Kentucky landlord entry laws

Q: How much notice does a landlord have to give before entering in Kentucky?

2 days — in the cities and counties that adopted the Act. The landlord must give at least two days' notice of intent to enter and may enter only at reasonable times, and may not abuse the right of access or use it to harass the tenant.

How much notice your landlord owes you before coming in, when they may enter without it, and what Kentucky law lets you do about it.

Notice required

2 days — in the cities and counties that adopted the Act

The landlord must give at least two days' notice of intent to enter and may enter only at reasonable times, and may not abuse the right of access or use it to harass the tenant.

KRS 383.615(3); in Louisville Metro, LMCO § 151.33

When they may enter without notice

Entry without consent is allowed in an emergency. Beyond that the landlord has no right of access except by court order, under KRS 383.665 and 383.670(2), or where the tenant has abandoned or surrendered the premises.

What you can do about a violation

For an unlawful entry, a lawful entry made in an unreasonable manner, or repeated demands for entry that are otherwise lawful but have the effect of unreasonably harassing the tenant, the tenant may obtain injunctive relief to prevent the conduct recurring or terminate the rental agreement — and in either case recover actual damages and reasonable attorney's fees.

KRS 383.700(2); in Louisville Metro, LMCO § 151.50

Important limit on who this law covers

Kentucky's Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act is local option. We write this letter for rentals inside Louisville Metro / Jefferson County, whose adoption we verified against the Metro Code of Ordinances itself. Elsewhere in Kentucky the Act may still apply — but we have not yet confirmed those ordinances, and we will not assume.

Why putting it in writing matters here

KRS 383.500 is what makes this answerable. A local government may adopt the Act only “in their entirety and without amendment”, and may not pass any other ordinance on the subject. So there is no such thing as a local version with a shorter notice period or a weaker remedy — either the Act applies to you whole, or it does not apply at all. Louisville Metro's Chapter 151 bears that out: § 151.33 and § 151.50 are word for word KRS 383.615 and KRS 383.700.

Before you rely on this

Kentucky law depends on facts only you can confirm. Check these first.

Is your rental inside Louisville Metro / Jefferson County?
That is the jurisdiction whose adoption we have verified, in Louisville Metro Code of Ordinances Chapter 151 — titled “Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act” and adopted by Jefferson Ordinance 22-1984. If you rent elsewhere in Kentucky, ask your city or county clerk whether your jurisdiction adopted the Act before relying on any of this.

What to do right now

If you are outside Louisville Metro, ask your city or county clerk one question: did this jurisdiction adopt the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act? Because of KRS 383.500 that single yes or no settles everything — a yes means the two-day rule and KRS 383.700's injunction, termination, actual damages and attorney's fees all apply to you exactly as written. A no means the state also bars your local government from regulating the subject at all, so your lease is your only leverage and its access clause is worth reading closely.

Your city may give you more

Louisville Metro's adoption is published in its own Code of Ordinances at Chapter 151 (Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government), § 151.33 for access and § 151.50 for remedies. Lexington-Fayette and the other adopting jurisdictions are still being verified — we would rather name none than name one wrongly.

Put it in writing

We'll write a letter citing KRS 383.615(3); in Louisville Metro, LMCO § 151.33, listing each entry with its date and time, and stating what the statute provides. Free to generate and download.

Write my Kentucky entry letter

Other Kentucky tenant rights

Landlords who get one of these wrong often get another wrong too.

Kentucky security deposit lawHow long your landlord has to return it, and what they owe if they don't.

How this page was checked

Read from the source. Every deadline, cap and penalty here was taken from Kentucky's published text — the statute, session law or administrative code itself.
No legal-information websites. Commercial summaries were used only to find a provision, never as authority for it. An automated check fails our build if any state we serve cites a secondary source.
Locked against drift. The verified figures are pinned by regression tests, so a later edit cannot quietly change a deadline or a penalty.
Last verified August 21, 2026. Laws change — confirm the current text before relying on it.

General information, not legal advice. We are not a law firm.

Compare all 51 jurisdictions — notice periods range from 12 hours to 72, and thirteen states have no rule at all.