How to avoid foreclosure in Kansas

How foreclosure works in Kansas, step by step

1. Missed payments and early contact

   Under federal rules, a servicer generally cannot start a foreclosure case until you are more than 120 days behind. Use this time to call your servicer, ask about options to avoid foreclosure, and send in a complete application for help. If your loan is a second mortgage or was made for more than the home was worth, Kansas law may also require a right to cure notice first.

   12 C.F.R. § 1024.41(f); K.S.A. 9-2234

2. The lender files a lawsuit

   The lender files a foreclosure petition in the district court of your county and has you served with a summons. You have 21 days after you are served to file a written answer. If you were served only by a notice in the newspaper, the notice sets the deadline, which must be at least 41 days after it first runs.

   K.S.A. 60-212(a)

3. Judgment and order of sale

   If you do not answer, or the judge rules for the lender, the court enters a foreclosure judgment and orders the sheriff to sell the home. The judgment also sets how long your redemption period will be. If you believe the lender's numbers or paperwork are wrong, this is the stage to raise it with the judge, ideally with a lawyer's help.

   K.S.A. 60-2414

4. Notice of the sheriff's sale

   The sheriff must publish notice of the time and place of the sale once a week for 3 weeks in a row in a county newspaper. The last notice must run no less than 7 days and no more than 14 days before the sale. The published notice is the only notice the statute requires, so watch your mail and the court file closely.

   K.S.A. 60-2410(a)

5. Sheriff's sale and court confirmation

   The home is sold at public auction, normally at the county courthouse. The sheriff reports the sale to the judge, who must confirm it. The judge can refuse to confirm a sale if the bid is far too low, or can require that the fair value of the home be credited against what you owe.

   K.S.A. 60-2410(b); K.S.A. 60-2415

6. Redemption period

   After the sale, the buyer gets a certificate of purchase, not a deed. During your redemption period you are entitled to stay in the home, and you can get it back by paying the sale price plus interest, costs and taxes to the clerk of the district court. The period is usually 12 months, or 3 months if you defaulted before paying one third of the original loan.

   K.S.A. 60-2414(a), (f), (m)

7. Sheriff's deed and moving out

   If no one redeems, the sheriff gives the buyer a deed when the redemption period ends, and your right to stay in the home ends. Plan your move before that date, and talk to legal aid if you get court papers about possession.

   K.S.A. 60-2414(e)

Kansas foreclosure deadlines to know

These are the periods written into the law. Your own dates are on the notices you received. If a notice and this page disagree, trust the notice and ask a counselor or lawyer.

Your rights as a homeowner in Kansas

Other Kansas protections

• You can stay in the home during redemption

  Kansas law says the owner is entitled to possession of the property during the redemption period. A buyer at the sheriff's sale cannot make you leave right after the auction unless the court has shortened or ended your redemption period.

  K.S.A. 60-2414(a)

• Redemption waivers in home mortgages are void

  A term in a mortgage that waives redemption is not valid for a one or two family home that you own and live in, or for farm land. Only other kinds of borrowers can agree in the mortgage to a shorter period or none.

  K.S.A. 60-2410(e); K.S.A. 60-2414(a)

• Judge can reject a low sale price

  The court does not have to confirm a sale when the bid is substantially inadequate. It can order a new sale with a minimum price, or hold a hearing on value and require the fair value of the home to be credited against what you owe.

  K.S.A. 60-2415(b)

• Right to cure notice on second mortgages and high loan-to-value loans

  Since January 1, 2025, this rule sits in the Kansas Mortgage Business Act. It covers subordinate mortgages and loans made for more than 100% of the home's value (not federally guaranteed loans). The lender must wait 20 days after a written cure notice before calling the loan due. It does not cover an ordinary first mortgage.

  K.S.A. 9-2201(m); K.S.A. 9-2234

• Extra redemption time after job or income loss

  If your redemption period is 3 months and you involuntarily lose your main source of income after the sale, you can ask the court for 3 more months. The court holds a hearing with at least 21 days' notice to all parties.

  K.S.A. 60-2414(m)

Kansas mortgage assistance programs

If the home is sold for more than you owe

If the home sells for more than the judgment, interest and costs, the extra money does not belong to the lender. The Kansas Attorney General explains that whoever owns the redemption rights is entitled to this overage, which is one reason scammers try to buy those rights cheaply. The money is handled through the district court case, and other lienholders may claim it first. Ask the clerk of the district court or a lawyer how to file a claim in your case, and do not sign over your redemption rights without advice.

Ways to avoid foreclosure

Most of your options come from federal rules and from whoever owns or insures your loan, so they work the same way in Kansas as anywhere else. What changes by state is how much time you have to use them.

• Repayment plan
• Forbearance
• Payment deferral or partial claim
• Loan modification
• Reinstatement
• Short sale
• Deed in lieu of foreclosure
• Chapter 13 bankruptcy