Home › Clauses › Utilities Clause › Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky Medium Risk Clause

Utilities 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

  • § 383.655: after a willful shutoff, recover possession, or end the rental agreement and get prepaid rent back.
  • Either way you can recover up to 3 months' periodic rent plus a reasonable attorney's fee, not a fixed sum.
  • § 383.690 bars using a shutoff to take the unit back; § 383.705(1) bars cutting services after a complaint.
  • If the landlord willfully fails to supply a service, written notice opens three options under § 383.640(1).
  • Louisville's code repeats these rules and sets at least 65ºF, October 1 to May 1, where the lease includes heat.
Section 01

Understanding the Utilities Clause

Up to 3 months' rent
Maximum fixed dollar penalty for an unlawful utility shuto
A utilities clause decides whose name is on the heat, water, gas and power bills. If a Louisville landlord willfully interrupts heat, water, power or another essential service, Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.655 lets you recover possession or end the rental agreement, and in either case recover up to three months' periodic rent plus a reasonable attorney's fee.

A utilities paragraph settles whose name goes on the gas, electric and water accounts. This page covers the other question Louisville renters ask: what happens when a service stops.

Kentucky treats two cases differently. A landlord who willfully interrupts heat, water or power is covered by one section.

A service the landlord willfully fails to supply runs through another, which starts with your written notice. Knowing which case you are in tells you which steps to take.

What renters assume

If I fall behind on rent, my Louisville landlord can cut the power or water until I pay.

What is actually true

§ 383.655 covers a landlord who willfully interrupts heat, running water, hot water, electric, gas or other essential service, with up to three months' periodic rent at stake. § 383.690 separately bars using a shutoff to take the unit back.

Louisville's bar is blank, one of 13 of the 25 rows with no fixed sum. Its label reads Up to 3 months' rent, a rent multiple like Miami's 3 months' rent and the 2 months' rent in Phoenix, Philadelphia and Portland.

The other blank rows read daily amounts, in Los Angeles, Seattle, Newark and Kansas City, or damages with no fixed sum, in Nashville, Columbus, Charlotte and Indianapolis.

The other 12 rows carry a fixed figure, running from New York City at $10,000 through Denver and Milwaukee at $5,000, Las Vegas at $2,500, Washington at $2,000 and Austin at $1,000. Below them sit Atlanta, Baltimore and Minneapolis at $500, Chicago and Boston at $300 and Detroit at $200.

A rent multiple cannot sit on a dollar bar: under § 383.655 the recovery is "not more than three (3) months periodic rent", so its size follows your rent.

Clause decoder

Utilities 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.

[t]enant shall be responsible for all utilities and services incurred in connection with the Premises.

Quoted from the published opinion in Dinh v. Raines, No. S-18262 (Alaska Feb. 23, 2024). 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

“[t]enant shall be responsible for all utilities”

Putting the bills on the tenant is an ordinary lease term, and the Alaska court left this one standing. Kentucky's Act sets its own baseline beside it. Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.595(1)(e) requires a landlord to supply running water and reasonable amounts of hot water at all times and reasonable heat between October 1 and May 1, with stated exceptions, so read those exceptions before deciding which services this clause can reach.

See the example
Who holds which account matters once something stops. § 383.640(1) applies where the landlord, contrary to the rental agreement or § 383.595, “willfully fails to supply heat, running water, hot water, electric, gas, or other essential service”. Get the split in writing at move-in.
Tenant-favourable“Tenant pays electricity in Tenant's name; Landlord supplies water, hot water and heat”
What this lease said“[t]enant shall be responsible for all utilities”
Landlord-favourable“Tenant shall be responsible for every utility serving the dwelling, including any shared meter”
2

“and services incurred”

Kentucky's Act names the services that count: “heat, running water, hot water, electric, gas, or other essential service”. Under § 383.655, a landlord who willfully interrupts one of them leaves the tenant able to recover possession or end the rental agreement and, either way, recover “an amount not more than three (3) months periodic rent and a reasonable attorney's fee.” In Dinh the Alaska court treated heat, hot water and electricity as essential services, and internet and cable as not.

See the example
The ceiling is measured in your own rent. On rent of $1,100 a month, three months of periodic rent comes to $3,300, the limit the section sets on the amount, with the attorney's fee on top. The Alaska exposure in Dinh was framed differently, as exemplary damages of up to one and one-half times actual damages.
Tenant-favourable“Landlord shall keep heat, water, hot water, electric and gas service connected throughout the tenancy”
What this lease said“and services incurred”
Landlord-favourable“Utilities and services include any service Landlord designates, and Landlord may suspend them for nonpayment”
3

“in connection with”

In Dinh the landlord ran his own workers' electricity and heating fuel through the tenants' meter and tank, and the court held that a “tenant pays all utilities” clause did not let him shift that cost. These words tie the bill to the unit's own use. Kentucky's route for a service the landlord willfully fails to supply runs through § 383.640(1).

