Breaking a lease in Kentucky

The mitigation question

Good news

Your landlord must make reasonable efforts to re-rent — you owe the gap, not the whole remainder. Reported (confirm with a licensed attorney): Yes in URLTA-adopting jurisdictions — Ky. Rev. Stat. §383.670: landlord must make reasonable efforts to rent the abandoned unit at fair rental. NOTE: KRS 383.505–715 (URLTA) applies only in jurisdictions that adopted it by local ordinance (e.g., Jefferson, Fayette counties); mitigation duty outside those jurisdictions is

Your protected exits

• Military. SCRA baseline (50 U.S.C. § 3955); no Kentucky state extension verified. Guide →
• Domestic violence. Yes — 'protected tenant' holding a valid domestic-violence order, interpersonal protective order, emergency/temporary protective order, or pretrial no-contact order may terminate a lease entered into or renewed on or… Ky. Rev. Stat. §383.300 Guide →
• Uninhabitable conditions. Yes (URLTA jurisdictions) — KRS §383.615: tenant gives 14/30-day written notice for landlord noncompliance materially affecting health/safety (14 days to cure; terminates ≥30 days after notice); recurrence within 6…
• Landlord abuse of access/harassment — tenant may terminate (KRS §383.700, URLTA jurisdictions)

Notice periods

Early-termination fees

Reported (confirm with a licensed attorney): URLTA jurisdictions: landlord's remedy on termination is possession + rent + actual damages (KRS §383.685) — penalties not supported; flat-fee enforceability outside URLTA jurisdictions

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