KRS §381.785
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Planned Community Act — Definitions
Defines the scope of the Kentucky Planned Community Act (SB 120, enacted 2023). Covers all planned communities with mandatory membership and assessment authority, excluding condominiums. Prior to 2023, Kentucky had no comprehensive HOA-specific legislation. Does not retroactively invalidate pre-existing governing documents.
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Statutory Text
Verified Aug 6, 2026 · OTHER
381.785 Definitions for KRS 381.785 to 381.801. As used in KRS 381.785 to 381.801: (1) "Assessment" means the liability for an expense that is allocated to a lot in a planned community in accordance with governing documents; (2) "Association" means a nonprofit corporation or unincorporated organization that is composed of lot owners in a pla nned community that is responsible for the administrative governance, maintenance, and upkeep of the planned community; (3) "Board" means the executive body of an association, regardless of name, designated in the declaration or bylaws to act on behalf of an association; (4) "Bylaws" means a document adopted by the association for the regulation or management of the affairs of the association; (5) "Common area" means property, including any facilities and amenities, within a planned community that is design ated as a public space and is owned, leased, or required by the declaration to be maintained or operated by an association; (6) "Declarant" means any person or entity, and their successors and assigns, that: (a) Executes and files a declaration encumbering real property; or (b) Authorizes real property to be governed by a declaration, as part of the establishment or maintenance of a planned community; (7) "Declarant control period" means the period of time in which the declarant controls the association by appointing or removing the members of the association's board of directors and manages the association; (8) "Declaration" means any instrument, however d enominated, including but not limited to covenants, conditions, or restrictions, and any amendment or supplement thereto, recorded among the land records of the county or counties in which a planned community or any part thereof is located, that either: (a) Imposes restrictions, covenants, conditions, or maintenance or operational responsibilities for any common area on an association; or (b) Conveys the authority of an association to impose on lots, or on the lot owners or occupants, or on any other entity , an assessment in connection with the provision of maintenance or services for the benefit of some or all of the lots or the common area; (9) "Governing documents" means the articles of incorporation, bylaws, plat, declaration of covenants, conditions and restrictions, rules, regulations, policies, and guidelines of an association, or other written instrument granting the association the authority to manage, maintain, or otherwise affect the property under its jurisdiction; (10) "Lot" means any plot or par cel of real property designated for separate ownership or occupancy and is either shown on a recorded subdivision plat for a planned community or the boundaries are described in the declaration; (11) "Owner" means a declarant or other person who owns a lot in a planned community but does not include any person that has an interest in a lot solely as security for an obligation; (12) "Person" means a natural person, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, joint venture, limited l iability company, government, governmental subdivision or agency, or other legal or commercial entity; (13) (a) "Planned community" means a group of residential …
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Governance
| Ref | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Does not retroactively invalidate pre-existing governing documents. | |
| Prior to 2023, Kentucky had no comprehensive HOA-specific legislation. | |
| Defines the scope of the Kentucky Planned Community Act (SB 120, enacted 2023). | |
| Covers all planned communities with mandatory membership and assessment authority, excluding condominiums. |
Other sections in this chapter
- KRS §381.792 — Planned Community — Meetings and Notice
- KRS §381.794 — Planned Community — Financial Records and Reports
- KRS §381.799 — Planned Community — Association's Continuing Lien
- KRS §381.9101 — Kentucky Condominium Act — Short Title
- KRS §381.9169 — Condominium — Executive Board and Declarant Control
- KRS §381.9170 — Condominium — Discharge of Board Member's Duties
- KRS §381.9177 — Condominium — Meetings of the Association
- KRS §381.9193 — Condominium — Lien for Assessments
- KRS §381.9203 — Condominium Resale Certificate
Legal Topics
Legal references last verified April 15, 2026.
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