diminution of Service The only lawful route to removal runs through the court and, after judgment, the sheriff.
Federal Rules That Can Override the State Timeline
Two federal laws can change the notice a landlord has to give even when the state math says otherwise.
Section 4024 of the CARES Act requires a 30-day notice to vacate for any “covered dwelling,” meaning a unit on a property that participates in a federal housing program or carries a federally backed mortgage. That includes FHA, VA, USDA, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac loans, and Section 8 participation. For nonpayment on those properties, the federal 30-day floor replaces the state 7-day notice.
The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act protects active-duty military tenants in nonpayment cases. A court can postpone the hearing for up to three months, or longer, when the service member shows that military duty affected their ability to pay, and the court can adjust the rent owed if monthly rent falls below an annually set threshold. The SCRA covers nonpayment only, not lease violations.
Reasons a Notice Can Be Thrown Out at the Hearing
Even a correctly drafted, properly served notice can fail if the reason behind it is one the law does not allow.
KRS 383.705 bars retaliatory eviction in URLTA jurisdictions. A landlord cannot raise rent, cut services, or file for eviction because a tenant complained about conditions, reported a code violation, joined a tenants’ organization, or called law enforcement to the property.8Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Revised Statutes 383.705 – Retaliatory Conduct A notice served soon after any of those acts gives the tenant a retaliation defense.
The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits evictions based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or disability. It also requires landlords to grant reasonable accommodations for tenants with disabilities before pursuing eviction for a lease violation tied to the disability. Allowing a service animal despite a no-pets rule, or accepting mailed rent instead of in-person payment, are common examples. A notice served without first going through the accommodation process can be challenged as discriminatory.