{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-382.365","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 382.365","heading":"Release of lien, with notice to property owner, within thirty days of","body":"satisfaction -- Assignments of liens -- Proceeding against lienholder in District\nCourt or Circuit Court -- Liability of lienholder when lien not released or\nnotice not sent -- Notice to state or lienholder -- Damages.\n(1) A holder of a lien on real property, including a lien provided for in KRS 376.010,\nshall release the lien in the county clerk's office where the lien is recorded within\nthirty (30) days from the date of satisfaction.\n(2) An assignee of a lien on real property shall record the assignment in the county\nclerk's office as required by KRS 382.360. Failure of an assignee to record a\nmortgage assignment shall not affect the validity or perfection, or invalidity or lack\nof perfection, of a mortgage lien under applicable law.\n(3) A proceeding may be filed by any owner of real property or any party acquiring an\ninterest in the real property in District Court or Circuit Court against a lienholder\nthat violates subsection (1) or  (2) of this section. A proceeding filed under this\nsection shall be given precedence over other matters pending before the court.\n(4) Upon proof to the court of the lien being satisfied by payment in full to the final\nlienholder or final assignee, the cou rt shall enter a judgment noting the identity of\nthe final lienholder or final assignee and authorizing and directing the master\ncommissioner of the court to execute and file with the county clerk the requisite\nrelease or assignments or both, as appropriat e. The judgment shall be with costs\nincluding a reasonable attorney's fee. If the court finds that the lienholder received\nwritten notice of its failure to release and lacked good cause for not releasing the\nlien, the lienholder shall be liable to the owner of the real property or to a party with\nan interest in the real property in the amount of one hundred dollars ($100) per day\nfor each day, beginning on the fifteenth day after receipt of the written notice, of the\nviolation for which good cause did not e xist. This written notice shall be properly\naddressed and sent by certified mail or delivered in person to the final lienholder or\nfinal assignee as follows:\n(a) For a corporation, to an officer at the lienholder's principal address or to an\nagent for process located in Kentucky; however, if the corporation is a foreign\ncorporation and has not appointed an agent for process in Kentucky, then to\nthe agent for process in the state of domicile of the corporation;\n(b) For an individual, to the individual at the  address shown on the mortgage, at\nthe lienholder's residence or place of business, or at an address to which the\nlienholder has directed that correspondence or payoff be sent;\n(c) For a trust or an estate, to a fiduciary at the address shown on the mortga ge or\nat an address to which the lienholder has directed that correspondence or\npayoff be sent; and\n(d) For any other entity, including but not limited to limited liability companies,\npartnerships, limited partnerships, limited liability partnerships, and\nassociations, to an officer, partner, or member at the entity's principal place of\nbusiness or to an agent for process.\n(5) A lienholder that continues to fail to release a satisfied real estate lien, without good\ncause, within forty -five (45) days from th e date of written notice shall be liable to\nthe owner of the real property or to a party with an interest in the real property for\nan additional four hundred dollars ($400) per day for each day for which good cause\ndid not exist after the forty -fifth day f rom the date of written notice, for a total of\nfive hundred dollars ($500) per day for each day for which good cause did not exist\nafter the forty-fifth day from the date of written notice. The lienholder shall also be\nliable for any actual expense includi ng a reasonable attorney's fee incurred by the\nowner or a party with an interest in the real property in securing the release of real\nproperty by such violation and in securing an award of damages. Damages under\nthis subsection for failure to record an assignment pursuant to KRS 382.360(3) shall\nnot exceed three (3) times the actual damages, plus attorney's fees and court costs,\nbut in no event less than five hundred dollars ($500).\n(6) The former holder of a lien on real property shall send by regular mail  a copy of the\nlien release to the property owner at his or her last known address within seven (7)\ndays of the release. A former lienholder that violates this subsection shall be liable\nto the owner of the real property for fifty dollars ($50) and any act ual expense\nincurred by the owner in obtaining documentation of the lien release.\n(7) For the purposes of this section, \"date of satisfaction\" means that date of receipt by\na holder of a lien on real property of a sum of money in the form of a certified\ncheck, cashier's check, wired transferred funds, or other form of payment\nsatisfactory to the lienholder that is sufficient to pay the principal, interest, and other\ncosts owing on the obligation that is secured by the lien on the property.\n(8) The provisions of this section shall not apply when a lienholder is deceased and the\nestate of the lienholder has not been settled.\n(9) The state licensing agency, if applicable, or any holder of a lien on real property\nshall be notified of the disposition of any actio ns brought under this section against\nthe lienholder.\n(10) The provisions of this section shall be held and construed as ancillary and\nsupplemental to any other remedy provided by law.\n(11) If more than one (1) owner or party with an interest in  the real property brings an\naction to recover damages under this section, any statutory damages shall be\nallocated equally among recovering parties in the absence of agreement otherwise\namong said parties. The entry of a judgment awarding damages shall ba r a\nsubsequent action by any other person or entity to recover damages for the same\nviolation.","path":["KRS Chapter 382"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=35623","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:59:12Z","sha256":"a8e7ad6543596daacdf492dae2208e275e1c079991deee8ddcc4f099bbc3ec5c","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-382.360","next":"us-ky/krs-382.370"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}