Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Kansas

landlords rights

I have a first time rental. The person(happened to be a friend) was suppose to turn utilities on in her name. She moved in on the weekend, and said she would get these all transferred that next week. She informed me she did, I didn't think otherwise.

The next month I received a late (collection threatened) notice in the mail, called all of the utilities and 2 were still in my name. I called her, informed of it, she said ''sorry'' and told her that I would be taking them out of my name as of that week. She said ''ok, I'll get them changed today.''

She will not answer any phone calls, return messages, etc...you get the picture.

We found out she never called the utilities, went 3 days w/out water, and is now countersueing me for 1 and1/2 times the rent for ''disconnecting'' the water.

If they find ME guilty of this, what do I have to look forward to? (I filed a law suit against her for non payment of rent, and utilitiy bills that were unpaid while in my name. She's refused to leave, and when I filed on her, she countersued me).

I don't think she'll win, but what is my ''worst cast senario''?????

Thanks, Staci


Asked on 2/03/03, 8:27 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Mark Reiter

Re: landlords rights

If you do not already have an attorney assisting you with the eviction process, you should hire one immediately. If you do, you should contact he/she to discuss the situation. An experienced attorney can help you make your case and call the necessary witnesses and submit the necessary evidence to make proof of your claims. Unless you are very experienced with evictions, KS eviction laws, and the rules of evidence I would not recommend doing this on your own. Review the tenant's lease for provisions regarding breach of the lease and what remedies are appropriate. The worst-case scenario would be the judge would rule against you and in favor of tenant and award the tenant damages for your alleged violation of the lease and Kansas statutes. How likely is that to happen? I would need more information about the situation in order to advise you on such.

This is also an example of why I always recommend that my landlord clients create a separate business entity that will own their rental property rather than owning it as a sole proprietor and needlessly taking on additional liability risks.

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Answered on 2/04/03, 8:42 am


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