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Louisville, Kentucky High Risk Clause

Lease Acceleration 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.

Last reviewed: October 2026
Location: Louisville, Kentucky
Read time: 8 minutes
Not legal advice
LD
Written by
LeaseDecoded Research Team
Statutes verified against primary state sources
How this page is sourced
Every statute cited here was read in its published text before this page went live: on the state's own site where that site can be reached, otherwise on a republished copy of the code. Court decisions are quoted from the published opinion and linked to it, so you can read the original yourself.
Primary sourcesNot legal advice
Content verified against primary state statutes before publication Last updated: October 2026

Quick Summary - What You Need to Know

  • § 383.670(3): if you abandon the unit, the landlord shall make reasonable efforts to re-rent at a fair rental.
  • A new tenancy that starts before your lease would have expired ends your lease on that date.
  • A landlord who makes no reasonable effort is deemed to have ended the lease when it had notice you left.
  • § 383.570(2) makes a lease term waiving your rights or remedies under the Act unenforceable.
  • No section we read in Kentucky's Act or Louisville Metro Code Chapter 151 names rent acceleration.
Section 01

Understanding the Lease Acceleration Clause

Mandatory on abandonment
Landlord duty to mitigate after an early lease break in Lo
A lease acceleration clause makes every month left on your lease due at once if you miss rent or leave early. In Louisville, Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.670(3) says a landlord whose tenant abandons the unit shall make reasonable efforts to rent it at a fair rental. A new tenancy ends your lease, and § 383.570 makes a lease term waiving the Act unenforceable.

This page is for Louisville renters whose lease has an acceleration clause: the paragraph that turns one missed payment, or an early move-out, into a demand for every month left on the lease. Kentucky's Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, which Louisville has adopted as Metro Code Chapter 151, puts a duty beside that demand: the landlord has to try to re-rent the unit.

Three dates matter most: when you left, when the landlord learned of it, and when any new tenant's term began.

What renters assume

If my lease says all remaining rent is due when I leave, the landlord can bill every month whatever happens to the unit.

What is actually true

Not in Louisville. § 383.670(3) requires reasonable efforts to re-rent at a fair rental, and a new tenancy ends your lease on its start date. A lease line giving up that duty is unenforceable under § 383.570(2).

None of the 25 rows in the comparison on this page carries a figure; each is a short label. Louisville's reads Mandatory on abandonment, the same words as Seattle, Portland, Las Vegas and Minneapolis.

Fifteen of the 25 labels open with Mandatory. Beside the five that read Mandatory on abandonment, Austin, New York City and Baltimore read Mandatory, non-waivable, Los Angeles reads Mandatory, tenant proves, Newark Mandatory, landlord proves, and Milwaukee Mandatory; acceleration voids lease.

The other ten labels read differently. Miami and Philadelphia read No duty to re-rent, Denver and Columbus No statute; case law, Kansas City No general duty; deposit rule, and Indianapolis Case law duty to re-let.

Kentucky's label rests on a statute Louisville has adopted, with a waiver bar beside it.

What the label leaves out is the end date. Under § 383.670(3) the lease terminates on the date a new tenancy begins, or, where the landlord makes no reasonable effort, on the date it had notice of the abandonment.

Clause decoder

Rent Acceleration 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.

Real clause - quoted in a published court opinion

Find the equivalent paragraph in your own lease and read the two side by side. The wording will differ; the moving parts rarely do.

The Montana court set out this lease paragraph in full, and the extract below ends one sentence early; that last sentence concerns late charges and interest running on an amount once it has been accelerated:

If any monthly installment under this agreement is not paid when due and remains unpaid after a date specified by a notice to Tenant, the entire principal rent amount owed for the full lease term shall at once become due and payable at the option of the Landlord and judgment may be had for all said amounts due. The foregoing provision shall not relieve the Landlord of its obligation to mitigate damages. In the event the rental premises is re-rented to another for full value prior to expiration of the lease term, Landlord shall file Notice of Partial Satisfaction of any judgment entered to the extent of the third party rental agreement.

[…]

Quoted from the published opinion in Summers v. Crestview Apartments, 2010 MT 164, 357 Mont. 123, 236 P.3d 586 (No. DA 09-0489). 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
1

“full lease term shall at once become due”

This is the acceleration itself: one unpaid installment, and every remaining month falls due together. No section our Kentucky record read, in the Act or in Louisville Metro Code Chapter 151, names rent acceleration. What the Act does set is the landlord's claim once a rental agreement ends. Under § 383.685 that is possession and rent, and a separate claim for actual damages and reasonable attorney's fees as § 383.660(3) provides.

