Kentucky Rent Relief: Where to Get Help With Rent and Evictions Now That the State Fund Is Closed

Where to get Kentucky rent relief now

The Team Kentucky Eviction Diversion Program site confirms it stopped taking applications on April 1, 2025, and the U.S. Treasury says the last federal emergency rental assistance period ended September 30, 2025. The table shows what still pays rent in Kentucky.

Almost every program pays the landlord directly and needs proof of what you owe. Funds are small and run out, so apply to two or three places the same week.

Louisville and Jefferson County

Louisville has the most help in the state. According to Louisville Metro’s 2025 draft annual performance report, the Office of Social Services runs eight Neighborhood Place sites that give direct rent, utility, mortgage, and LIHEAP help along with case management, and Metro funds a Tenant Assistance Program and Legal Aid Society’s Right to Counsel program.

Right to Counsel came from a 2021 Metro Council ordinance. Tenants with income at or below 125% of the poverty level can get a lawyer in eviction court, and the earlier rule that a child had to live in the home was dropped in 2023, as the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel tracks. In practice, StopMyEviction.org offers free representation from Legal Aid Society to anyone with a scheduled Jefferson County eviction case. Call 502-584-1254 as soon as you get court papers.

Lexington and the rest of the state

In Lexington, the city’s Office of Homelessness Prevention and Intervention (859-258-3070) coordinates local housing programs but does not hand out rent money itself; it points you to the agencies that do. Fayette, Bourbon, Harrison, and Nicholas counties are served by the Community Action Council (859-233-4600). Legal Aid of the Bluegrass has run an eviction diversion effort with the Fayette courts; its funding is set year to year, so ask at intake what is open now.

Outside the two big cities, your county’s community action agency is the main door. Kentucky has 23 agencies with at least one office in every county, and they run LIHEAP, short-term rent help when they have funds, and referrals. Northern Kentucky residents can start with NKCAC at (859) 581-6607. If no agency has rent money this month, 211 knows which churches and charities still do.

K-TAP FAST payments for families

Few renters know about this one. Kentucky’s Family Assistance Short Term (FAST) program, set out in 921 KAR 2:500 since March 2023, replaced the older Family Alternatives Diversion. It pays up to $2,600 over a three-month period to resolve a short-term need for a family that would otherwise qualify for K-TAP, and the list of covered needs includes housing payments and utilities. You can get it once in 12 months, and taking it generally means you can’t get monthly K-TAP for the next 12 months, with some exceptions. Since monthly K-TAP is small after the 2025 cut, FAST can be the better choice for a family facing one large back-rent bill. Ask for it by name when you apply on kynect or at a DCBS office.

When heat is included in your rent

LIHEAP is usually about utility bills, but Kentucky’s 2026–27 LIHEAP plan counts one rent situation as a crisis: you received an eviction notice for unpaid rent and your heating or cooling cost is built into the rent. Crisis payments are capped at $400, go to the landlord or vendor, and must come within 48 hours (18 if life-threatening). Income must be at or below 150% of the poverty guidelines, and the landlord must confirm that utilities are included, or you can show the lease.

For this winter, community action agencies list the fall heating subsidy from November 9 to December 18, 2026, or until funds run out, as Tri-County Community Action Agency posts. Winter crisis dates for 2027 are listed as “TBD”; the state’s preliminary plan had them from January 6 to March 26, 2027. Our Kentucky utility relief guide covers the rest of LIHEAP.

How do evictions work in Kentucky?

Twenty Kentucky cities and counties have adopted the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (URLTA), including Louisville-Jefferson County, Lexington-Fayette, Covington, Newport, Florence, Georgetown, Shelbyville, Oldham County, and Pulaski County, according to the Kentucky Equal Justice Center’s eviction guide. Since 2024, KRS 383.198 also bars cities and counties from passing their own landlord-tenant rules that conflict with state law.

A landlord can’t lock you out, take your belongings, or cut off heat, water, gas, or electricity to force you out. In URLTA areas, a tenant can recover up to three months’ rent plus attorney fees for an illegal lockout (KRS 383.655). A 2026 bill to clear dismissed evictions from court records (HB 338) passed the House but did not become law, so a filing can still show up on tenant screenings.

Free legal help by region

The KYJustice.org directory lists every program and has self-help guides for tenants.

A worked example

Tasha rents a two-bedroom in Lexington for $1,150 a month, with heat included. Her hours were cut, and she is $1,400 behind. On day one she gets a 7-day notice. Because Lexington is a URLTA area, her landlord can’t file until those 7 days pass. That same day she applies on kynect for FAST, since she has two children and would qualify for K-TAP. Up to $2,600 could cover the back rent and part of next month. She also asks her community action agency about LIHEAP crisis help, because an eviction notice plus heat-in-rent counts as a crisis, and calls Legal Aid of the Bluegrass. If the landlord files anyway, she brings proof of her FAST application to the trial and asks the judge for time.

Papers Kentucky programs ask for

Keep the 7-day notice and any forcible detainer summons; legal aid and most rent funds want to see them. For LIHEAP crisis help when heat is in the rent, bring a landlord statement or lease showing utilities are included, plus Social Security numbers for everyone in the home and the prior month’s income. For FAST, DCBS will ask for proof of the specific bill it is paying, such as a rent ledger. Our document checklist covers ID and income proof in general.

Vouchers and longer-term housing

Kentucky Housing Corporation runs Housing Choice Vouchers in 87 counties (not Fayette or Jefferson, which have their own housing authorities), and says its waiting list is closed with no date to reopen. Watch for openings at your local housing authority, ask about income-based apartments, and see our second chance apartments guide if a past eviction is blocking you. Veterans can call 877-424-3838 for VA homeless prevention help. Meanwhile, apply on kynect for SNAP and Medicaid to free up cash; high rent raises SNAP through the shelter deduction, which you can estimate with our SNAP calculator.

Your plan for this week

1. Write down the dates on any notice or summons.
2. Call your community action agency (or a Neighborhood Place in Louisville) and dial 211.
3. Apply on kynect and ask for FAST if you have children.
4. Call legal aid the day you get court papers.
5. Tell your landlord in writing that you applied for help, and keep a copy.

For more Kentucky programs, see our Kentucky hardship grants guide.

Related guides

• Churches that help with rent assistance
• Catholic Charities rent assistance
• Programs that help pay rent
• Kentucky assistance programs

Frequently asked questions

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Talk to legal aid about your case. National Relief Program is an independent website, not a government agency.