Kentucky Mobile Home Park Laws

Kentucky Mobile Home Park Laws — Lot Rent and Evictions (2026)

By Oleg Kachko · Updated August 22, 2026

✓ Law Verified August 2026

Kentucky mobile home park laws are their own world: you own the home, you rent the ground, and a separate set of rules, different from ordinary landlord-tenant law, decides what the park can charge, when it can evict, and what happens if the land is sold out from under the whole community. This guide covers those rules in plain English, verified against official Kentucky sources as of August 2026.

Kentucky Mobile Home Park Laws at a Glance

The law that governs parks NONE — Kentucky has no mobile home park tenancy act. KRS 219.310 to 219.410 (the Manufactured Home, Mobile Home, and Recreational Vehicle Community law enacted by 2001 HB 261) covers only permits, sanitation and community layout enforced by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, not rent, eviction, or park sales. Lot tenancies are governed by the written lease plus the ordinary forcible entry and detainer statutes (KRS 383.005 to 383.285), and by the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (KRS 383.505 to 383.715) ONLY in the roughly 20 Kentucky cities and counties that adopted URLTA (including Louisville/Jefferson County, Lexington-Fayette, Covington, Newport, Florence, Shelbyville, Oldham County, Pulaski County, Georgetown, Bellevue, Dayton, Ludlow, Taylor Mill, Southgate, Silver Grove, Anchorage, Barbourville, Melbourne, Woodlawn Park, Bromley)
Notice before a lot rent increase UNVERIFIED as a statewide statutory number for lot rent specifically — Kentucky has no statute setting a lot-rent-increase notice period. In URLTA jurisdictions a month-to-month lot rent increase requires the landlord to terminate or change terms with at least 30 days written notice before the next periodic rental date (KRS 383.695), so 30 days is the working minimum there. Outside URLTA areas only the written lease sets the notice, and mid-term increases are barred only if your lease says so
Cap on lot rent increases NO CAP — Kentucky has no rent control or rent stabilization, and Kentucky law also preempts cities and counties from adopting local rent caps, so nothing like the New Jersey 3.5 percent or Oregon roughly 6 percent limit exists here
Eviction notice periods In URLTA jurisdictions: 7 days written notice for nonpayment of lot rent (KRS 383.660(2)); 14 days to cure a lease or conduct violation with the agreement terminating 30 days after the notice is received if it is not cured (KRS 383.660(1)); 30 days written notice before the next rental date to end a month-to-month lot tenancy without cause (KRS 383.695). Outside URLTA jurisdictions the lease sets the notice and, for a tenancy at will or month-to-month with no written term, roughly 30 days (one month) written notice is the general rule under KRS 383.195. After the notice runs out the park must file a forcible detainer complaint in district court, and the hearing is set about 3 to 7 days after the summons issues; many tenants can raise defenses at that hearing, so check with your court

Why Park Living Has Its Own Rulebook in Kentucky

In Kentucky you own the home as titled personal property but rent only the lot, so the park is your landlord for the dirt and not for your dwelling. Because there is no separate park act, you get no special statutory grounds limits, no lease-renewal right, and no right to sell in place — the lease controls.

The practical difference from apartment renting is that a termination does not just mean moving out: you may be able to sell the home, but otherwise you must pay to move a structure that typically costs 5000 to 10000 or more to relocate, and Kentucky law does not require the park to help.

If the home is left behind, KRS 376.480 gives the lot owner a lien for unpaid space rent on an abandoned mobile home, so many residents lose the home itself.

Check whether your city or county adopted URLTA, because that single fact decides most of your rights

Owning the home while renting the ground under it creates a kind of leverage no apartment landlord has: moving a manufactured home typically costs thousands of dollars, and many older homes cannot be moved at all without falling apart.

Lawmakers know that “just move” is not a real option for park residents, which is exactly why Kentucky mobile home park laws give lot renters protections apartment tenants never get, limited eviction grounds, longer notice periods, and rules about what happens when the park itself changes hands.

Lot Rent Increases: Your Rights Before You Pay More

Required notice: UNVERIFIED as a statewide statutory number for lot rent specifically — Kentucky has no statute setting a lot-rent-increase notice period. In URLTA jurisdictions a month-to-month lot rent increase requires the landlord to terminate or change terms with at least 30 days written notice before the next periodic rental date (KRS 383.695), so 30 days is the working minimum there.