See the example
§ 383.660(3) allows actual damages and reasonable attorney's fees where the tenant's noncompliance is willful. A demand that adds the rest of the term to those items is the place to ask what the landlord has done with the unit since you left.
Tenant-favourable“On a missed installment Landlord may claim the past-due rent and actual damages, credited with any rent received from re-renting”
What this lease said“full lease term shall at once become due”
Landlord-favourable“On any missed installment the rent for the full remaining term becomes due at once, with no credit for re-renting”
2

“not relieve the Landlord of its obligation”

Summers' paragraph concedes the obligation in a single clause; Kentucky writes it into the statute. Under § 383.670(3), if the tenant abandons the dwelling unit, “the landlord shall make reasonable efforts to rent it at a fair rental.” § 383.520(1) adds that the aggrieved party “has a duty to mitigate damages,” and Louisville Metro Code § 151.44(C) and § 151.06(A) repeat both.

See the example
A lease cannot sign the duty away. § 383.570(1)(a) bars a term under which the tenant agrees to waive or forego rights or remedies under the Act, and § 383.570(2) makes such a term unenforceable. Louisville's § 151.24(A)(1) repeats the bar.
Tenant-favourable“Landlord shall make reasonable efforts to re-rent the Premises at a fair rental as soon as Tenant vacates”
What this lease said“not relieve the Landlord of its obligation”
Landlord-favourable“Landlord may, but need not, attempt to re-rent the Premises, and Tenant waives any duty of Landlord to mitigate”
3

“re-rented to another for full value”

The paragraph credits the tenant once the unit is re-rented for full value. Kentucky's test is a fair rental, and its consequence is an end date rather than a credit. If the landlord rents the unit for a term beginning before the old agreement would have expired, § 383.670(3) says the old agreement terminates as of the date of the new tenancy.

See the example
Doing nothing has its own end date. A landlord who fails to use reasonable efforts to rent at a fair rental, or accepts the abandonment as a surrender, is deemed to have terminated the lease as of the date it had notice of the abandonment. Keep proof of when the keys went back.
Tenant-favourable“This lease ends on the date a new tenancy of the Premises begins, and no rent accrues after that date”
What this lease said“re-rented to another for full value”
Landlord-favourable“Tenant remains liable until the Premises are re-let at or above the rent in this lease”
4

“Partial Satisfaction of any judgment”

Here the tenant's relief is paperwork filed after a judgment for the whole term. The Montana Supreme Court held this provision unconscionable and unenforceable, partly because acceleration undermines the duty to mitigate. Kentucky's Act carries a matching tool: under § 383.555 a court may refuse to enforce, or may limit, a lease provision that was unconscionable when made.

See the example
Summers is a Montana decision and binds no Kentucky court. Check too whether the Act reaches your home: § 383.535 excludes, among others, transient hotel or motel occupancy, occupancy under a contract of sale, and occupancy by an employee conditional on employment on the premises.
Tenant-favourable“Any judgment under this paragraph is reduced by all rent Landlord receives or could have received with reasonable efforts”
What this lease said“Partial Satisfaction of any judgment”
Landlord-favourable“Landlord need file no satisfaction until rent from a new tenant equals the full rent due under this lease”
What the court did with it

The Montana Supreme Court struck this paragraph down, and its conclusion is one sentence: “Thus, we conclude that the accelerated rent provision is unconscionable and therefore unenforceable.” The tenants had moved out of their apartment on October 13, 2006, and Crestview answered with a Statement of Deductions from the Security Deposit charging rent through the end of the lease in June - $6,505.75 billed against a $2,170 deposit. Two reasons carried the court. Acceleration undermines the landlord's duty to mitigate and reduces the incentive to re-rent promptly, because a landlord already holding a judgment for the whole term has little reason to fill the unit. And Crestview drafted the lease while these tenants had no meaningful choice and no opportunity to negotiate any of it. The case was reversed and remanded, and two justices wrote separately - their objection being that the majority had gone as far as treating acceleration clauses as unenforceable in themselves. So read the holding narrowly, as the majority wrote it: this provision, in this residential lease, unconscionable and unenforceable. It is a Montana decision and it binds no other state's courts. What travels is the reasoning, and the reasoning is about mitigation - which is exactly the question the statute in your own city's decode answers.

