Holdover Clause
in Your Lease
What it actually means, what Kentucky law says, what's specific to Louisville - and exactly what to do. In plain English.
Quick Summary - What You Need to Know
- Staying willfully, not in good faith, risks up to three months' rent or threefold actual damages if greater (§ 383.695(4)).
- Willful means "with deliberate intention, not accidentally or inadvertently" (§ 383.545(17)).
- If your landlord agrees you can stay, the tenancy becomes month-to-month (§ 383.565(3)).
- A month-to-month tenancy ends on written notice at least 30 days before a rental date (§ 383.695(2)).
- No lockout or utility shut-off, even after the lease ends (§ 383.690, Louisville § 151.48).
Understanding the Holdover Clause
This page is for Louisville renters who need to stay a little past the end of their lease, or who found a holdover charge in the lease they signed. The key point: Kentucky's extra money for staying on is a ceiling a court may award, and it is written for a holdover that is willful and not in good faith.
Your landlord's consent changes the picture. So if you need more time, ask in writing before your end date and keep the answer.
What renters assume
Kentucky lets a landlord charge three months' rent the moment a tenant stays a day past the lease.
What is actually true
§ 383.695(4) is a ceiling a court may award, not an automatic charge, and it is written for a holdover that is willful and not in good faith. With your landlord's consent, you are a month-to-month tenant instead.
Fifteen of the 25 rows in the comparison on this page carry no multiplier, nine carry a 2, and Louisville's is drawn at 3. Its label reads Up to 3 months' rent (willful), and both halves of that label matter.
Phoenix's row has the same shape at a lower figure: Up to 2 months' rent (willful), a ceiling tied to a willful holdover rather than a rate the lease runs at. Kansas City's 2x (willful, after written demand) and Chicago's yearly-value label also turn on willfulness, while Miami's label reads 2x rent (double rent).
The bar leaves out the other half of § 383.695(4). Kentucky's figure is three months' periodic rent or threefold the actual damages, whichever is greater, plus reasonable attorney's fees. Las Vegas's label also names a damages multiple, as No rent multiplier (3x damages).
Holdover Clause Example - What the Wording Looks Like in Louisville, KY
The sample clause below is real lease language - a court quoted it word for word, and then ruled on it. What the judge decided is at the bottom of this block.
Find the equivalent paragraph in your own lease and read the two side by side. The wording will differ; the moving parts rarely do.
If the Lessee retains possession of the Premises after the term of this lease expires, the Lessor may either accept further rent payments by the Lessee, in which case a month-to-month tenancy shall be created, or sue for possession; and Lessor shall be entitled to recover from Lessee all damages sustained by him as a result of Lessee's failure to vacate the Premises, including but not limited to lost rent, court costs and attorneys fees. In no case shall a holdover tenancy be created. In the event Lessee retains possession without Lessor[']s consent beyond the term of this lease, the monthly rental shall be 150% of the rental for the original term.
Quoted from the published opinion in Roth v. Dillavou, No. 2—04—0840 (Ill. App. Ct., 2d Dist., Sept. 8, 2005). Judicial opinions are not subject to copyright; the lease language is reproduced in limited part for commentary under 17 U.S.C. § 107.
What the 4 highlighted phrases mean
“expires, the Lessor may either accept further rent payments”
Accepting rent here creates a month-to-month tenancy, and Kentucky's Act reaches the same place by its own route. The last sentence of § 383.695(4) says that if the landlord consents to the tenant's continued occupancy, § 383.565(3) applies. That subsection makes a tenancy without a definite term month-to-month for every tenant except a roomer who pays weekly.
See the example
“all damages sustained by him as a result of Lessee's failure to vacate the Premises”
Kentucky's statute uses the same words and then multiplies them. Under § 383.695(4), where the holdover is willful and not in good faith, the landlord may also recover “an amount not more than three (3) months' periodic rent or threefold the actual damages sustained by him, whichever is greater, and reasonable attorney's fees.” Louisville Metro Code § 151.49(D) repeats it.
See the example
“Lessor[']s consent beyond the term”
Without consent, the remedy the Act names is an action for possession under § 383.695(4). § 383.690 bars recovering or taking possession by action or otherwise, including by interrupting heat, electric, running water, hot water, gas or other essential service, except in case of abandonment, surrender, or as the Act permits. Louisville's § 151.48 repeats that bar.
See the example
“of this lease, the monthly rental shall be”
Here Roth's lease names its own rate, and the Illinois court enforced the paragraph as written. Kentucky's ceiling turns on the tenant's state of mind instead. § 383.545(17) defines willful as “with deliberate intention, not accidentally or inadvertently, and done according to a purpose,” and a search of Louisville's code for “holdover” returned § 151.49 and the chapter contents.
