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Louisville, Kentucky Medium-High Risk Clause

Maintenance & Repairs 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

  • The 14 days run from when the landlord receives your written notice, not from a phone call.
  • If the problem is not fixed, your notice can end the lease at least 30 days after receipt.
  • A repair under $100 or half a month's rent, whichever is greater, is deductible after a willful 14-day delay.
  • Heat, water or power willfully withheld runs on written notice with no day count (§ 383.640).
  • Louisville adds a maintenance contact and, where heat is furnished, a 65 degrees F minimum, October 1 to May 1.
Section 01

Understanding the Maintenance & Repairs Clause

14 days
Deadline to make repairs in Louisville
14 days. Under a Louisville maintenance and repairs clause, Kentucky gives the landlord 14 days after your written notice arrives to fix a problem (Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.625(1), adopted as Metro Code Chapter 151). If not, your notice can end the lease at least 30 days after receipt. After a willful failure, small repairs may be deducted from rent (§ 383.635(1)).

This page is for Louisville renters waiting on a repair, from a leaking pipe to a dead furnace. The key point: the clock starts only when your landlord receives your notice in writing.

Deliver it to the landlord's office that handled your lease or the address the landlord gives for notices, or send it by certified mail, and keep a copy. If the landlord still does not act, Kentucky gives you two main routes: ending the lease, or repair and deduct.

What renters assume

A Louisville landlord may take as long as the work needs, and a renter has no deadline to point to.

What is actually true

Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.625(1), which Louisville adopted as Metro Code § 151.35, gives the landlord 14 days after receiving written notice. § 383.635(1) uses the same 14 days for repair and deduct.

On the comparison on this page, Louisville's bar stops at 14 days, a figure it shares with Chicago, Nashville, Boston, Las Vegas, Minneapolis and Kansas City. That makes seven of the 25 rows.

Fifteen of the 25 rows have a bar at all. The longest, 30 days, belongs to Los Angeles, Portland, Columbus and Baltimore; Columbus's label calls it an outer limit and Baltimore's a presumed limit.

Seattle and Phoenix sit at 10 days, Austin and Miami at 7 days. The remaining ten rows are blank: New York City, Denver, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, Newark, Detroit, Charlotte, Milwaukee and Indianapolis.

What Louisville's bar draws is the landlord's time to remedy once written notice arrives. The 30 days in § 383.625(1) is the earliest date the lease can end, and it is not on the bar.

Clause decoder

Repairs 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.

Tenants agree to pay for all damages to the apartment windows, screens, and doors, including exterior unit doors (including random acts of vandalism).

Quoted from the published opinion in De Stefano v. Apts. Downtown, Inc., 879 N.W.2d 155 (Iowa 2016). 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

“pay for all damages”

Kentucky's act writes the landlord's half of this bargain before the lease does. Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.595(1) obliges the landlord to “Make all repairs and do whatever is necessary to put and keep the premises in a fit and habitable condition”. The Iowa opinion turned on the identical phrase in Iowa's code, holding that the duty is not met by repairing and then billing tenants under categorical lease terms. That holding is Iowa law, and our Kentucky record carries no Kentucky ruling on a sentence like this one.

See the example
A repair bill you dispute and a repair you asked for are separate papers. § 383.625(2) lets a tenant “recover damages and obtain injunctive relief” for the landlord's noncompliance, and your dated written notices are what show when the landlord was told.
Tenant-favourable“Owner handles every repair the premises need; residents are billed solely for harm they or their invitees inflict”
What this lease said“pay for all damages”
Landlord-favourable“Residents bear the cost of all damage of whatever origin, and billing them discharges Owner's repair obligations”
2

“windows, screens, and doors”

Every item on this list is a repair, and Kentucky times a repair from written notice. Under § 383.625(1) the tenant's notice can state that the lease will end on a date not less than 30 days after receipt if the breach is not remedied in 14 days. The section reaches a material noncompliance with the lease, or a breach of the landlord's duties materially affecting health and safety. A landlord who adequately remedies it before the stated date keeps the lease, under § 383.625(1)(a).