How this state's law treats this clause
Kentucky's Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, in force in Louisville, speaks to the empty unit this paragraph leaves behind. A landlord whose tenant abandons shall make reasonable efforts to rent it at a fair rental, a lease term waiving the Act's rights is unenforceable, and no section our Kentucky record read names rent acceleration: Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.670(3); Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.520(1); Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.570(1)(a), (2); Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.685; Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.500; Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.195; Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.198; Louisville Metro Code of Ordinances § 151.44(C); Louisville Metro Code of Ordinances § 151.06(A); Louisville Metro Code of Ordinances § 151.24

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.

Section 02

Kentucky Law on Lease Acceleration Clause

The law in Kentucky
  • The duty is written into the statute.
    Read the law's wordsSection 383.670(3) says "If the tenant abandons the dwelling unit, the landlord shall make reasonable efforts to rent it at a fair rental. If the landlord rents the dwelling unit for a term beginning before the expiration of the rental agreement, it terminates as of the date of the new tenancy." Louisville Metro Code § 151.44(C) uses the same words.
  • Failing the duty has a stated consequence.
    Read the law's wordsUnder § 383.670(3), "If the landlord fails to use reasonable efforts to rent the dwelling unit at a fair rental or if the landlord accepts the abandonment as a surrender, the rental agreement is deemed to be terminated by the landlord as of the date the landlord has notice of the abandonment." For a month-to-month or week-to-week tenancy, the section treats the term as a month or a week.
  • A lease cannot sign the duty away.
    Read the law's wordsSection 383.570(1)(a), repeated in Louisville Metro Code § 151.24(A)(1), says a rental agreement may not provide that the tenant "Agrees to waive or forego rights or remedies under KRS 383.505 to 383.715", and § 383.570(2) makes such a provision unenforceable. Section 383.520(1) also says the Act's remedies shall be administered so that "an aggrieved party may recover appropriate damages. The aggrieved party has a duty to mitigate damages."
  • What the landlord can still claim is actual loss.
    Read the law's wordsSection 383.685 says that if the rental agreement is terminated, the landlord "may have a claim for possession and for rent and a separate claim for actual damages for breach of the rental agreement and reasonable attorney's fees as provided in KRS 383.660(3)", and § 383.660(3) allows actual damages and reasonable attorney's fees where the tenant's noncompliance is willful. Section 383.555 lets a court refuse to enforce, or limit, a lease provision that was unconscionable when made.
  • Some arrangements sit outside the Act.
    Read the law's wordsSection 383.535, repeated in Louisville Metro Code § 151.08, excludes among others residence at an institution incidental to detention or medical, geriatric, educational counseling or religious service, occupancy under a contract of sale, transient hotel or motel occupancy, occupancy by an employee conditional on employment on the premises, condominium owners and cooperative proprietary lessees, and dwellings on land devoted to farming or timber.

Sources include Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.670(3); Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.520(1); Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.570(1)(a), (2); Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.685; Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.500; Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.195; Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.198; Louisville Metro Code of Ordinances § 151.44(C); Louisville Metro Code of Ordinances § 151.06(A); Louisville Metro Code of Ordinances § 151.24 - statutes change; verify the current text for your situation.

Step by step

How it plays out

  1. You leave earlyLease may demand the restAn acceleration clause may demand every remaining month at once. Keep proof of the date the landlord had notice you left.
  2. Unit sits emptyLandlord must try to re-rentUnder § 383.670(3) the landlord shall make reasonable efforts to rent the unit at a fair rental.
  3. New tenant startsYour lease ends that dayA new tenancy beginning before your lease would have expired ends your lease as of the date of the new tenancy.
  4. If no effortLease ends at notice dateIf the landlord fails to use reasonable efforts, or accepts the abandonment as a surrender, the lease is deemed ended by the landlord on the date it had notice you left.

Copy and send: When your landlord bills you for rent after you moved out early

Ask what was done to re-rent the unit

Fill in the brackets and keep a copy of what you send.

Kentucky answers this in its Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. No section we read in Ky. Rev. Stat. §§ 383.505 to 383.715 names rent acceleration. These rules bear on the clause.