See the example
After written notice, § 383.640(1) lets the tenant buy the service and deduct its actual and reasonable cost from the rent, recover damages based on the drop in the fair rental value, or move to reasonable substitute housing and owe no rent for that period. § 383.640(2) adds reasonable attorney's fees to the last of those.
Tenant-favourable“Tenant pays for usage measured at the meter serving Tenant's unit alone”
What this lease said“in connection with”
Landlord-favourable“Tenant pays all charges billed to the Premises' meters, whatever their source”
4

“the Premises.”

The Premises are what a shutoff cannot lawfully win back. § 383.690 provides that a landlord may not recover or take possession of the dwelling unit “by action or otherwise, including willful diminution of services to the tenant” by interrupting an essential service, except in case of abandonment, surrender, or as the Act permits. If the tenant ends the rental agreement under § 383.655, the landlord “shall return all prepaid rent.”

See the example
Louisville Metro Code § 151.41 and § 151.48 print the same rules as the state sections, and our record of the code finds no Louisville fixed dollar penalty for a shutoff. Separately, § 156.181(C) requires an owner who rents on terms to furnish heat to supply it from October 1 to May 1 at not less than 65ºF in habitable rooms, bathrooms and toilet rooms.
Tenant-favourable“Landlord shall not interrupt any utility serving the Premises except for emergency repairs”
What this lease said“the Premises.”
Landlord-favourable“Landlord may suspend any service it furnishes to the Premises while rent remains unpaid”
What the court did with it

The clause survived. The landlord did not. The Alaska Supreme Court held that a “tenant pays all utilities” clause does not let a landlord shift the cost of utilities he diverts. He had housed his restaurant employees in unpermitted garage units and let them draw electricity and heating fuel through the tenants' meter and fuel tank. That was a willful diminution of essential services under AS 34.03.210, which exposes a landlord to exemplary damages of up to one and one-half times actual damages. The court affirmed that finding as to heat, hot water and electricity, and reversed as to internet and cable, which are not “essential services” under the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. The same utilities clause still carried the day on ordinary contract grounds: the tenants recovered $1,050 under AS 34.03.160 for the internet and cable, once they had given notice. Two things a renter should take from it - a broad “all utilities” clause is normal and enforceable, and it still does not make you the landlord's utility company.

How this state's law treats this clause
Kentucky measures a willful utility interruption in months of rent, not in a fixed dollar sum: the tenant may recover not more than three (3) months periodic rent and a reasonable attorney's fee. A shutoff is also no lawful way for a landlord to take the unit back: Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.655; Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.690; Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.640; Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.595(1)(e); Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.705; Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.500; Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.198; Louisville Metro Code § 151.41; Louisville Metro Code § 151.48; Louisville Metro Code § 151.38

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 Utilities Clause

The law in Kentucky
  • The remedy is a capped multiple of rent.
    Read the law's wordsKy. Rev. Stat. § 383.655 provides in full: "If a landlord unlawfully removes or excludes the tenant from the premises or willfully diminishes services to the tenant by interrupting or causing the interruption of heat, running water, hot water, electric, gas, or other essential service, the tenant may recover possession or terminate the rental agreement and, in either case, recover an amount not more than three (3) months periodic rent and a reasonable attorney's fee. If the rental agreement is terminated, the landlord shall return all prepaid rent."
  • A shutoff is not a lawful way to take the unit back.
    Read the law's wordsKy. Rev. Stat. § 383.690 provides that "A landlord may not recover or take possession of the dwelling unit 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 to the tenant, except in case of abandonment, surrender, or as permitted in KRS 383.505 to 383.715." Louisville Metro Code § 151.48 prints the same rule.
  • A separate route covers service the landlord fails to supply.
    Read the law's wordsIf, contrary to the rental agreement or § 383.595, the landlord "willfully fails to supply heat, running water, hot water, electric, gas, or other essential service", Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.640(1) lets the tenant, after written notice, buy the service and deduct its actual and reasonable cost from the rent, recover damages based on the drop in the fair rental value, or move to reasonable substitute housing and owe no rent for that period, with reasonable attorney's fees added to the last option under § 383.640(2). Section 383.595(1)(e) requires a landlord to supply running water and reasonable amounts of hot water at all times and reasonable heat between October 1 and May 1, with stated exceptions.
  • Cutting services in response to a complaint is retaliation.
    Read the law's wordsKy. Rev. Stat. § 383.705(1) provides that a landlord "may not retaliate by increasing rent or decreasing services" after a tenant's code complaint, repair complaint under § 383.595, or tenant union activity, and § 383.705(2) gives the tenant the remedies provided in § 383.655. Louisville Metro Code § 151.51 prints the same rule.
  • Where the Act applies is a local choice, and Louisville made it.
    Read the law's wordsKy. Rev. Stat. § 383.500 authorizes cities, counties and urban-county governments to enact §§ 383.505 to 383.705 "in their entirety and without amendment", and Louisville Metro Code Chapter 151 carries the history Jeff. Ord. 22-1984, adopted and effective July 24, 1984, and Lou. Metro Am. Ord. No. 134-2006, approved August 23, 2006. Under § 383.535 and § 151.08 the Act does not govern, among other arrangements, transient hotel or motel occupancy, occupancy by an employee whose right to occupy depends on that job, or occupancy by a condominium unit owner.