See the example
The 14 days start on receipt, so the delivery method matters. Under § 383.560(3)(b) a notice is received when delivered in writing at the landlord's place of business through which the rental agreement was made, at a place held out for receiving communications, or “mailed by certified mail”.
Tenant-favourable“Owner fixes windows, screens and doors within 14 days after a written request”
What this lease said“windows, screens, and doors”
Landlord-favourable“Residents arrange and fund window, screen and door work themselves, on a schedule Owner sets”
3

“unit doors”

Where a landlord leaves a unit door broken, Kentucky gives the tenant a self-help route with a ceiling. § 383.635(1) covers a noncompliance materially affecting health and safety whose reasonable cost is less than $100 or half the monthly rent, whichever is greater. If the landlord willfully fails to comply within 14 days of written notice, or as promptly as conditions require in an emergency, the tenant may have the work done in a workmanlike manner and deduct it from rent.

See the example
On rent of $1,000 a month, half is $500, which is greater than $100, so the ceiling is a repair costing less than $500. The deduction follows “an itemized statement for the work actually done and for which the tenant has paid in full”. In Louisville, Metro Code § 156.804(D) also requires a posted notice naming “a 24 hours/7 days a week maintenance and emergency repair service company”.
Tenant-favourable“Owner replaces a broken unit door promptly, and nothing here limits a resident's statutory repair-and-deduct right”
What this lease said“unit doors”
Landlord-favourable“No resident may repair a door or offset any repair cost against rent”
4

“random acts”

This is the burglar fact pattern De Stefano turned on, and Kentucky's act sorts conditions by who caused them. § 383.635(2) closes repair and deduct for a condition caused by the tenant, a family member or a guest, and an intruder fits none of those. Our Kentucky record holds no Kentucky decision on a vandalism term. Weigh this one against § 383.595(1) and the facts of the break-in.

See the example
Asking for the door to be fixed is protected. § 383.705 bars raising rent, decreasing services or bringing or threatening an action for possession after a tenant complains to the landlord of a § 383.595 violation. A complaint within one year before the landlord's act creates a presumption of retaliation.
Tenant-favourable“Damage from a break-in by an outsider is Owner's to repair at Owner's cost”
What this lease said“random acts”
Landlord-favourable“Residents pay for every door and window repair, including harm by intruders, reported or not”
What the court did with it

The tenants won the door. The Iowa Supreme Court held the landlord could not use this clause to bill them $598.46 for an exterior door wrecked by a burglar, and reversed the district court's decision against the tenant on liability for the door repair. Two reasons, and the second is the wider one. Iowa Code § 562A.15(2) lets a landlord and tenant agree only that the tenant will perform specified repairs; it does not let the landlord perform the repair and shift the cost. And the landlord's statutory duty to “make all repairs and do whatever is necessary to put and keep the premises in a fit and habitable condition” is not satisfied “by merely making repairs and shifting the costs to the tenant pursuant to categorical provisions in the original lease agreement.” Note the word categorical: what failed was a blanket allocation written into a form lease before anyone knew who would break what. Why a renter should care: the damage here came from a stranger's crime, and the clause charged it to the household anyway. This is Iowa law, from the opinion as amended July 26, 2016, and a differently worded statute can produce the opposite answer - Texas's did in 2001.

How this state's law treats this clause
Kentucky's Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act gives a landlord 14 days after receiving a tenant's written notice to remedy a breach, and lets the tenant repair and deduct work costing less than $100 or half the monthly rent, whichever is greater. Louisville applies the act through Metro Code Chapter 151: Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.625; Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.635; Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.640; Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.595; Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.560; Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.705; Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.500; Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.198; Louisville Metro Code § 151.35; Louisville Metro Code § 151.37; Louisville Metro Code § 151.38; Louisville Metro Code § 151.29; Louisville Metro Code § 156.051; Louisville Metro Code § 156.804; Louisville Metro Code § 156.181; Louisville Metro Code § 32.283

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 Maintenance & Repairs Clause

