Kansas lawmakers revoke eviction, foreclosure ban but extend emergency declaration
Top Kansas lawmakers on Friday revoked an executive order from Gov. Laura Kelly that temporarily halted evictions and foreclosures across the state.
Some Kansas renters might still be covered under a nationwide eviction ban issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A federal judge threw out the CDC’s moratorium on evictions, but placed a temporary hold on the ruling earlier this month.
Qualifying tenants must sign the CDC document and present it to their landlord in order to avoid eviction.
Friday’s revocation will now begin allowing landlords to move forward with evicting some tenants not covered by the CDC ban who could be months behind on rent in the pandemic. Lawmakers also extended the state’s emergency declaration to June 15.
The Legislative Coordinating Council, made up of top Republican and Democratic legislative leaders from both the House and Senate, made the decision late Friday morning in a 6-2 vote.
“The Governor strongly disagrees with the LCC’s decision to revoke her evictions and foreclosure moratorium,” Kelly spokesperson Reeves Oyster said in a statement. ”As we finally start to recover from this global pandemic, now is not the time to kick people out of their homes. Governor Kelly will continue to focus on doing what’s right — and not what’s politically convenient.”
Kelly’s spokesperson also said the disaster declaration is central to the state’s recovery and return to normal.
Republican leaders, on the other hand, prefer to wind down the state’s emergency declaration as soon as possible.
“Kansas has been under a statewide emergency declaration for over 440 days. That is more than enough time to develop an exit strategy,” Senate President Ty Masterson, R-Andover, said in a statement. “As Kansans return to normal, they expect us to do the same. Today’s short-term extension provides the governor the remaining time needed to end the emergency — while also making it clear any unnecessary or burdensome executive orders will be revoked.”
The state and the city of Wichita have rent and utility aid programs for residents who need assistance catching up on bills. Both are funded with federal COVID-19 relief dollars from economic stimulus bills passed in December and March.
Wichita residents can apply online to the the Wichita Emergency Rental Assistance program, which covers up to three months at a time of past due bills and future payments for those who qualify. Earlier this month, the city had approved more than $1 million in funds for almost 9% of applicants but expected to soon increase its approval pace.
Kansas residents who live outside Wichita city limits can apply to the Kansas Emergency Rental Assistance program.
Tenants who have been hit hard financially during the COVID-19 recession could soon face a wave of evictions without protections in place, advocates have warned for months. While some families have already experienced eviction during the pandemic, others remained in their homes because of bans on moving the process forward.
About 74% of Kansas residents surveyed recently by the U.S. Census Bureau were somewhat likely to have to leave their house in the next two months because of eviction.
The Kansas Democratic Party criticized the decision to end the eviction moratorium.
“This decision is cruel and punitive, bad for our recovering workforce, and devastating for vulnerable families,” Chair Vicki Hiatt said in a statement.
This story was originally published May 28, 2021 at 1:24 PM with the headline "Kansas lawmakers revoke eviction, foreclosure ban but extend emergency declaration."
