Kansas will again limit evictions, foreclosures. But governor wants Congress to act

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly plans a short-term reinstatement of limits on evictions and foreclosures to pressure Congress to approve additional pandemic relief funding.

The Democratic governor said Monday she will issue an order prohibiting residents from being forced from their homes and apartments for two weeks in hopes federal lawmakers will act. The text of the order says it will remain until Sept. 15 or it’s rescinded.

Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress have been at odds over the size and scope of a future relief package. Kelly said she will consider extending her order if additional stimulus isn’t approved.

Unlike some past directives, counties won’t have the option of opting out of the order, Kelly said. That’s likely because counties are only allowed to repeal orders related to public health.

“I can’t sit back and do nothing while the Senate has gone on vacation without addressing the issue,” Kelly said at a news conference.

Only evictions and foreclosures related to inability to pay because of the pandemic will be prohibited, the governor said. According to the text of the order, an individual or family must be suffering financial hardship due to COVID-19 to qualify.

“No landlords ... shall evict a residential tenant when all defaults or violations of the rental agreement are substantially caused by a financial hardship resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic,” the order reads.

The order is similar to a previous moratorium the governor issued in the early weeks of the pandemic. The earlier order expired in May.

The first order, announced in mid-March, prohibited financial institutions from starting any foreclosure or eviction proceedings on residential or commercial property because of non-payment due to COVID-19.

When the order expired, Kelly’s office said improvements in the state’s handling of unemployment claims led her to allow evictions and foreclosures to proceed. But within weeks, the secretary of labor resigned amid continued problems and clawbacks of duplicate payments that overdrafted the bank accounts of some benefit recipients.

Advocates for renters said the first moratorium was welcome, but flawed because it had been limited to non-payment because of the pandemic and provided no protection after the pandemic ends, regardless of the level of unemployment.

A spokesperson for the advocacy group Rent Zero Kansas didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

This story was originally published August 17, 2020 at 5:24 PM.