Real Estate Law Blog

Recent Amendment to the Kentucky Consumer Protection Act Impacts Real Estate Listing Agreements

This past April, Governor Beshear signed into law 2024 Kentucky House Bill No. 88, which amended the Kentucky Consumer Protection Act (the “KCPA”) to impose new restrictions on residential real estate “service agreement[s].” Under the new law (codified as KRS § 367.354), the term “service agreement” is defined as “an agreement under which an owner of residential real property is required, in connection with the purchase or sale of the property, to . . . [p]ay a real estate sales commission to a specified [real estate broker or agent].” The new law unequivocally applies to residential real estate listing agreements. Kentucky real estate brokers and agents must, therefore, be familiar with the new law and ensure any prohibited provisions are removed from their listing agreements to avoid the potentially significant consequences of a violation. More >

New Changes to Kentucky’s Judgment Lien Statute Ends Perpetual Lien Renewal and Imposes New Obligations on Judgment Creditors

In the 2023 regular legislative session, the Kentucky General Assembly passed House Bill No. 83 to revise KRS § 426.720, Kentucky’s judgment lien statute. The bill was signed into law by Governor Beshear on April 6, 2023, and is effective on June 29, 2023. Three (3) major revisions mark the most significant change to the judgment lien statute since its enactment in 1988. First, under the new law, the initial limitations period for judgment liens is reduced from fifteen (15) to ten (10) years. Second, the law limits a judgment creditor’s ability to renew the lien to a single, five (5) year period beyond the initial ten (10) year limitations period. Third, to preserve the lien through a lien enforcement action that remains pending after the limitations period expires, judgment lien creditors must lodge for record a “notice of judgment lien enforcement proceeding” in the county where the notice of judgment lien is recorded. The purpose of this note is to provide a detailed overview of the changes to the judgment lien statute, including new content requirements for all judgment lien notices recorded on or after June 29, 2023, and the major revisions summarized above.    More >

How Does Hensley v. Gadd Affect Your Kentucky Short-Term Rental Business?

In Hensley v. Gadd, 560 S.W.3d 516 (2018), the Kentucky Supreme Court found that use of real estate as a short-term rental through a platform such as Airbnb or VRBO is “commercial” and not “residential” in nature and barred the property owner’s short-term rental business. The case therefore has important implications for real estate professionals of all stripes – including real estate brokers, real estate agents, investors, and property managers – with any short-term rental business in Kentucky. More >

Gross Lease or Triple Net Lease? What You Need to Know

When leasing a property for commercial use, there are a variety of lease types from which to choose. The two most common lease types are the gross lease and the triple net lease—but how do you know which is right for your situation? More >

Don’t Leave Your Clients High and Dry: What Real Estate Agents Should Know Before Using an Escalation Clause

The pandemic has made just about everything more difficult—including buying a home. In an extremely competitive market, hopeful buyers are looking for any strategy to gain an advantage and increase their chances of making a successful offer. One option your clients may want to consider is the inclusion of an escalation clause in their offer. But what exactly is an escalation clause—and how do your clients know if it’s the right choice for them? More >

Fractional Investment in Real Estate: What is It?

Not everyone has the investment resources of a certain real estate tycoon turned president, and that has often served as a bar to participation. In modern times, as real estate projects seek more and more investment, the solution has been to expand the class of those able to invest, bringing in new capital from investors who might not, as individuals, have the means to invest in high-end real estate. Enter fractional ownership of real estate – smaller investments from larger numbers of investors. This vehicle for investment can make the dream of serious real estate investment a reality. More >

Kentucky Legislature Tweaks "Full Name" Requirement on Deeds Yet Again

For the third year in a row, the Kentucky legislature has tweaked KRS 382.135, once more revising the “full name” requirement on a deed.

Prior to 2016, KRS 382.135 did not explicitly require a name on a deed for real property. The Kentucky legislature changed KRS 382.135(1) to include that a deed must contain “the full name of the grantor and grantee” of the property. Here, the problem is that the legislature failed to define “full name” for individuals or businesses, which caused confusion for both. Kentucky’s Attorney General subsequently produced an opinion, OAG 16-006, that the “full name” of an individual means, at minimum, that individual’s surname and “some combination of a personal name or initials.” The AG completely sidestepped the issue of business names, and this opinion on individual names isn’t binding in Kentucky courts anyway. More >

I Love It When a Comprehensive Plan Comes Together

It’s that time again – Lexington has been and remains busy assembling its 2018 Comprehensive Plan, titled “Imagine Lexington,” which will provide guidance on how the city will regulate land use over the next five years. This is a complex process that takes place in two phases. The recently concluded Phase I has already set out the goals and objectives of the plan, which we’ll examine in this blog post. The next phase, Elements and Implementation, may take the remainder of 2018 to hash out, although the Planning Commission suggests it will draft it through the summer. This plan is not just mandated by law; it helps mold a vision for the community of how it handles growth and expansion, which will shape the city for decades to come. More >

The Kind of Exchange to Like: Section 1031 Like-Kind Exchanges

Whenever you sell off a piece of investment property for a gain, you generally pay tax on that gain at the time of the sale. If you then use the post-tax proceeds to purchase another property that you later sell for a gain, you’ve effectively traded one property for another, but you were taxed twice along the way. Luckily, the tax code contains Section 1031, which allows for a tax deferred “exchange” of properties, and it can be a lifesaver for investors. More >

How a Restrictive Covenant Can Be Anything But

Restrictive covenants can be a protective measure to prevent competing uses, or they can be a thorn in the side of someone attempting to develop land subject to one. These clauses, whether set forth in deeds or as separate covenants, place restrictions on the uses of the property. Further, unless they have a particular expiration date, they run with the land despite future transfers. Whatever the intended effect of a restrictive covenant, they tend to be viewed with higher levels of scrutiny by the courts, as restrictions on land in perpetuity run against public policy preferences that hold that land should be given as freely as possible. In other words, you must choose the words of a restrictive covenant very carefully, or the provision may not mean what you think, or have the effect you intend. More >