KS Real Estate key terms

The body of law that determines when one person, the agent, may act for another, the principal, creating duties between them and binding the principal to acts within the agent's authority.

The legal obligations an agent owes a principal, commonly care, obedience, loyalty, disclosure, accounting, and confidentiality, which require the agent to place the principal's interests ahead of the agent's own.

A transaction in which one licensee represents both the buyer and the seller; because undivided loyalty to both is impossible, it requires informed written consent and is limited or barred in many states.

A listing agreement in which the seller promises the broker a commission regardless of who finds the buyer, including a sale the seller negotiates alone, during the listing period.

A non-exclusive listing that obligates the seller to pay a broker only if that particular broker produces the buyer; the seller may give similar listings to several brokers at once.

A cooperative database maintained by a local association of REALTORS through which participating brokers publish listings and offer compensation to other brokers who bring a buyer.

A purchaser who is financially capable, legally competent, and prepared to buy on the seller's stated terms; producing such a buyer is normally what earns a broker the agreed commission.

A deposit a buyer gives when a contract is formed to show good faith; it is held in trust, applied to the purchase price at closing, or forfeited if the buyer defaults without legal excuse.

A contract provision that makes a party's duty to perform depend on a specified event, such as loan approval or a satisfactory inspection, and lets that party cancel if the event fails.

An arrangement in which a neutral third party holds funds or documents and follows written instructions to deliver them once stated conditions are satisfied, as at a real estate closing.

The amount borrowed divided by the property's appraised value or purchase price, whichever is lower; lenders use this ratio to measure risk and to set insurance requirements.

Insurance that protects a lender if a borrower defaults on a loan with a high loan-to-value ratio; the borrower typically pays the premium as part of the monthly payment.

The borrower's written promise to repay a debt, stating principal, interest rate, payment schedule, and maturity; the note evidences the debt, while the mortgage supplies the security.

A foreclosure carried out through a lawsuit in which the lender asks a court to enforce the mortgage, order a sale of the property, and confirm the outcome; Kansas generally requires this court process.

A statutory claim against real property filed by someone who supplied labor, materials, or services for an improvement and was not paid; it can cloud title until it is resolved.

A right to use a neighboring parcel that benefits the holder's own land and transfers automatically with that land when it is sold, because the right runs with the property.

Co-ownership by two or more persons holding undivided shares that need not be equal; each may sell or leave their share to heirs, and there is no right of survivorship.

Co-ownership by two or more persons with equal undivided shares and the right of survivorship, so a deceased co-owner's share passes automatically to the surviving owners.

The rule requiring certain contracts, including real estate sale agreements and leases longer than one year, to be in writing and signed by the party to be charged before they can be enforced.

Title so free of liens, encumbrances, and defects that a reasonably prudent buyer would accept it without objection; sales contracts commonly require delivery of such title at closing.

A court order compelling a party to carry out a contract as written; it is commonly available for land sales because each parcel of real estate is treated as unique.

Telling owners that members of a protected class are moving into the area in order to frighten them into selling cheaply; the practice is prohibited by fair housing law.

Guiding prospective buyers or renters toward or away from certain neighborhoods because of race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, or national origin; a fair housing violation.

The federal Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, which requires disclosures and a settlement statement for most residential loans, limits certain referral fees, and regulates escrow account practices.

The Kansas agency that licenses real estate brokers and salespersons, adopts licensing rules, reviews complaints, and imposes discipline ranging from fines to suspension or revocation of a license.

Kansas law that defines the brokerage relationships a licensee may have with a consumer, including seller's agent, buyer's agent, transaction broker, and designated agent, and requires written disclosure of the relationship chosen.

In Kansas, a licensee who assists a buyer or seller without becoming that party's agent; the statute requires honesty, disclosure of known material facts, accounting for funds, and reasonable care, but not undivided loyalty.

A licensee named in a written agreement to represent one party in a transaction while a different licensee in the same brokerage represents the other party, so neither acts as a dual agent.

Routine services a Kansas licensee may perform for a consumer without creating a brokerage relationship, such as supplying information, showing a property, or preparing a comparative price analysis.

The licensed broker responsible for a Kansas brokerage's records, trust funds, advertising, and affiliated licensees; a salesperson must be associated with and supervised by such a broker in order to practice.

A separate bank account a Kansas broker uses for client money such as earnest money and security deposits; the broker must keep detailed records and must not commingle personal or company funds in it.

A form filed with the deed when Kansas real property is sold, reporting the price and financing terms so the state can maintain sales data used in property valuation; certain transfers are exempt.

The annual written notice a Kansas county appraiser sends to each owner stating the appraised value of the property for the coming tax year and the deadline for filing an appeal.

Kansas assigns each parcel to a class such as residential, commercial, or agricultural and applies that class's statutory percentage to its value; residential property is assessed at a lower percentage than commercial property.

The state tribunal that decides appeals from county property valuations and other Kansas tax disputes, including a small claims division that handles property tax cases involving lesser amounts.

Kansas statute governing residential rental agreements; it sets landlord duties such as maintaining habitable premises, rules for holding and returning security deposits, and procedures for notice, termination, and eviction.

The Kansas principle that a buyer generally takes property in its existing condition and must inspect it; sellers and licensees may not, however, conceal latent material defects they know about.

Kansas law that shields a homeowner's principal residence from forced sale to satisfy most debts, within statutory acreage limits; taxes, purchase-money mortgages, and liens for improvements are exceptions.