Sources include Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.655; Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.690; Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.640; Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.595(1)(e); Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.705; Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.500; Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.198; Louisville Metro Code § 151.41; Louisville Metro Code § 151.48; Louisville Metro Code § 151.38 - statutes change; verify the current text for your situation.

Copy and send: As soon as heat, water, electric or gas that the landlord must supply under your lease or § 383.595 stops

Written notice that a service is not supplied

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

Kentucky's Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act covers lost services:

  • § 383.655, willful shutoff. A landlord who willfully interrupts heat, running water, hot water, electric, gas or other essential service lets you recover possession or terminate the rental agreement. Either way you may recover "an amount not more than three (3) months periodic rent and a reasonable attorney's fee." On termination the landlord "shall return all prepaid rent."
  • § 383.690, no shutoff eviction. A landlord may not take possession by willfully interrupting an essential service, except in case of abandonment, surrender, or as the Act permits.
  • § 383.595(1)(e), supply duty. Running water and reasonable amounts of hot water at all times, and reasonable heat between October 1 and May 1, with stated exceptions.
  • § 383.640, service not supplied. If, contrary to the lease or § 383.595, the landlord willfully fails to supply an essential service, after written notice you may buy it and deduct its actual and reasonable cost from the rent, claim damages for the drop in fair rental value, or move to reasonable substitute housing and owe no rent for that period, plus reasonable attorney's fees under § 383.640(2).
  • § 383.705, retaliation. No retaliating by "decreasing services" after a code complaint, a repair complaint or tenant union activity, and § 383.705(2) gives you the § 383.655 remedies.
Section 03

What's Specific to Louisville

Maximum fixed dollar penalty for an unlawful utility shutoff

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

New York City, New York
Up to $10,000
Denver, Colorado
$5,000 or 3x rent
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
$5,000 fine or forfeiture
Las Vegas, Nevada
$2,500 + actual damages
Washington, District of Columbia
$2,000 finepaid to DC
Austin, Texas
$1,000 + 1 month's rent
Atlanta, Georgia
$500 finepaid to state
Baltimore, Maryland
$500 fine per offense
Minneapolis, Minnesota
$500 or treble damages
Chicago, Illinois
$300/tenant+ rent abatement
Boston, Massachusetts
$300 fine + 3 months' rent
Detroit, Michigan
$200 or actual damages, per occurrence
Los Angeles, California
$100/day, no cap
Miami, Florida
3 months' rent
Seattle, Washington
$100/day, no cap
Phoenix, Arizona
2 months' rent
Nashville, Tennessee
Actual + punitive damages
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2 months' rent
Portland, Oregon
2 months' rent
Columbus, Ohio
No fixed sum; actual damages
Newark, New Jersey
$100/day city fine, no cap
Charlotte, North Carolina
No fixed sum; civil action
Kansas City, Missouri
$1,000/day city fine, no cap
Indianapolis, Indiana
No fixed sum; court order + damages
Louisville, Kentucky
Up to 3 months' rent

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 Metro Code Chapter 151 is the state Act in city form. § 151.41 prints the same remedy as § 383.655, §§ 151.48 and 151.38 print §§ 383.690 and 383.640, and § 151.51 prints the retaliation rule. Our record of the Louisville Metro Code finds no Louisville fixed dollar penalty for a landlord's utility shutoff.

Outside Chapter 151, § 156.181(C) requires every owner and operator who rents on terms to furnish heat to supply at least 65ºF in habitable rooms, bathrooms and toilet rooms from October 1 to May 1.

Does it say who holds each utility account?

Good. A clear split is easier to document. § 383.640(1) covers services the landlord must supply under the agreement or § 383.595.

Does it repeat the landlord's heat and water duty?

Good. That matches § 383.595(1)(e), which sets the duty with stated exceptions.

Does it let the landlord take the unit back by cutting service?

