Division of the Budget
Landon State Office Building Phone: (785) 296-2436
900 SW Jackson Street, Room 504 adam.c.proffitt@ks.gov
Topeka, KS 66612 http://budget.kansas.gov
Adam C. Proffitt, Director Laura Kelly, Governor
Division of the Budget
February 1, 2024
The Honorable Sean Tarwater, Chairperson
House Committee on Commerce, Labor and Economic Development
300 SW 10th Avenue, Room 346-S
Topeka, Kansas 66612
Dear Representative Tarwater:
SUBJECT: Fiscal Note for HB 2598 by House Committee on Commerce, Labor and
Economic Development
In accordance with KSA 75-3715a, the following fiscal note concerning HB 2598 is
respectfully submitted to your committee.
HB 2598 would prohibit the buying, selling, offering to buy or sell, market for sale,
exchange, or otherwise dealing in assignable contracts to purchase or sell options on real estate for
single family residential housing and multifamily residential housing of four units or less. The bill
would make this activity a violation of a deceptive practice under the Kansas Consumer Protection
Act. Each unlawful transaction would be a separate violation. The bill would give the Kansas
Real Estate Commission the authority to issue cease and desist orders to individuals transacting
real estate without a real estate license.
The Kansas Real Estate Commission indicates HB 2598 has the potential to increase costs
for the agency by allowing it to issue cease and desist orders to individuals or entities transacting
real estate without a real estate license. The Commission indicates that those additional costs
would be negligible and could be absorbed within existing resources.
The Attorney General indicates the bill includes items that could be a violation of a
deceptive practice under the Kansas Consumer Protection Act. Actions under the bill would be
brought by the Attorney General or the county or district attorney. The Attorney General indicates
that the agency would incur additional expenses to execute those actions but is unable to estimate
the amount of additional time or resources required to execute those actions.
The bill has the potential for increasing litigation in the courts. If it does, the Judiciary
indicates that there would be a fiscal effect on the operations of the court system. However, it is The Honorable Sean Tarwater, Chairperson
Page 2—HB 2598
not possible to estimate the number of additional court cases that would arise or how complex and
time-consuming the cases would be. The fiscal effect would most likely be negligible and could
be accommodated within the existing budget resources. The bill has the potential to increase the
collections of docket fees that are deposited in the State General Fund; however, the amount of
additional docket fee collections is estimated to be negligible. Any fiscal effect associated with
HB 2598 is not reflected in The FY 2025 Governor’s Budget Report.
Sincerely,
Adam C. Proffitt
Director of the Budget
cc: Erik Wisner, Kansas Real Estate Commission
William Hendrix, Office of the Attorney General
Trisha Morrow, Judiciary