Kentucky: Rental Application and Tenant-Screening Fee Requirements
The short answer
Kentucky has no general statewide statute that caps or otherwise specifically regulates a residential application, processing, credit-check, background-check, or tenant-screening fee. The current landlord-tenant and real-estate licensing chapters do not create special precharge disclosures, receipts, report copies, refunds, reusable-report acceptance, application order, denial notices, or fee-specific damages. Kentucky's Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act is locally adopted rather than automatically statewide, and it does not add an application-screening-fee process.
Ask Ezel about your situation
This is the general rule in Kentucky. Ezel applies current Kentucky law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law and coverage | No general statewide application/screening-fee statute after audit of KRS chs. 383 and 324; KRS §§ 383.500-.715 URLTA is local-government opt-in |
|---|---|
| Fees allowed or prohibited | No statewide provision specifically authorizes or prohibits application, processing, credit-check, background-check, or screening-report fees |
| Maximum charge and adjustment | No statewide numeric, actual-cost, reasonable-cost, customary-cost, per-applicant, per-household, or indexed ceiling in the audited statutes |
| Permitted costs and charge timing | No statewide fee-purpose, vacancy, charge-when-considered, or multiple-concurrent-application restriction |
| Before-screening disclosures | No special statewide availability, fee-basis, screening-criteria, report-source, dispute-right, or application-order disclosure |
| Receipt, report copy, and refund | No special statewide application-fee receipt, landlord-obtained-report-copy, unused-fee refund, or unconsidered-application refund rule |
| Applicant-supplied or reusable reports | No statewide applicant-supplied or reusable screening-report acceptance or no-fee procedure |
| Application order and adverse action | No statewide first-in-order, first-qualified, single-application, or state denial-reason notice process for rental applications |
| Remedies and stronger local rules | No application-fee-specific statutory damages; § 383.198 bars conflicting local landlord-tenant ordinances, and § 383.500 limits local URLTA adoption |
Compare this rule across all 50 states + DC →
Kentucky has no special statewide fee process
The current official KRS Chapter 383 index, including the Uniform Residential
Landlord and Tenant Act at KRS §§ 383.500-.715, contains no section governing a
residential application, processing, credit-check, background-check, or tenant-
screening fee. The current official real-estate licensing index at KRS
§§ 324.010-.990 likewise contains no separate applicant-fee or screening-report
process for a broker or property manager.
Accordingly, the audited statutes create no special statewide requirement for:
- a maximum dollar amount, actual-cost formula, or annual adjustment;
- proof that a unit is available or that the application will be considered;
- advance disclosure of the fee basis, screening criteria, or report source;
- an application-fee receipt, report copy, or unused-fee refund;
- acceptance of an applicant-supplied or reusable report;
- first-in-order or first-qualified processing; or
- a state-format denial or conditional-approval notice.
The absence of a special fee statute does not decide every dispute. Application
language, representations, generally applicable state law, federal consumer-
reporting law, fair-housing law, and valid local rules may still matter.
The URLTA is locally adopted
KRS § 383.500 authorizes a city, county, or urban-county government to enact the
Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act in KRS §§ 383.505-.705. If adopted,
the provisions must be adopted in their entirety and without amendment. KRS
§ 383.510 says general principles including contract, agency, fraud,
misrepresentation, duress, coercion, and mistake supplement the Act unless the
Act displaces them. KRS § 383.565 permits rental-agreement terms not prohibited
by the Act or another rule of law.
Those provisions do not create an application-screening-fee system. They explain
why location and the written application remain important even though Kentucky
has no statewide fee cap or refund procedure.
What trips people up
Kentucky's URLTA is not automatically statewide. KRS § 383.500 makes it a
local adoption statute. A statewide answer should not assume every county or
city operates under KRS §§ 383.505-.715.
The local-law rule is more specific than a blanket preemption claim. KRS
§ 383.198 bars a local landlord-tenant ordinance that conflicts with Kentucky
law. In a locality that adopts the URLTA, § 383.500 also requires adoption in its
entirety and bars other ordinances concerning subjects embraced by the adopted
provisions.
A proposed screening-fee law did not take effect. The official page for
2026 HB 295 says,
“Last Action | 01/16/26: to Judiciary (H).” The official
2026 legislative record
says, “Adjourned Wednesday, April 15, 2026, Sine Die.” The proposal therefore
did not change current law.
Common questions
Does the URLTA automatically give every Kentucky applicant the same rights?
No. KRS § 383.500 makes the URLTA a local-government adoption option, so first
confirm whether the property's locality adopted it.
Does using a licensed broker create a separate application-fee ceiling? No
special residential applicant-fee ceiling or screening process appears in the
current KRS Chapter 324 real-estate licensing scheme.
Is an application fee the same thing as a security deposit? Not under the
URLTA definition. KRS § 383.545(13) defines a security deposit as an escrow
payment under the rental agreement that secures against occupancy damage other
than ordinary wear and tear. This survey excludes that type of deposit.
Statutes and sources
- KRS §§ 383.500-.715 — current official Chapter 383 index and URLTA scope.
.500 Local governments authorized to adopt provisions of the Uniform
Residential Landlord and Tenant Act in their entirety and without amendment.
... .565 Terms and conditions of rental agreement. ... .715 Title of law.
Official source: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/chapter.aspx?id=39159 (accessed 2026-07-21)
- KRS §§ 324.010-.990 — current official real-estate licensing chapter index
audited for broker, property-manager, applicant-fee, and screening rules.
Official source: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/chapter.aspx?id=38853 (accessed 2026-07-21)
- KRS §§ 383.500, 383.510, and 383.565 — local URLTA adoption,
supplementary general law, and rental-agreement terms.
If adopted, these provisions shall be adopted in their entirety and without
amendment. ... Unless displaced by the provisions of KRS 383.505 to 383.715,
the principles of law and equity ... supplement its provisions.
Official sources: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=35717, https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=35719, and https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=35730 (accessed 2026-07-21)
- KRS § 383.198 — conflicting local landlord-tenant ordinances.
A city, county, charter county government, urban-county government,
consolidated local government, or unified local government shall not adopt
or enforce any ordinance relating to landlord or tenant laws that is in
conflict with any law of this Commonwealth.
Official source: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=54458 (accessed 2026-07-21)
- KRS § 383.545(13) — URLTA security-deposit definition and survey boundary.
"Security deposit" means an escrow payment made to the landlord under the
rental agreement for the purpose of securing the landlord against financial
loss due to damage to the premises occasioned by the tenant's occupancy other
than ordinary wear and tear.
Official source: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=35726 (accessed 2026-07-21)
- 2026 HB 295 and the 2026 legislative record — failed screening-fee
proposal and sine-die adjournment.
Last Action | 01/16/26: to Judiciary (H). ... Adjourned Wednesday, April 15,
2026, Sine Die.
Official sources: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/26rs/hb295.html and https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/26rs/record.html (accessed 2026-07-21)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
Get the answer for your situation
You just read how Kentucky handles this in general. Ezel applies current Kentucky law to your facts and answers your specific question, with citations.
Opens in Ezel Pro. Every answer cites the authority it relies on.