The law in Kentucky
  • The clock starts with a written notice that the landlord actually receives.
    Read the law's wordsKy. Rev. Stat. § 383.625(1) applies where "there is a material noncompliance by the landlord with the rental agreement or a noncompliance with KRS 383.595 materially affecting health and safety", and lets the tenant "deliver a written notice to the landlord specifying the acts and omissions constituting the breach". Under § 383.560(3)(b) a landlord receives a notice when "it is delivered in writing at the place of business of the landlord through which the rental agreement was made or at any place held out by him as the place for receipt of the communications, or mailed by certified mail". Section 383.595(1) lists what the notice can point to, including the duty to "Make all repairs and do whatever is necessary to put and keep the premises in a fit and habitable condition".
  • Fourteen days to fix it, or the lease can end.
    Read the law's wordsThe § 383.625(1) notice states "that the rental agreement will terminate upon a date not less than thirty (30) days after receipt of the notice if the breach is not remedied in fourteen (14) days". Under § 383.625(1)(a), if the landlord "adequately remedies the breach before the date specified in the notice, the rental agreement shall not terminate by reason of the breach", and under § 383.625(1)(b) a repeat of the same problem within six months lets the tenant end the lease on "at least fourteen (14) days' written notice". Section 383.625(2) separately lets the tenant "recover damages and obtain injunctive relief". Louisville Metro Code § 151.35 contains the same terms.
  • Repair and deduct has a cost ceiling and a willfulness test.
    Read the law's wordsKy. Rev. Stat. § 383.635(1) applies where the noncompliance "materially affects health and safety and the reasonable cost of compliance is less than one hundred dollars ($100), or an amount equal to one-half (1/2) of the monthly rent, whichever amount is greater". If the landlord "willfully fails to comply within fourteen (14) days after being notified by the tenant in writing or as promptly as conditions require in case of emergency", the tenant may have the work done "in a workmanlike manner" and, after giving the landlord "an itemized statement for the work actually done and for which the tenant has paid in full", deduct the cost from rent. Under § 383.635(2) this is not available for a condition the tenant, a family member or a guest caused.
  • Loss of heat, water or power runs on notice rather than a day count.
    Read the law's wordsKy. Rev. Stat. § 383.640(1) applies where the landlord "willfully fails to supply heat, running water, hot water, electric, gas, or other essential service"; after written notice the tenant may buy the service and deduct its "actual and reasonable cost from the rent", recover damages "based upon the diminution in the fair rental value of the dwelling unit", or procure "reasonable substitute housing" and be excused from rent for that period, with reasonable attorney's fees on that last option under § 383.640(2). Under § 383.640(3) a tenant who uses this section may not also proceed under § 383.625 or § 383.635 for the same breach. Section 383.705 bars retaliation by raising rent, decreasing services or bringing or threatening to bring an action for possession after a tenant complains to the landlord of a § 383.595 violation, and a complaint within one year before the landlord's act creates a presumption of retaliation.

Sources include Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.625; Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.635; Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.640; Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.595; Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.560; Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.705; Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.500; Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.198; Louisville Metro Code § 151.35; Louisville Metro Code § 151.37; Louisville Metro Code § 151.38; Louisville Metro Code § 151.29; Louisville Metro Code § 156.051; Louisville Metro Code § 156.804; Louisville Metro Code § 156.181; Louisville Metro Code § 32.283 - statutes change; verify the current text for your situation.

Try your numbers

Is your repair and deduct cost over the limit?

Most allowedThe greater of $100 or 50% of the rent
Your charge

Applies to a repair that materially affects health and safety, after the landlord willfully fails to act within 14 days of written notice; the reasonable cost must be less than $100 or half the monthly rent, whichever is greater, so a cost equal to that figure does not qualify; not for a condition the tenant, a family member or a guest caused (Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.635(1)). Arithmetic only, not legal advice.

Count it for your dates

14 days: when does it end?

Day 14 falls on

What it means: The landlord must remedy the breach; if not, your notice can end the lease on a date at least 30 days after receipt, and if the failure is willful a small repair may be done and deducted. Applies to a Louisville landlord under Kentucky's Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, adopted as Metro Code Chapter 151; repair and deduct needs a willful failure, and an emergency must be handled as promptly as conditions require; lost heat, water or power runs under § 383.640 with no day count (Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.625(1); § 383.635(1); Louisville Metro Code § 151.35). Calendar arithmetic only; check how the section counts days before you rely on a date.

Copy and send: As soon as a repair problem appears, delivered at the landlord's office that handled the lease or the address for notices, or mailed by certified mail

Written repair notice

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

Kentucky's repair rules sit in its Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. Under § 383.595(1) the landlord must "Make all repairs and do whatever is necessary to put and keep the premises in a fit and habitable condition".

