{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-371.160","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 371.160","heading":"Deposit in escrow of amount held back by owner in contract involving","body":"improvement of real estate.\nExcept as provided in KRS 367.620 to 367.628:\n(1) If, in any contract in the amount of two million dollars ($2,000,000) or more\ninvolving the imp rovement of real estate, a certain amount or percentage of the\ncontract is held back by the owner, that retained amount shall be deposited in a\nseparate escrow account with a bank or trust company authorized to do business in\nthe Commonwealth of Kentucky;\n(2) As of the time of the deposit of the retained funds, they shall become the sole and\nseparate property of the contractor to whom they are owed;\n(3) The escrow agent shall promptly invest all escrowed principal in obligations\nselected by the escrow agent in its discretion;\n(4) Upon satisfactory completion of the contract, to be evidenced by a written release\nby the owner, all funds accumulated in the escrow account, together with any\ninterest thereon, shall be paid immediately to the contractor to whom it is owed;\n(5) The escrow agent shall be compensated for its services in an amount agreed to by\nthe owner, contractor, and escrow agent. The compensation shall be a commercially\nreasonable fee commensurate with fees being charged for handling of escrow\naccounts of similar size and duration. The compensation shall be paid from the\nescrow account;\n(6) In the event the owner fails or refuses to execute the release provided for in\nsubsection (4) of this section, then the contractor shall have a cause of action\nagainst the owner in a court of proper jurisdiction; and\n(7) This section shall not apply to contracts with the Commonwealth, any city, county,\ncharter county government, urban-county government, unified local government, or\nconsolidated local government, a ny other political subdivision, agency, or\ninstrumentality of the Commonwealth, or school boards.","path":["KRS Chapter 371"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=56547","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:59:07Z","sha256":"18deb9987afb25bb1fc0ec8aa5d862296bc4caab5fc5b7a3e609531974ba2b4c","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-371.150","next":"us-ky/krs-371.170"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}