KY Underwriting Summary

Search/Exam

• Minimum Search Requirements -- No statute, No state-imposed search periods, no marketable record title acts, and no standards imposed by a state bar association. Each underwriter sets its own search standards.
• Plant or other search restrictions --
• Additional Requirements for REO Searches --
• Foreclosure Checklist --
• Special Searches Required (Code, HOA, Utilities)? --
• Survey Requirements --

UPL

Non-attorneys may conduct real estate closings, but may not answer legal questions that arise at the closing, or offer any legal advice to the parties. Preparation of deeds and mortgages is the practice of law and must be prepared by an attorney. Countrywide Home Loans, Inc .v. Kentucky Bar Association ; 113 S.W.3d 105 (Ky 2003).

Witness Requirements

Witnesses are not required for deeds and mortgages, however, both must be acknowledged. KRS 382.270.

Property Tax

Tax bills shall be payable in January, delinquent on May 1 of the year for which they are made out KRS § 91.430

Two enforcement Mechanisms

• Enforcement By the Tax Collector
  • Tax Collector may bring suit as early as six months after delinquent. KRS § 91.487
  • Redemption period takes place up to the foreclosure sale. (KRS 91.511).
  • After the sale takes place if the purchase price at the sale is less than the property’s assessed value . KRS 91.511
• Tax Lien Certificate Sales Work

If you don’t pay your property taxes in other parts of Kentucky, the county clerk may sell the tax lien that exists on the home (Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 134.128). The purchaser buys a tax lien certificate (a “certificate of delinquency”) at the sale and can eventually foreclose on the home to collect the amounts due. As part of the foreclosure process, the property is sold at a foreclosure sale (Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§ 134.546, 134.549). Notice of a tax lien certificate sale. Two notices of the delinquency are mailed to you before the certificate sale (Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 134.504). Notice about the certificate sale is also published in a newspaper (Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 134.128). After the certificate sale, the purchaser who bought the certificate must mail you a notice within 50 days (Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 134.490). Notice of foreclosure. If the third party, state, county, or taxing district gets the certificate and later decides to foreclose, notice must be mailed to you within 45 days before starting the foreclosure (Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 134.490). Redemption period. The purchaser cannot start a lawsuit to foreclose until one year after the date the taxes became delinquent (Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 134.546). This one-year period is the redemption period. You can redeem the home during this time. In some cases, you can redeem the home after the foreclosure sale. You can redeem the home within six months after the foreclosure sale, but only if the property sold for less than two-thirds of its appraised value at the sale (Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§ 134.546, 426.530).

Mortgage/Transfer Tax

Transfer tax is uniform across the state. Transfer tax is imposed at fifty cents for each $500 of value as declared in the deed. KRS 142.050(2). See KRS 142.050(7) for exceptions.

Spousal Joinder Requirements/Homestead

Kentucky recognizes the dower/curtesy interest of non-titled spouses, and therefore, a non-titled spouse must join in a deed or mortgage to convey his/her interest in the property. KRS 392.020. Kentucky does not recognize civil unions.

Time Limitations

• US Judgment Liens -- 20 years
• State Court Judgment Liens -- 15 years
• Federal Tax Liens -- 10 years (+ 30 days)
• State Tax Liens -- 10 years
• Property Tax Liens -- 7 years after delinquency. KRS 91.487
• Estate Tax Lien -- 10 years
• State Inheritance Tax Liens -- 10 years
• Mechanics Liens -- 1 year
• Financing Statements -- 5 years
• Mortgages -- 15 years from maturity
• HOA Liens -- 15 years
• Condominium assessments --
• Child Support Liens --