What happens if a tenant breaks a lease in Kentucky?

In Kentucky, where a city, county, or urban-county government has adopted the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, a landlord must make reasonable efforts to rent an abandoned dwelling unit at a fair rental. The duty is part of the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, which applies only where a city, county, or urban-county government has enacted it in its entirety. If the landlord fails to use reasonable efforts to rent the unit at a fair rental, or accepts the abandonment as a surrender, the rental agreement is deemed terminated by the landlord as of the date the landlord has notice of the abandonment. Separately, federal law lets a servicemember end a lease early after receiving qualifying military orders. This is KRS 383.670; KRS 383.500.

WhatKentucky
Landlord’s duty to re-rentRequired where the URLTA is adopted locally
What it meansThe landlord must make reasonable efforts to re-rent

Source

KRS 383.670; KRS 383.500

Read the statute in the Kentucky Revised Statutes (Kentucky General Assembly): apps.legislature.ky.gov.

Checked against the statute on November 13, 2026.

This is a summary of a published statute, not legal advice. Rules change, local ordinances can add to them, and the terms of a specific lease may differ. Check the citation and speak to a lawyer before acting.

How Seayora uses this rule

Seayora keeps every lease’s term, rent and signers in one record and dates every change to it. This page states the state’s rule so a lease’s own early-termination and sublet clauses can be checked against it before the lease is signed.

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