See the example
The clause was enforced exactly as written. Because the lease itself said no holdover tenancy would arise - only a month-to-month one - the court held the original lease terms carried straight through the post-term period, which kept the tenant's co-signer on the hook for it. One judge dissented, warning that reading it this way exposes a guarantor to open-ended liability.
How this state's law treats this clause
One court, one lease, one state. That answer is not automatically yours, and your lease may be worded to land differently. Use this to know what to look for and what to ask - your state's tenant hotline or a local tenant attorney can answer it for your document.
Kentucky Law on Holdover Clause
- The amount turns on the tenant's state of mind.
Read the law's words
Section 383.695(4) says that if the tenant remains in possession without the landlord's consent after the term ends and "the tenant's holdover is willful and not in good faith the landlord may also recover an amount not more than three (3) months' periodic rent or threefold the actual damages sustained by him, whichever is greater, and reasonable attorney's fees." Section 383.545(17) defines willful as "with deliberate intention, not accidentally or inadvertently, and done according to a purpose." The figure is a ceiling a court may award, not an automatic charge. - Consent changes the tenancy rather than the price.
Read the law's words
The last sentence of § 383.695(4) says that "If the landlord consents to the tenant's continued occupancy, KRS 383.565(3) applies", and § 383.565(3) makes a tenancy without a definite term week-to-week for a roomer who pays weekly and "in all other cases month-to-month." Under § 383.695(2) either side may end a month-to-month tenancy by written notice given at least thirty days before the periodic rental date specified in the notice. - The notice after a written lease ends is short.
Read the law's words
Section 383.695(3) lets the landlord or the tenant terminate "a tenancy begun upon the termination of a written lease by written notice given to the other at least ten (10) days before the termination date specified in the notice", and lets the landlord terminate at any time without notice if the tenant fails to pay rent within ten days after it becomes due. Section 383.160 separately lets a landlord recover possession "without demand or notice" if proceedings begin within thirty days after a term of less than a year expires. Check the current text of both sections before relying on either timeline. - Self-help is off the table even against a holdover tenant.
Read the law's words
Section 383.690, repeated in Louisville Metro Code § 151.48, says a landlord may not recover or take possession "by action or otherwise, including willful diminution of services to the tenant by interrupting or causing the interruption of heat, electric, running water, hot water, gas, or other essential service", except in case of abandonment, surrender, or as the Act permits. Section 383.570(1)(a) also makes unenforceable any lease term in which the tenant agrees to waive rights or remedies under the Act.
Sources include Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.695(4); Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.695(2), (3); Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.565(3); Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.160; Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.690; Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.500; Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.195; Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.198; Louisville Metro Code of Ordinances § 151.49; Louisville Metro Code of Ordinances § 151.01 - statutes change; verify the current text for your situation.
Step by step
How it plays out
- Lease endsYou stay without consentYour landlord may bring an action for possession (§ 383.695(4)).
- With consentStay becomes month-to-monthIf the landlord agrees to you staying, the tenancy is month-to-month unless the agreement fixes a definite term (§ 383.565(3)).
- Willful holdoverExtra recovery can applyUp to three months' periodic rent or threefold actual damages, whichever is greater, plus reasonable attorney's fees, if willful and not in good faith (§ 383.695(4)).
- Landlord wants possessionNo lockout or shut-offNo taking possession by cutting heat, electric, water, gas or other essential service, except abandonment, surrender, or as the Act permits (§ 383.690).
Count it for your dates
30 days before: the last day to act
What it means: Written notice must be given at least 30 days before this date to end the month-to-month tenancy. Applies to either you or your landlord ending a month-to-month tenancy in Louisville (§ 383.695(2)); a tenancy begun when a written lease ended can also be ended on 10 days' written notice under § 383.695(3) (Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.695(2)). Calendar arithmetic only; check how the section counts days before you rely on a date.
Copy and send: Before your lease ends, as soon as you know you need extra days
Ask to stay past your end date
Fill in the brackets and keep a copy of what you send.
Kentucky's Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, which Louisville has adopted, covers staying past the lease in Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.695(4). If you remain without the landlord's consent, the landlord may sue for possession. Four rules shape the rest:
- Extra money only for a willful holdover. Where the holdover is willful and not in good faith, the landlord may also recover up to three months' periodic rent or threefold the actual damages, whichever is greater, plus reasonable attorney's fees.
- Consent makes a new tenancy. If the landlord agrees to you staying, § 383.565(3) makes it month-to-month unless the agreement fixes a definite term.
