Housing & Tenant · Landlord Entry
Landlord Entry Notice in Kentucky
How much warning a landlord must give before entering your home in Kentucky, the hours entry is allowed, and what to do if they walk in unannounced, cited to the statute.
The rules and your rights in Kentucky
The notice, the allowed hours, the reasons a landlord may enter, and what to do about an unlawful entry.
| Advance notice | 48 hours before entry |
| Allowed entry hours | Reasonable times, where the Act applies. The statute does not fix clock hours. |
| Reasons a landlord may enter | Where the Act applies: to inspect the premises, make necessary or agreed repairs, decorations, alterations, or improvements, supply necessary or agreed services, and exhibit the unit to prospective or actual purchasers, mortgagees, tenants, workers, or contractors. |
| Emergency entry | Where the Act applies, a landlord may enter without notice in an emergency, and also where giving notice is impracticable. Outside an adopting jurisdiction there is no statutory rule to except from, so the lease governs. |
| Local ordinance | This is the whole Kentucky story. KRS 383.500 lets cities, counties, and urban-county governments enact the Act. Inside an adopting jurisdiction the two-day rule applies. One county over, if the Act was never adopted, there is no statutory entry rule and the lease controls. |
| Statute | Ky. Rev. Stat. §383.615 (in force only where the URLTA is locally adopted under KRS 383.500) |
If the landlord enters unlawfully
Where the Act applies, the general URLTA remedies govern, but the entry section itself does not spell them out. Outside an adopting jurisdiction, an improper entry is a lease matter. Either way, confirm whether your city or county adopted the Act before relying on the statute, and ask a local legal aid office for help.
What you can do right now
Concrete, neutral steps if a landlord keeps entering your Kentucky home without proper notice. This is legal information, not legal advice.
- First, find out if the Act covers you
Kentucky is a where-do-you-live question before it is a how-many-days question. Check whether your city or county adopted the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, because the two-day rule only exists in adopting jurisdictions.
- If the Act applies, expect two days
In an adopting jurisdiction, KRS 383.615 gives you at least two days notice for an ordinary entry, except in an emergency or where notice is impracticable. Hold the landlord to that figure.
- If the Act does not apply, read your lease
Outside an adopting jurisdiction there is no statutory entry rule, so the lease is the only source. Find the access clause and see what notice, hours, or reasons it sets.
- Get local help
A local Kentucky legal aid office can tell you whether your jurisdiction adopted the Act and what that means for entry. Search for legal aid in your area.
This is general legal information, not legal advice. Read your own lease and check for a local ordinance, since either can change what applies to your home.
What Kentucky renters get wrong
Kentucky asks the same first question here that it does for eviction. Not how many days, but where do you live. Under KRS 383.615 a renter in an adopting county gets two days' notice from the statute. A renter one county over gets whatever the lease says, and if the lease says nothing, nothing. The reason is KRS 383.500, which lets individual cities, counties, and urban-county governments choose to enact the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. Where a jurisdiction adopted it, the full uniform-act entry rule applies, with two days of notice, entry at reasonable times, and the familiar list of purposes. Where a jurisdiction never adopted it, none of that is law, and the lease is the entire answer. Publishing a flat "Kentucky: 2 days" would be wrong for a large part of the state, which is why this page is held as cited and opens with the county question rather than a number.
Common questions
Does the Kentucky landlord tenant act cover my city?
It depends on whether your city, county, or urban-county government adopted it under KRS 383.500. The Act, including the two-day entry notice in KRS 383.615, is only law in adopting jurisdictions, so the first step is confirming whether yours is one.
What notice applies if my county never adopted it in Kentucky?
If your jurisdiction did not adopt the Act, there is no statutory entry-notice rule, and your lease governs. That is why a flat statewide figure is misleading. Outside adopting jurisdictions the lease, not the statute, sets any notice you are owed.
Is the two days a floor or a default in Kentucky?
Where the Act applies, the two days is the statutory minimum for an ordinary entry, subject to the emergency and impracticability exceptions. A lease could offer more protection, but the statute sets two days as the baseline in adopting jurisdictions.
Where can I check the list of adopting jurisdictions in Kentucky?
There is no single official registry, which is part of the problem. A local legal aid office or your city or county attorney can confirm whether the Act was adopted where you live, so check with them before relying on the two-day figure.
Not legal advicePlainStatute provides plain-language summaries of public law for general information only. This is not legal advice. Statutes change; always confirm current requirements with the official source linked above before acting.