  • § 383.670(3), the duty. "If the tenant abandons the dwelling unit, the landlord shall make reasonable efforts to rent it at a fair rental." A new tenancy beginning before your lease would have expired ends your lease as of its start date.
  • § 383.670(3), the consequence. If the landlord fails to use reasonable efforts, or accepts the abandonment as a surrender, the lease is deemed ended by the landlord as of the date it had notice of the abandonment. For a month-to-month or week-to-week tenancy, the term counts as a month or a week.
  • § 383.570 and § 383.520(1). A lease term under which you waive rights or remedies under the Act is unenforceable. The Act also says an aggrieved party "has a duty to mitigate damages."
  • § 383.685. After termination the landlord may claim possession and rent, plus actual damages and reasonable attorney's fees as § 383.660(3) allows where your noncompliance is willful. Under § 383.555 a court may refuse to enforce, or limit, a term that was unconscionable when made.

§ 383.535 leaves some homes outside the Act, among them transient hotel or motel occupancy.

Section 03

What's Specific to Louisville

How Kentucky compares

Landlord duty to mitigate after an early lease break, state by state

Landlord duty to mitigate after an early lease break by stateEach square is a state; Kentucky is outlined.Alabama: guide coming soonALAlaska: guide coming soonAKArizonaAZNo figureArkansas: guide coming soonARCaliforniaCANo figureColoradoCONo figureConnecticut: guide coming soonCTDelaware: guide coming soonDEDistrict of ColumbiaDCNo figureFloridaFLNo figureGeorgiaGANo figureHawaii: guide coming soonHIIdaho: guide coming soonIDIllinoisILNo figureIndianaINNo figureIowa: guide coming soonIAKansas: guide coming soonKSKentuckyKYNo figureLouisiana: guide coming soonLAMaine: guide coming soonMEMarylandMDNo figureMassachusettsMANo figureMichiganMINo figureMinnesotaMNNo figureMississippi: guide coming soonMSMissouriMONo figureMontana: guide coming soonMTNebraska: guide coming soonNENevadaNVNo figureNew Hampshire: guide coming soonNHNew JerseyNJNo figureNew Mexico: guide coming soonNMNew YorkNYNo figureNorth CarolinaNCNo figureNorth Dakota: guide coming soonNDOhioOHNo figureOklahoma: guide coming soonOKOregonORNo figurePennsylvaniaPANo figureRhode Island: guide coming soonRISouth Carolina: guide coming soonSCSouth Dakota: guide coming soonSDTennesseeTNNo figureTexasTXNo figureUtah: guide coming soonUTVermont: guide coming soonVTVirginia: guide coming soonVAWashingtonWANo figureWest Virginia: guide coming soonWVWisconsinWINo figureWyoming: guide coming soonWY

No figureGuide coming soonYou are here

See all 25 cities as a chart

Landlord duty to mitigate after an early lease break

Same clause, 25 cities, different rules. Tap any city for its own guide.

Austin, Texas
Mandatory, non-waivable
Los Angeles, California
Mandatory, tenant proves
New York City, New York
Mandatory, non-waivable
Miami, Florida
No duty to re-rent
Chicago, Illinois
Mandatory statewide
Seattle, Washington
Mandatory on abandonment
Denver, Colorado
No statute; case law
Phoenix, Arizona
Mandatory after abandonment
Atlanta, Georgia
Likely no duty
Nashville, Tennessee
Mandatory in large counties
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
No duty to re-rent
Portland, Oregon
Mandatory on abandonment
Boston, Massachusetts
No statute; 93A limits
Las Vegas, Nevada
Mandatory on abandonment
Washington, District of Columbia
Mandatory, actual damages
Columbus, Ohio
No statute; case law
Newark, New Jersey
Mandatory, landlord proves
Detroit, Michigan
Non-waivable by lease
Charlotte, North Carolina
Case law; tenant proves
Baltimore, Maryland
Mandatory, non-waivable
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Mandatory on abandonment
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Mandatory; acceleration voids lease
Kansas City, Missouri
No general duty; deposit rule
Indianapolis, Indiana
Case law duty to re-let
Louisville, Kentucky
Mandatory on abandonment

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.

Louisville's code repeats the state text. Metro Code § 151.44(C) uses the same words as § 383.670(3), § 151.06(A) repeats the duty to mitigate, and § 151.24(A)(1) repeats the waiver bar.

No Louisville section we read regulates rent acceleration. Chapter 151 also adds an eviction-court counsel program in § 151.61, so ask about it if your landlord files an eviction case. Confirm the current city code before relying on it.

Does the lease say the landlord need not try to re-rent?

§ 383.570(2) makes a term waiving your rights under the Act unenforceable, and the re-rent duty is in § 383.670(3).

Do you know the date the landlord learned you had left?

If the landlord makes no reasonable effort to re-rent, the lease is deemed ended on the date it had notice you left.

