How can a lease be terminated in the State of Kansas?

In a month-to-month tenancy, the tenant must give 30 days' written notice in advance of a rent-paying date, and the tenant must specify the move-out date. For a written lease with a term longer than month-to-month, the tenant must give 30 days' written notice but it does not have to be from rent date to rent date. However, the lease may specify a different notice period, in which case (if it is fair and equitable), a court would likely uphold the notice period set out in the lease.

Week-to-week tenants must give at least 7 days' written notice in advance of a move-out date specified in the notice. If the rent period is two weeks, then 2 week's written notice is required.

Military personnel on active duty with month-to-month tenancies are required to give only 15 days' written notice if they receive orders to relocate.

Unless a tenant has not paid the rent, a landlord must ALWAYS give tenants at least 30 days' written notice to terminate the tenancy, unless the person occupying the premises is not the person to whom the landlord rented the property in the first place, or where life-threatening circumstances require that a property be vacated immediately.

On what grounds can a landlord evict a tenant?

In Kansas, a landlord is generally not required to give a reason for an eviction. However, most government subsidized housing requires a reason or reasons to be stated in writing for an eviction.

Common reasons for eviction include:

(a) non-payment of rent;
(b) illegal activity such as criminal activity, possession, sale and/or manufacture of drugs, possession of firearms, etc.;
(c) violation of a provision of the lease;
(d) causing a nuisance or disturbance to other tenants of the building;
(e) damage to the premises.

The landlord must give the tenant a proper eviction notice, take the case before the court and get a judgment. If the tenant does not move, the landlord must wait for the sheriff to evict the tenant. The landlord cannot lock out a tenant, take the tenant's belongings, or shut off utilities or essential services.

Tenants are not protected from eviction because of illness or pregnancy.

A landlord cannot retaliate against a tenant by increasing the rent, decreasing or cutting off services or commencing eviction proceedings because a tenant has (i) complained to the landlord about necessary repairs not being made; (ii) lodged a complaint with a government agency; or (iii) joined a tenant's organization.

The foregoing summary is provided for information purposes only and is not to be considered legal or business advice. The information may not be complete, accurate or applicable for any particular situation and should not be relied upon.

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