The Kentucky records that decide what a home really costs and what the seller has to tell you: disclosure law, property-tax reset, the official registry, and the FEMA flood map — sourced, with the county offices that hold the files.
Check the records behind the address before you offer.
Check any address — free previewThe legal standard: When the statute applies, the seller must complete and sign the commission's disclosure form at listing and provide it to a prospective buyer on request or within 72 hours of a signed offer, disclosing the property's known condition.
If a licensed agent is being paid in the sale, Kentucky law requires the seller to complete the Seller's Disclosure of Property Condition (Form 402), including whether the home is in a Special Flood Hazard Area that mandates flood insurance and any drainage or flooding problems. Auction sales, court-supervised foreclosures, and new homes sold with a warranty are exempt. In a purely private sale with no licensee compensated, the statutory form may not apply at all, so ask for it anyway.
Sources: law.justia.com · codes.findlaw.com · revenue.ky.gov · revenue.ky.gov · boonepva.ky.gov · dev.wp.kentuckystatepolice.ky.gov
Buying does not reset the home's value to your purchase price; the property valuation administrator assesses at fair cash value every January 1. If the seller had the senior or disabled homestead exemption and you do not qualify, your bill will be higher than theirs from your first full tax year.
Homestead: Kentucky's homestead exemption is only for homeowners who are 65 or older or totally disabled; it exempts $49,100 of value for the 2025-2026 assessment years, requires an application to the county property valuation administrator, and requires owning and occupying the home as of January 1.
Kentucky Sex Offender Registry is run by Kentucky State Police. Search it by the home's address before you offer — and search again before closing, because registry data changes as people move.
Open the official Kentucky registry
You can also search every state at once through the federal National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW). A CurbFacts report shows the registry count for the home's ZIP — the same public data, organized for the decision.
The only flood map that decides a lender's insurance requirement is FEMA's — the National Flood Hazard Layer behind the official FEMA flood map viewer. Listing sites license private models that can and do disagree with it; when they conflict, the FEMA map is the one your lender and insurer use.
Check the exact parcel, not the ZIP code: flood-zone boundaries cut through streets, and two houses side by side can sit in different zones.
KRS 324.360's disclosure duty only attaches when a person licensed under KRS chapter 324 receives compensation, so a true for-sale-by-owner deal can close with no statutory disclosure form at all.
Unlike many states, Kentucky gives no homestead exemption to a typical working-age buyer, and even qualifying buyers must own and occupy the home by January 1 and apply to the property valuation administrator, so a mid-year purchase waits until the next year.
What the Kentucky disclosure does and does not cover, section by section, and the questions it never answers.
Read the guideHow to run an address through the official Kentucky registry, and how to read what comes back.
Read the guideRecords live at the county level — assessor, recorder, permits. Pick the county for its records checklist.
Every CurbFacts report pulls the public records behind an address — flood determination, registry, tax reset, price history, permits, and what's planned nearby — and shows its sources.
Check any address — free preview