Erlanger could soon join several Northern Kentucky neighbors in adopting a state framework that regulates landlord-tenant relationships.
Councilwoman Jennifer Jasper-Lucas introduced the idea at this week’s Erlanger City Council meeting. She recommended that the council give the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (URLTA) a first reading at its upcoming Nov. 4 meeting.
Jasper-Lucas said the proposal is not about increasing bureaucracy or spending taxpayer money. But instead as a modernization of the legal framework that protects both renters and property owners in the city.
She noted that, according to the 2020 Census, at least 30% of housing units in Erlanger are renter-occupied, and average rent is just over $1,400 a month.
URLTA is outlined in state law under KRS 383.505-715. Under state law, cities that choose to adopt it must do so in its entirety, without amendments.
Without it, Jasper-Lucas said, tenants and landlords in Erlanger rely on common law when lease issues and discrepancies arise.
For tenants, URLTA sets a habitability standard and gives them legal recourse for unsafe or unsanitary conditions. It requires 48 hours’ notice before a landlord enters a unit, except in emergencies, and itemized documentation when a landlord withholds a security deposit. It also protects tenants from retaliatory eviction after reporting legitimate violations.
For landlords, it spells out tenants’ duties to pay rent on time, maintain the unit and avoid damaging property. It limits the unit’s use to residential purposes and creates a standardized legal process for lease violations. It also addresses out-of-state owners. If one fails to name an in-state agent, legal papers can be served through the Secretary of State under the law.
Jasper-Lucas described the law as “pro fairness and pro clarity”.
Addressing the questions typically raised, Jasper-Lucas said adoption carries no administrative or implementation fees. URLTA is enforced civilly between private parties in court, not by city employees.
The city’s existing rental permit enforcement ordinance, Chapter 112, would remain intact and would not need to be amended or repealed.
The law has been available to Kentucky cities since 1984. Bellevue, Bromley, Covington, Dayton, Elsmere, Florence, Highland Heights, Ludlow, Melbourne, Newport, Silver Grove, Southgate, Taylor Mill and Woodlawn have all adopted it, though efforts to make it statewide have stalled in Frankfort.
The council expects to take the first reading of the adoption at its next regular meeting on Nov. 4.
