Kansas Residential Eviction Laws
- Evictions in Kansashouse image by Svetlana Kashkina from Fotolia.com
The owner of real property has a right to evict tenants when the owner has a legal right to the property and the tenant refuses to vacate the property. Each state has a specific procedure that landowners in that state must follow in order to evict tenants from real property. - A landowner can evict a tenant only when the landlord has a right to possession of the property. If the tenant of the property in Kansas has a written lease agreement, the landowner cannot evict the tenant before the end of the lease period unless the tenant violates the lease. The landowner has to follow the provisions of the written lease to end the tenancy. When there is no written lease, the landlord must give a written notice for one period of the tenancy to end it. For example, when the tenancy is a week-to-week agreement (rent paid by the week), the landowner has to give the tenant at least 7-days written notice to end the tenancy. If the tenancy is month to month (rent paid by the month), the landowner has to give at least 30 days written notice to end the tenancy. If an employer provides or rents the property to an employee, the landowner only has to give a 10-day notice. If a tenant has failed to pay rent when due, the landowner has to give the tenant a written notice to pay the rent within 3 days or leave the property. [1]
- Once the landowner has a right to possession he or she can begin formal eviction proceedings. Under Kansas Statues Annotated sections 61-3803 [2] and 58-2540 the landowner has to give the tenant a written Notice to Vacate that tells the tenant to leave the property within 3 days. This notice can be delivered to the tenant, left with a person over 12 at the property, or, if no one is there, posted in a conspicuous place on the property. The notice can also be mailed, but if it is mailed, the landowner cannot file a court action for 5 days to allow time for the notice to arrive.
- If the tenant does not vacate the property after receiving the Notice to Vacate, the landowner has to file an action in court. This action is called a Forcible Detainer. Kansas Statutes Annotated sections 61-3804 and 61-3805 provide that this shall consists of a petition, which describes the property and outlines the facts of the case, and a summons telling the tenant when to appear in court. If rent is due the landlord has the option of asking for in the petition or filing a legal action to recover it later. The court will issue the summons telling the tenant to appear at a time within 3 to 14 days from the time the summons is issued. If the landowner wins in the court hearing, the court will issue an order to evict the tenant.
