By Kelsie Jennings
KU Statehouse Wire Service
TOPEKA — Abandoned houses are causing problems for their communities, some city officials and legislators say. A Senate committee is working on a bill that would redefine what counts as abandoned and would make it easier for these properties to be re-homed.
Kansas law states that “abandoned property” is any residential real estate that has had delinquent taxes for two years and has been continuously unoccupied by its owners for 90 days. Senate Bill 84 would change this definition to residential real estate being unoccupied for 180 days and that has a “blighting influence on surrounding properties.”
According to proponents who testified for the bill on Thursday before the Senate Commerce Committee, abandoned properties are more than just an eyesore; they cause problems for law enforcement, neighbors and the cities by becoming potential fire hazards, targets for criminal activity, places for squatters to stay, as well as bringing down the value of surrounding homes.
Sen. Mitch Holmes (R-St.John) outlined these problems by saying when a property becomes abandoned, the city is responsible for up keep of the lawn to stay within city code. Law enforcement can’t arrest the trespassers because “no trespassing” signs haven’t been put up by the legal owners, and neighbors might feel unsafe if squatters take over the property.
Whitney Damron, an attorney representing the City of Topeka, added to Holmes’ testimony by making similar points on how a property becomes abandoned and the problems it creates.
“The tools are not in existence to deal with those kinds of situations,” Damron said.
Damron said that proponents are asking legislators to give the cities or non-profit organizations the “tools” to clean up these abandoned properties and re-home them so that they don’t sit there and go to waste. He said it is difficult to deal with these situations because the owners may be deceased, heirs are unresponsive and live far away, or the property might be under the control of the bank and can’t be foreclosed.
“So often we get no response. No response from the bank, no response from the in-state or out-of-state property owners,” Damron said.
Sen. Jeff Longbine (R-Emporia) expressed concern over the problem of abandoned property in his hometown of Emporia and said that the committee needs to take some time going over this bill.
“This is an important issue and has been an important issue for a long time,” Longbine said. “Hopefully we can find a way to do something to relieve the cities and the counties and problems that they’ve got.”
The committee will leave the bill open and continue the hearing on Monday.
Kelsie Jennings is a University of Kansas senior from Olathe, Kan., studying journalism.