Red flag. § 383.690 bars that, except in case of abandonment, surrender, or as the Act permits.

Does it say prepaid rent is kept if you leave?

Question it. If a willful shutoff leads you to terminate, § 383.655 says the landlord "shall return all prepaid rent."

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 shutoff reserved for late rent

    Willfully cutting heat, water, hot water, electric or gas is the conduct § 383.655 names, with up to three months' periodic rent at stake.

  • A cold unit between October and May

    Where the rental terms include heat, Louisville's § 156.181(C) sets not less than 65ºF. Note the date and the room temperature.

  • Services cut after a repair request

    § 383.705(1) bars retaliating by "decreasing services" after a repair complaint. Keep the dates of the request and the cut side by side.

  • No address for written notice

    The § 383.640(1) options start after written notice. If the lease names no address for notices, ask for one in writing and keep a copy.

  • A fixed fine quoted as the limit

    Our record of the Louisville code finds no fixed dollar penalty for a shutoff. The recovery under § 383.655 is measured in months of rent.

Section 05

Your Rights as a Louisville Tenant

  • Up to three months' rent

    § 383.655 lets you recover "an amount not more than three (3) months periodic rent and a reasonable attorney's fee" after a willful interruption.

  • Stay or leave

    You may recover possession or terminate the rental agreement, and on termination the landlord returns all prepaid rent (§ 383.655).

  • Buy the service and deduct the cost

    After written notice, § 383.640(1) lets you buy a service the landlord willfully fails to supply and deduct its actual and reasonable cost.

  • Substitute housing, no rent

    You may instead move to reasonable substitute housing and owe no rent for that period, with reasonable attorney's fees under § 383.640(2).

Section 06

What To Do - Step by Step

1

Write down when the service stopped

Date and time, with a photo of the meter, tap or thermostat. Any claim under § 383.655 or § 383.640 rests on it.

2

Ask the utility why it stopped

A cut the landlord willfully caused points to § 383.655. A service the landlord willfully fails to supply points to § 383.640(1).

3

Send written notice

The § 383.640(1) options start after written notice to the landlord. Keep a dated copy and note how you delivered it.

4

Work out the ceiling from your rent

Multiply your periodic rent by three. That is the most § 383.655 allows, with a reasonable attorney's fee on top.

5

Keep every receipt

Space heaters, hotel nights, a plumber, spoiled food. A cost you deduct under § 383.640(1) must be actual and reasonable.

6

Read the current text, then get advice

Check §§ 383.655, 383.640 and 383.690 on the Legislative Research Commission's site, and talk to Kentucky legal aid while the outage is fresh.

Why renters trust LeaseDecoded

Read at the sourceEvery statute is read in its published text, on the state's own site where that site can be reached.
Real court rulingsLease wording on our pages is quoted from published court opinions, with what the judge decided.
Dated and re-checkedEach guide shows when it was last reviewed, and we correct it when the law changes.
Free, no sign-upEvery guide and calculator is free. It is not legal advice; each guide says where to get that.
Section 07

Frequently Asked Questions

can my landlord shut off my utilities in louisville
Your utilities clause decides who pays the bills. A willful shutoff of heat, water, electric, gas or other essential service brings the Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.655 remedies, and § 383.690 bars using one to take the unit back, except in case of abandonment, surrender, or as the Act permits.
how much can i recover for a utility shutoff in kentucky
Even if your utilities clause puts the bills in your name, a willful shutoff lets you recover up to three months' periodic rent plus a reasonable attorney's fee under § 383.655, whether you recover possession or end the rental agreement. That is a rent multiple, not a set sum.
what if my kentucky landlord never turns the heat on
§ 383.595(1)(e) requires reasonable heat from October 1 to May 1, with stated exceptions. If the landlord willfully fails to supply it, written notice lets you buy heat and deduct the cost, claim damages, or move to substitute housing and owe no rent then (§ 383.640(1)).
is cutting services after a complaint retaliation in kentucky
It can be. § 383.705(1) says a landlord "may not retaliate by increasing rent or decreasing services" after a code complaint, a repair complaint or tenant union activity, and § 383.705(2) gives you the § 383.655 remedies.

Utilities rules near Kentucky

The same clause in the nearest states we cover.

IndianaIndianapolisPenalty for a shutoffNo fixed sum; court order + damagesRead the guide →MissouriKansas CityPenalty for a shutoff$1,000/day city fine, no capRead the guide →TennesseeNashvillePenalty for a shutoffActual + punitive damagesRead the guide →North CarolinaCharlottePenalty for a shutoffNo fixed sum; civil actionRead the guide →

Was this guide helpful?Your answer is anonymous and helps us fix what is unclear.

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.