Outside URLTA areas only the written lease sets the notice, and mid-term increases are barred only if your lease says so

Is there a cap? NO CAP — Kentucky has no rent control or rent stabilization, and Kentucky law also preempts cities and counties from adopting local rent caps, so nothing like the New Jersey 3.5 percent or Oregon roughly 6 percent limit exists here

Whatever the number on the notice, read it against the rules above before paying. An increase served with short notice, or one that violates a cap where Kentucky has one, is challengeable, and park residents who organize respond far more effectively than neighbors acting alone. Many states saw lot-rent fights turn into new legislation in the last two years for exactly this reason.

The Park Cannot Evict You for Just Any Reason

NO STATUTORY LIMIT ON GROUNDS — unlike most park acts, Kentucky does not restrict why a park may end a lot tenancy. In URLTA jurisdictions the park may terminate for nonpayment of lot rent, for material noncompliance with the lease or with tenant duties under KRS 383.605, or for no reason at all at the end of a month-to-month term on proper notice (KRS 383.660, KRS 383.695).

Outside URLTA areas the lease terms and common law control and a month-to-month lot tenancy may be ended without cause.

Two real limits do exist: retaliation for complaining, reporting a health or building code violation, or organizing is barred in URLTA jurisdictions (KRS 383.705), and the park may never lock you out, remove the home, or cut utilities — only a district court forcible detainer judgment and a sheriff can remove you

This list matters enormously: it means a park in Kentucky cannot simply non-renew you to free up the lot the way an apartment landlord might. If an eviction notice arrives, check it against the legal grounds first, park evictions fail in court most often because the stated reason is not on the list, or the notice skipped a required warning step.

If the Park Sells or Closes

When the park is sold: NONE — Kentucky has no notice-of-sale requirement, no resident right of first refusal, and no opportunity-to-purchase or resident-cooperative conversion law for manufactured home communities. Kentucky does not appear on the National Consumer Law Center list of states with purchase-opportunity laws.

A Kentucky park owner may sell to any buyer at any time with no advance warning to residents, and the new owner takes the land subject only to your existing written lease.

You may be able to negotiate a longer written lease before a sale, and residents in some Kentucky parks have organized to bid as a group, but nothing in Kentucky law requires the seller to wait or to accept a resident offer

When the park closes: NO STATUTORY CLOSURE NOTICE AND NO RELOCATION FUND — Kentucky sets no minimum months of notice before a park closes or the land is converted, and there is no state relocation assistance payment, no closure trust fund, and no dollar figure in Kentucky law.

In practice the only notice you may be able to rely on is the ordinary termination notice for your tenancy, which in URLTA jurisdictions is 30 days for a month-to-month lot tenancy (KRS 383.695).

Relocation costs fall entirely on the homeowner. The park still must hold a valid community permit from the local or district health department while it operates, so a local health department complaint is sometimes the only leverage during a wind-down

Fees the Park Can and Cannot Charge in Kentucky

NO GENERAL FEE LIMITS — Kentucky has no statute barring entry fees, exit or transfer fees, guest fees, sale-of-home commissions, or utility markups in manufactured home communities. Two limits do apply.

First, water submetering: under 401 KAR 8:020 a park that submeters may not charge tenants more than their share of the actual amount the public water system charged the park, based on actual usage in proportion to total property usage, and the park must pass along boil-water advisories, public notices, and consumer confidence reports.

Second, in URLTA jurisdictions security deposits require a written itemized move-in condition list signed by both parties and a separate deposit account with the bank and account number disclosed, or the park may forfeit the right to keep any of it (KRS 383.580), and unconscionable lease terms may be struck by a court (KRS 383.555).

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If your park bills utilities above cost, you may be able to complain to the Kentucky Public Service Commission or the Attorney General Office of Consumer Protection at 888-432-9257

The park’s side of the bargain: Under KRS 219.310 to 219.410 and 902 KAR 15:010, a Kentucky manufactured or mobile home community must hold a permit from the local or district health department (Form DFS-200) and must meet cabinet standards for community construction and layout, site planning and lot size, service buildings, watering and sanitary stations, water supply, sewage disposal, lighting, refuse handling, and general sanitation. Every home and community must be located on a well-drained area.

Sewage must go to a municipal sewer where available, and if a municipal sewer later becomes available the park must connect and abandon the private system; private systems must meet 815 KAR Chapter 20 and 902 KAR Chapter 10.

