Kentucky security deposit law
Your landlord has no fixed statutory deadline under Kentucky law to return your security deposit, or you may be owed more than what they withheld. If they keep more than they're legally allowed, you can dispute it.
Deadline to return
no fixed statutory deadline
Statute
Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.580 (security deposits); Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.500 (local adoption of URLTA)
Two things a Kentucky renter needs to know. (1) KRS 383.580 CONTAINS NO RETURN DEADLINE AT ALL. All seven subsections were read; there is no provision requiring the landlord to return the deposit within any number of days. The '30 days' republished across rental-law sites is subsection (6), a different rule entirely: it lets a landlord who is owed unpaid last month's rent, where the tenant did not demand return, remove the deposit after thirty days and apply it to the debt. The '60 days' is subsection (7), the window for the TENANT to respond to a mailed notice of refund due before the landlord may keep it. NEITHER IS A LANDLORD DEADLINE. What Kentucky gives the tenant instead is a FORFEITURE rule: under subsection (4) no landlord may retain ANY portion if it was not held in a separate account per subsection (1) AND the move-in and move-out damage listings required by subsections (2) and (3) were not provided. That, not a deadline, is the lever. (2) LOCAL OPTION — KRS 383.500 authorizes cities, counties and urban-county governments to enact URLTA as set forth in KRS 383.505 to 383.705, and if adopted it must be adopted in its entirety and without amendment. KRS 383.580 sits inside that range, so it applies ONLY in jurisdictions that have adopted URLTA (Louisville/Jefferson, Lexington/Fayette, Covington, Florence, Newport, Georgetown among roughly 19). A renter outside an adopting jurisdiction likely has NO statutory deposit remedy. Confirm which city or county you rented in before you rely on any of this.
Allowed
Not allowed
NO statutory damages multiplier and NO attorney's-fee provision exists in KRS 383.580. Claims that Kentucky offers '2x damages' are UNSUPPORTED by the text. The tenant's remedy is subsection (5): a tenant who disputes the accuracy of the final damage listing may bring an action in District Court — but the claim is LIMITED to items the tenant specifically dissented from in writing under subsection (3), and if the tenant failed to sign the listing or specifically dissent, 'the tenant shall not be entitled to recover any damages under this section.' A Kentucky tenant who did not sign or dissent in writing at move-out may have forfeited the claim. The real leverage is the subsection (4) forfeiture.
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See what your landlord can legally keep →Every fact on this page is verified against Kentucky's official statutory text as of 2026-09-04. TenantNex prepares legal correspondence as a document preparation service, not as your attorney. For complex disputes, consult a licensed attorney in Kentucky.
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TenantNex is a document preparation and delivery service, not a law firm. We prepare and send correspondence using publicly available state statutes. We do not provide legal advice, legal representation, or guarantee any outcome. For complex legal matters, consult a licensed attorney in your state.