  • Notice (§ 383.560(3)(b)). A notice counts as received when delivered in writing at the landlord's office that handled the lease or a place held out for notices, or mailed by certified mail.
  • Ending the lease (§ 383.625). Your notice can say the lease ends at least 30 days after receipt unless the problem is fixed in 14 days. An adequate fix before that date keeps the lease. A repeat within six months needs only 14 days' written notice. You may also seek damages and a court order.
  • Repair and deduct (§ 383.635). The landlord must have willfully failed to act within 14 days, or as promptly as an emergency requires. You give an itemized statement for work you paid in full, then deduct. It does not cover a condition you, your family or a guest caused.
  • Essential services (§ 383.640). If heat, running water, hot water, electric or gas is willfully withheld, you may buy the service and deduct it, recover damages, or move to substitute housing. You cannot also use § 383.625 or § 383.635 for the same breach.
Section 03

What's Specific to Louisville

How Kentucky compares

Deadline to make repairs, state by state

Deadline to make repairs by stateEach square is a state; Kentucky is outlined.Alabama: guide coming soonALAlaska: guide coming soonAKArizonaAZ10 daysArkansas: guide coming soonARCaliforniaCA30 daysColoradoCONo figureConnecticut: guide coming soonCTDelaware: guide coming soonDEDistrict of ColumbiaDCNo figureFloridaFL7 daysGeorgiaGANo figureHawaii: guide coming soonHIIdaho: guide coming soonIDIllinoisIL14 daysIndianaINNo figureIowa: guide coming soonIAKansas: guide coming soonKSKentuckyKY14 daysLouisiana: guide coming soonLAMaine: guide coming soonMEMarylandMD30 daysMassachusettsMA14 daysMichiganMINo figureMinnesotaMN14 daysMississippi: guide coming soonMSMissouriMO14 daysMontana: guide coming soonMTNebraska: guide coming soonNENevadaNV14 daysNew Hampshire: guide coming soonNHNew JerseyNJNo figureNew Mexico: guide coming soonNMNew YorkNYNo figureNorth CarolinaNCNo figureNorth Dakota: guide coming soonNDOhioOH30 daysOklahoma: guide coming soonOKOregonOR30 daysPennsylvaniaPANo figureRhode Island: guide coming soonRISouth Carolina: guide coming soonSCSouth Dakota: guide coming soonSDTennesseeTN14 daysTexasTX7 daysUtah: guide coming soonUTVermont: guide coming soonVTVirginia: guide coming soonVAWashingtonWA10 daysWest Virginia: guide coming soonWVWisconsinWINo figureWyoming: guide coming soonWY

7 days10 days14 days30 daysNo figureGuide coming soonYou are here

See all 25 cities as a chart

Deadline to make repairs

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

Los Angeles, California
30 days
Portland, Oregon
30 days
Columbus, Ohio
30 daysouter limit
Baltimore, Maryland
30 dayspresumed limit
Chicago, Illinois
14 days
Nashville, Tennessee
14 days
Boston, Massachusetts
14 days
Las Vegas, Nevada
14 days
Minneapolis, Minnesota
14 days
Kansas City, Missouri
14 days
Louisville, Kentucky
14 days
Seattle, Washington
10 days
Phoenix, Arizona
10 days
Austin, Texas
7 days
Miami, Florida
7 days
New York City, New York
No fixed deadline
Denver, Colorado
No fixed deadline
Atlanta, Georgia
No fixed deadline
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
No set deadline
Washington, District of Columbia
No fixed deadline
Newark, New Jersey
No fixed deadline
Detroit, Michigan
No fixed deadline
Charlotte, North Carolina
No fixed deadline
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
No fixed deadline
Indianapolis, Indiana
No fixed deadline

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 Metro Code Chapter 151 adopts the state act, and § 151.35 and § 151.37 carry the same 14 days. Our record of the Chapter 151 table of contents and the Chapter 151 and 156 sections cited here finds no Louisville ordinance setting a different number of days for a repair.

The Property Maintenance Code adds owner duties: § 156.804(D) requires a written maintenance contact, and § 156.181(C) sets the heat floor where the lease includes heat. We take no position on how § 383.500 and § 383.198 apply here.

Does the lease give an address for written notices?

Useful. Under § 383.560(3)(b), notice delivered at a place held out for notices, or sent by certified mail, counts as received.

Does it name who handles maintenance?

Good. Metro Code § 156.804(D) requires the contact's name, address and phone in writing, and an on-site notice naming a 24/7 emergency repair company.