Kentucky has no statewide statute expressly requiring the park to maintain interior roads, common areas, or trees in good repair, so road and common-area upkeep depends on your lease and, in URLTA jurisdictions, on the landlord duty to comply with applicable building and health codes and to keep common areas in a safe condition (KRS 383.595). Report unsafe water, sewage, or refuse conditions to your local or district health department

The Trapped-Equity Problem and How to Protect Yourself

The economics of a mobile home park in Kentucky are unlike any apartment: you own the home, but moving it typically costs thousands of dollars, often more than an older home is worth, and many parks will not accept a home past a certain age. That is why lot-rent disputes feel so different here: walking away is rarely a real option, and park owners know it.

The law is what balances that power gap, which makes knowing the exact notice rules, fee limits, and eviction grounds in Kentucky worth more to a park resident than to almost any other kind of tenant.

Protect yourself the way the long-time residents do: keep every rent notice and rule change in writing, photograph the condition of your lot and the park’s common areas a couple of times a year, and read the community rules before signing anything, in most states the written rules you were given are what a court will hold both sides to.

Selling Your Home Without Losing Its Value

When it is time to leave, most residents sell the home in place rather than move it, and this is where park rules matter most.

Many states limit a park’s power to block an in-place sale: the park can usually screen the buyer the way it screens any new resident, but it generally cannot force you to remove a home just because you are selling, and it cannot demand a cut of your sale price unless it actually acted as your sales agent.

Get the park’s buyer-approval requirements in writing early, keep the lot rent current through the sale, and never sign a rule change mid-sale without reading it, a home that can stay on its lot is worth far more than one that has to be moved.

The Strongest Protection Is the Lot Next Door

Everything about park life is shared, the roads, the water lines, the rent schedule, the fate of the land itself. That is why the single most effective move a park resident in Kentucky can make is joining or forming a residents association. A park owner can ignore one complaint about a rent increase; ignoring a letter signed by sixty households is a different decision.

Associations are also how residents use park-sale rights in the states that grant them, organized communities have bought their own parks across the country, usually with help from nonprofit lenders who specialize in exactly this.

Keep your own records the same way any tenant should: the lease for your lot, every rent notice, every rule change, photos of anything the park fails to maintain. Kentucky mobile home park laws reward the resident who can show a judge dates and documents, and most disputes never reach a judge once the park realizes you have them.

Recent changes in Kentucky: Kentucky enacted House Bill 160 in 2025, signed April 1, 2025 and effective July 1, 2026, barring local governments from zoning qualified manufactured homes out of districts that allow site-built single-family homes and requiring equivalent architectural standards, but it gives park lot renters no rent, eviction, or park-sale protection.

No 2024 through 2026 Kentucky bill has created a lot-rent cap, a park-closure notice period, or a resident opportunity to purchase, and Kentucky law continues to preempt local rent control.

Displacement pressure is rising — residents of a northern Kentucky community faced removal in 2026 when their park land was tied to a data center project — so if you rent a lot, you may want a longer written lease and should check with your district court or a legal aid office before responding to any notice.

Kentucky Mobile Home Park Laws: Quick Answers

Can the park raise lot rent whenever it wants? The Kentucky mobile home park laws above set the notice rules, and any cap, that apply before an increase is valid.

Can the park make me remove my home? Only for the legal grounds listed in the Kentucky mobile home park laws, and only through the court process, never by padlock or tow truck.

Do apartment tenant rights apply to me? Partly. The Kentucky mobile home park laws are their own chapter, and this page plus the state guides linked below cover both layers.

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Official Kentucky Sources & Resources

Making Kentucky Mobile Home Park Laws Work for You

The Kentucky mobile home park laws only protect residents who use them, and parks count on most residents never reading the act. Read your lot lease against this page, calendar every notice deadline the moment a letter arrives, and talk to your neighbors, nearly every protection in the Kentucky mobile home park laws gets stronger when residents act together.

If the park ignores the rules, the state agency and local legal aid both handle park disputes, and a written complaint citing the act gets a very different response than a phone call. Under the Kentucky mobile home park laws, the resident with documents and neighbors is never as trapped as the park hopes.

This guide to kentucky mobile home park laws was last verified against official sources in August 2026. Lot-rent caps and park-sale laws are moving fast in many states, re-check before acting on a deadline.

More Kentucky Tenant Rights Guides

Disclaimer: This guide is informational only and is not legal advice. Landlord-tenant laws change and vary by city and county within a state. Verify current rules with your state, your local court, or a free legal-aid office before acting. If you are facing eviction, contact a local tenant attorney or legal-aid organization right away.

Renting? Protect your belongings — compare renters insurance at Home Insure Guide. Divorce involving a lease? See Divorce Help Guide. Unsafe housing / toxic mold injury? Some cases qualify — see Mass Tort Info.