Does the clause end your liability when a new tenant moves in?

That matches § 383.670(3): a new tenancy ends your lease on the date it begins.

Is the whole term demanded with no word on re-renting?

The landlord shall make reasonable efforts to rent at a fair rental. A demand silent on that leaves the duty unaddressed.

Sources

The law this guide relies on, and where to read it. Statutes change, so confirm the current text before you act on it.

Section 04

Red Flags to Watch Out For

  • A no-re-renting line in the lease

    A term saying the landlord need not try to re-rent cuts against § 383.670(3), and § 383.570(2) makes a waiver of your rights under the Act unenforceable.

  • Rent billed past a new tenant's start

    A new tenancy ends your lease on the date it begins. A bill that keeps running past that date is one to question.

  • No account of any effort to re-rent

    A demand with no word on listings, showings or the rent asked leaves the re-rent duty unaddressed.

  • An asking rent set out of reach

    The duty is to re-rent at a fair rental. A unit listed well above it, or held off the market, is worth a written question.

  • Attorney's fees for any breach

    § 383.660(3) allows attorney's fees where the tenant's noncompliance is willful. A clause charging them for every breach reads wider.

Section 05

Your Rights as a Louisville Tenant

  • A landlord who must try to re-rent

    Under § 383.670(3) and Louisville Metro Code § 151.44(C), the landlord shall make reasonable efforts to rent an abandoned unit at a fair rental.

  • Your lease ends when a new one starts

    A new tenancy beginning before your lease would have expired ends your lease as of the date of the new tenancy.

  • A lease waiver that does not hold

    § 383.570(2) makes a term waiving rights or remedies under the Act unenforceable, and Louisville's § 151.24(A)(1) repeats the bar.

  • A court check on unconscionable terms

    § 383.555 lets a court refuse to enforce, or limit, a lease provision that was unconscionable when made.

Section 06

What To Do - Step by Step

1

Find the acceleration paragraph

Note the sum it demands and what triggers it. Look for any line saying the landlord need not re-rent.

2

Fix the date the landlord had notice

Return the keys in a way you can prove and keep a dated note that you have left. That date matters if the landlord makes no reasonable effort to re-rent.

3

Ask what was done to re-rent

Ask in writing for the listings, the rent asked and the start date of any new tenancy.

4

Check the demand against § 383.685

After termination the landlord's claims are possession, rent and actual damages, with reasonable attorney's fees as § 383.660(3) provides for willful noncompliance.

5

Read the current text

Check the Louisville Metro code and the Kentucky statutes as they stand on the day you act.

6

Get local advice before you agree to a figure

Take the lease, the demand and your dates to a Louisville tenant lawyer or legal aid office. If an eviction case follows, ask about § 151.61.

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Section 07

Frequently Asked Questions

does my landlord in louisville have to re-rent if i break my lease
Where you abandon the unit, yes, even if your lease has a rent acceleration clause. Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.670(3) says the landlord "shall make reasonable efforts to rent it at a fair rental", and a new tenancy ends your lease on the date it begins.
is a rent acceleration clause allowed in louisville
No section we read in Kentucky's Act or Louisville Chapter 151 names rent acceleration. What bears on the clause is the re-rent duty in § 383.670(3), the waiver bar in § 383.570, and § 383.555, which lets a court refuse to enforce or limit an unconscionable term.
can a kentucky lease waive the landlord's duty to mitigate
§ 383.570(2) makes a lease term waiving your rights or remedies under the Act unenforceable. The re-rent duty in § 383.670(3) and the duty to mitigate in § 383.520(1) are both part of the Act.
what happens if my louisville landlord does not try to re-rent
Under § 383.670(3), if the landlord fails to use reasonable efforts to rent at a fair rental, or accepts the abandonment as a surrender, the lease is deemed ended by the landlord on the date it had notice you left.

Lease Acceleration rules near Kentucky

The same clause in the nearest states we cover.

IndianaIndianapolisLandlord must re-rent?Case law duty to re-letRead the guide →MissouriKansas CityLandlord must re-rent?No general duty; deposit ruleRead the guide →TennesseeNashvilleLandlord must re-rent?Mandatory in large countiesRead the guide →North CarolinaCharlotteLandlord must re-rent?Case law; tenant provesRead the guide →

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Legal Disclaimer: This guide is for general educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Information reflects general Kentucky and Louisville law as of October 2026 but may not reflect recent changes. Consult a licensed attorney in Kentucky for advice about your specific situation.