SESSION OF 2025
SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE ON HOUSE BILL NO. 2099
As Amended by Senate Committee on Local
Government, Transparency and Ethics
Brief*
HB 2099, as amended, would authorize the City of
Topeka (Topeka) to conduct periodic inspections of private
residential housing properties when the owner of the property
is receiving direct public financial assistance for tenant rent,
define “direct public financial assistance” for this purpose, and
establish requirements to conduct such inspections.
Under current law, cities and counties are prohibited
from conducting interior housing inspections of private
residential property without occupant’s consent. The bill
would create an exception for such inspections by Topeka,
upon adoption of an ordinance, if the property owner receives
direct public financial assistance for tenant rent.
The bill would define “direct public financial assistance”
to mean a financial payment or consideration from the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
The bill would require that Topeka provide reasonable
notice to tenants of the date and time of an inspection. It
would also provide that a landlord may be required to perform
random inspections at the request of Topeka in response to
code violation complaints. If a tenant objects to an inspection,
the bill would direct Topeka to obtain an administrative search
warrant to facilitate the inspection.
The bill would also provide a sunset date of July 1,
2030, for the exception for Topeka.
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*Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research
Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental
note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at
https://klrd.gov/ Background
The bill was introduced in the House Committee on
Local Government at the request of a representative of the
City of Topeka.
House Committee on Local Government
In the House Committee hearing, Representative Alcala
and representatives of the City of Topeka, Topeka City
Council, and Topeka/Shawnee County Homeless Task Force
provided proponent testimony. The proponents stated that
individuals who live in rental properties that receive
governmental rental subsidies may not consent to an
inspection because of fear of losing their residence for
allowing such an inspection, even though the current living
conditions for the resident may not be adequate.
The proponents provided an example of residents living
in such government-subsidized rental housing that had
sewage, black mold growth, and no heat during freezing
temperatures. The proponents stated that HUD administers
the subsidies in the example described and is required to
perform annual inspections. In the example, such inspections
did not occur.
The proponents stated that this bill would allow the City
of Topeka to perform inspections to avoid situations like the
example.
The proponents also suggested an amendment to name
the City of Topeka as the local governing authority to have the
authority to conduct the inspections; as introduced, the bill
would have provided the authority to conduct inspections to
all cities and counties. The amendment would also clarify
governmental rental subsidies would mean only direct tenant
rental payments.
2- 2099 Written-only proponent testimony was provided by
representatives of the City of Concordia, League of Kansas
Municipalities, and Kansas Association of Counties.
Opponent testimony was provided by a representative
of the Associated Landlords of Kansas and a private citizen.
The opponents stated that this bill would take away the rights
of a lawful tenant because the lawful tenant should be the
only one who should be allowed to authorize an inspection.
They stated it should be the responsibility of the tenant to
accept or ask for an inspection if there are life, safety, or
health issues.
Written-only opponent testimony was provided by a
representative of the Kansas Association of Realtors.
No other testimony was provided.
The House Committee amended the bill to:
●Provide a definition of “direct public financial
assistance” to mean a financial payment or
consideration from HUD;
●Change “governmental rental subsidies” to “direct
public financial assistance”;
●Narrow the scope of the bill to limit the authority to
conduct inspections to only Topeka; and
●Provide a sunset date of July 1, 2030, on the
exception.
Senate Committee on Local Government, Transparency
and Ethics
In the Senate Committee hearing, representatives of the
the City of Topeka and the Topeka and Shawnee County
Homeless Task Force provided proponent testimony. The
3- 2099 proponents generally stated the bill would allow the city to
conduct regular, mandatory inspections that are not currently
lawfully possible of properties accepting government funds
and would put protections in place for vulnerable tenants to
report code violations.
Written-only proponent testimony was submitted by
Representative Alcala, a member of the Topeka City Council,
and a representative of the League of Kansas Municipalities.
Neutral testimony was submitted by a representative of
the Associated Landlords of Kansas, stating the sunset
makes the bill more agreeable and narrowing the bill to the
City of Topeka will prevent cities from abusing the inspection
program, protecting vulnerable tenants.
Opponent testimony was provided by a private citizen,
who stated rental inspections through the federal government
for tenants who receive housing choice (“Section 8”)
vouchers are thorough and cities do not need to add more
inspections.
The Senate Committee made a technical amendment to
the bill.
Fiscal Information
According to the fiscal note prepared by the Division of
the Budget on the bill, as introduced, the League of Kansas
Municipalities states enactment of the bill would have
negligible fiscal effects on cities. The Kansas Association of
Counties cannot estimate a fiscal effect because the
Association is unable to determine how many more
inspections would be necessary and whether that would
require additional employees. [Note: After amendment, the
exception would apply only to the City of Topeka.]
Governmental rental subsidies; private residential inspections; municipal housing
inspections; Topeka
4- 2099