The KCAA & KCA introduced legislation in 1999 in four areas.  Shown below is a summary of the legislation and the results:

    1.  Bad Checks.  This was HB 2221  This amends K.S.A. 61-1725 to provide that the provisions of K.S.A. 60-2610 and 60-2611 apply to suits brought under Chapter 61.  The purpose of this was to clarify the law and to remove any doubt that the bad check law was intended to apply to suits brought under Chapter 61.  This bill passed and was signed by the Governor and will become law on July 1, 1999.

    2.  Evictions.  This was HB 2222.  This amends K.S.A. 61-2305 to provide that a landlord may bring an action for possession only and bring a subsequent action for rent.  Many attorneys believe that current law requires that any rent which is due at the time of filing must be included in the action for possession or the claim for rent is waived.  If this is true, this causes a problem for attorneys under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. Sec, 1692, et. seq.) if the claim for rent is joined with the claim for possession and certain requirements under the federal act are not met.  The amendment will solve the problem.

Presumably, landlords will now bring one action for possession (i.e., the eviction) and a subsequent action for all rent and damages due.

This bill passed and was signed by the Governor and will become law on July 1, 1999.

    3.  Foreign Judgments.  This was SB 306 which eventually became House Substitute for SB 306.  This amends K.S.A. 60-3002 which is part of the Uniform Foreign Money Judgments Recognition Act.  This will:

    a.  Make it easier to register a foreign judgment in Kansas by allowing a certified copy of the judgment to be filed.

    b.  Provide that if at the time the judgment is filed in Kansas, it is enforceable in the jurisdiction where it was originally rendered, the Kansas statute of limitations on judgments in Kansas shall not apply.

The part dealing with the statute of limitations would in effect overrule Johnson Bros. Wholesale Liquor Co. v. Clemmons, 661 P. 2d 1242, 233 Kan. 405 (Kan. 1983) and other cases following it.  These cases have held that the Kansas statute of limitations on a foreign judgment begins to run when the judgment is originally rendered in the foreign jurisdiction, rather than looking to the statute of limitations of the state where it wasrendered.

This bill passed and has been signed by the Governor and will become law on July 1, 1999.

    4.  Garnishment Notice.  This deals both with garnishment and execution and was originally introduced as HB 2371, HB 2428 and HB 2332.  The content of these bills was subsequently amended into House Substitute for SB 306.

The purpose for this is to correct a potential constitutional problem with Kansas law.  Many federal and some state courts have held that when there is a taking of property by garnishment or execution, the judgment debtor is entitled to:

    a.  notice of any exemption that may apply to the taking.

    b.  notice of the procedure by which the debtor can claim any exemption.

    c.  the right to a hearing to assert any exemption claimed.

Current Kansas law does not fully provide for the above.

The amendment to the garnishment statutes is the same for Chapter 60 and 61.  Here is a summary of the changes:

    a.  If money or wages are seized by a garnishment as disclosed by the garnishee's answer, the clerk shall send to the defendant a copy of the answer and a notice of exemptions and right to hearing within 10 days after the date the answer is filed.  The garnishee shall disclose on the answer form the last known address for the defendant according to their records.

    b.  The content and form of the notice is specified in the amendment.  There is a separate form for wage and non-wage garnishment.  The form for the order and answer has also been changed slightly.

    c.  The defendant shall have 10 days after service of the notice within which to file a request for hearing to assert any claim to exemption.  The defendant shall obtain from the clerk or court a hearing date and mail or deliver to the plaintiff (or attorney) a copy of the request for hearing showing the hearing date.

    d.  Any hearing requested shall be held within 5 to 10 days after request is filed.

    e.  The burden is on the defendant to show that some or all of the property subject to the garnishment is exempt.  The court shall enter such order or orders as is appropriate.

The amendment to the execution statutes is similar.  The notice of exemptions and right to hearing shall be served on the defendant with the writ of execution.  The procedure thereafter is identical to that for garnishment.  The content and form of the notice is slightly different from the one for non-wage garnishment.

This bill passed and has been signed by the Governor and will become law on July 1, 1999.

    5.  Assigned Accounts.  This was HB 2209 and would amend K.S.A. 60-2310 (d) to eleminate the prohibition on the use of wage garnishment on assigned accounts by deleting subparagraph d in its entirety.  This bill was assigned to the House Judiciary Committee.  It passed out of the committee but there was opposition when considered on the floor and it was referred back to Judiciary for further review.  The bill remains in Judiciary and will be considered again next year.