- No self-help. § 383.690 bars taking possession by cutting heat, water, gas or other essential service, except abandonment, surrender, or as the Act permits.
- No waiving the Act. A lease term giving up your rights under the Act is unenforceable (§ 383.570(1)(a)).
After a written lease ends, § 383.695(3) lets either side end the new tenancy on 10 days' written notice, and lets the landlord end it without notice if rent is 10 days late. § 383.160, an older section, says a tenant holding over without an express contract gains no right to remain for 30 days after a term under a year, or 90 days after a term of a year or more. Check the current text of both.
What's Specific to Louisville
How Kentucky compares
Statutory holdover rent multiplier, state by state
2x3xNo figureGuide coming soonYou are here
See all 25 cities as a chart
Figures are the state rule, or the stronger city ordinance where one exists. Verify the current law for your own situation before relying on it.
No Louisville section we read sets its own holdover rate. Louisville Metro Code § 151.49(D) repeats the state remedy in § 383.695(4), and § 151.48 repeats the ban on lockouts and shut-offs.
One local addition matters if a case is filed: Chapter 151 adds an eviction-court counsel program in § 151.61, so ask about it. Confirm the current Louisville Metro code before relying on it.
§ 383.695(4) writes its extra recovery for a holdover that is willful and not in good faith, as a ceiling a court may award.
With consent, § 383.565(3) makes a tenancy without a definite term month-to-month.
Consent is what separates a month-to-month tenancy from a holdover, so a written yes is worth keeping.
§ 383.690 bars taking possession by cutting heat, water, gas or other essential service, except abandonment, surrender, or as the Act permits.
Sources
The law this guide relies on, and where to read it. Statutes change, so confirm the current text before you act on it.
- Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.695(4); Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.695(2), (3); Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.565(3); Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.160; Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.690; Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.500; Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.195; Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.198; Louisville Metro Code of Ordinances § 151.49; Louisville Metro Code of Ordinances § 151.01, read on apps.legislature.ky.gov. The Legislative Research Commission prints § 383.695 with the history note "Repealed and reenacted 1984 Ky. Acts ch. 176, sec. 39, effective July 13, 1984" on apps.legislature.ky.gov, whose Chapter 383 page states that it includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
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A holdover rate with no willful condition
Kentucky ties its extra recovery to a holdover that is willful and not in good faith. A clause charging a premium for any late move-out reads a different rule.
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A fixed sum above the statutory ceiling
The ceiling is three months' periodic rent or threefold the actual damages, whichever is greater, plus reasonable attorney's fees. A larger fixed sum deserves a second read.
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A lockout or shut-off at lease end
§ 383.690 and Louisville's § 151.48 bar taking possession by cutting off heat, water, electric, gas or other essential service.
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A waiver of the Act's remedies
Any lease term in which you agree to give up rights or remedies under the Act is unenforceable under § 383.570(1)(a).
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A notice period shorter than the Act's
A month-to-month tenancy ends on at least 30 days' written notice, and § 383.695(3) asks for 10 days' after a written lease ends. A shorter clause deserves a close read.
Your Rights as a Louisville Tenant
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A ceiling tied to willfulness
Beyond possession, a landlord recovers extra only where the holdover is willful and not in good faith, and only up to the statutory ceiling (§ 383.695(4)).
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A month-to-month tenancy on consent
If the landlord agrees to you staying, the tenancy is month-to-month unless the agreement fixes a definite term (§ 383.565(3)).
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No lockout and no shut-off
No taking possession by cutting essential services, except in case of abandonment, surrender, or as the Act permits (§ 383.690, Louisville § 151.48).
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Written notice before a tenancy ends
At least 30 days before the rental date for a month-to-month tenancy (§ 383.695(2)), or 10 days for one begun when a written lease ended (§ 383.695(3)).
What To Do - Step by Step
Find the end date and the holdover paragraph
Write down the date your term ends and any rate the paragraph names. Set it beside the ceiling in § 383.695(4).
Ask for more time in writing
Consent makes the stay a month-to-month tenancy under § 383.565(3). Keep the request and the answer with their dates.
Keep proof of your move
The extra recovery turns on whether the holdover was willful and not in good faith. Dated messages, bookings and receipts show what you did and when.
Document any lockout or shut-off
Date every photograph and message. § 383.690 and Louisville's § 151.48 bar both as a way to take possession.
Check the statute text today
Read § 383.695(3) and § 383.160, and the Louisville Metro code, as they stand on the day you act.
Get local advice before paying a premium
Take your lease and dated papers to a Louisville tenant lawyer or legal aid office. If an eviction case is filed, ask about the counsel program in § 151.61.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Holdover rules near Kentucky
The same clause in the nearest states we cover.
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