Does it give the landlord longer than 14 days to repair?

Question it. § 383.625(1) and § 383.635(1) both run on 14 days after written notice.

Does it say rent is owed in full whatever happens?

Read it closely. § 383.635 allows deducting a small repair, and § 383.640 can excuse rent while you use substitute housing.

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

  • Thirty days to repair

    The 30 days in § 383.625(1) is the earliest date your notice can end the lease. A clause giving the landlord 30 days to repair misreads it.

  • Repair requests by phone only

    The 14 days run from written notice. If the clause sends repairs to a phone line, put each request in writing too and keep a copy.

  • Every repair charged to you

    The landlord's duty to keep the unit fit and habitable is in § 383.595(1). Charging you for every repair goes further than the tenant-caused conditions § 383.635(2) carves out.

  • Heat promised only 'as available'

    Where the lease includes heat, Metro Code § 156.181(C) requires at least 65 degrees F in habitable rooms, bathrooms and toilet rooms from October 1 to May 1.

  • Wording that punishes a complaint

    § 383.705 bars raising rent, cutting services, or filing or threatening eviction after you complain of a § 383.595 violation. A complaint in the prior year means retaliation is presumed.

Section 05

Your Rights as a Louisville Tenant

  • Fourteen days, then the lease can end

    Your written notice can end the lease at least 30 days after receipt if the breach is not remedied in 14 days (§ 383.625(1)).

  • Repair and deduct, within a ceiling

    For work under $100 or half the monthly rent, whichever is greater, after the landlord willfully fails to act within 14 days (§ 383.635(1)).

  • Essential services on written notice

    If heat, water or power is willfully withheld, you may buy it and deduct the cost, recover damages, or procure substitute housing (§ 383.640(1)).

  • A repeat problem, a shorter exit

    If the same breach recurs within six months, you may end the lease on at least 14 days' written notice (§ 383.625(1)(b)).

Section 06

What To Do - Step by Step

1

Put the problem in writing and deliver it

Name the unit, the defect and the date. Metro Code § 156.051(A) also requires occupants to notify the owner of deficiencies promptly.

2

Count 14 days from receipt

The 14 days run from receipt, and a notice mailed by certified mail counts as received (§ 383.560(3)(b); § 383.625(1)).

3

Price a small repair against the ceiling

Get the cost before you deduct anything, and keep an itemized, paid-in-full statement to give the landlord (§ 383.635(1)).

4

Treat lost heat, water or power separately

Choose the § 383.640 route or the 14-day routes for that breach, not both (§ 383.640(3)).

5

Know what a city notice of violation does

A Metro code officer may give the landlord a set period to fix a violation without a fine. § 32.283(B) fixes no number of days.

6

Get advice before ending the lease or deducting rent

Both change your tenancy. A Kentucky legal aid office can check § 383.625 and § 383.635 against your facts.

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Section 07

Frequently Asked Questions

how long does a landlord have to make repairs in louisville ky
14 days from receiving your written notice. If the repair is not made, your notice can end the lease on a date at least 30 days after receipt (Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.625(1); Metro Code § 151.35).
can i repair and deduct in kentucky
For smaller repairs that affect health and safety. Under § 383.635(1) the cost must be under $100 or half the monthly rent, whichever is greater, and the landlord must have willfully failed to act within 14 days of written notice.
what if my louisville landlord will not restore heat or hot water
Give written notice. If the landlord willfully fails to supply it, § 383.640(1) lets you buy the service and deduct its cost, recover damages, or procure substitute housing. Metro Code § 156.181(C) sets at least 65 degrees F from October 1 to May 1 where the owner furnishes heat.
can my landlord retaliate for a repair complaint in kentucky
Not by raising rent, cutting services, or filing or threatening an eviction case after you complain to the landlord of a § 383.595 violation (§ 383.705). A complaint within one year before the landlord's act creates a presumption of retaliation.

Maintenance & Repairs rules near Kentucky

The same clause in the nearest states we cover.

IndianaIndianapolisRepair deadlineNo fixed deadlineRead the guide →MissouriKansas CityRepair deadline14 daysRead the guide →TennesseeNashvilleRepair deadline14 daysRead the guide →North CarolinaCharlotteRepair deadlineNo fixed deadlineRead 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.