Locked Out or Utilities Cut Off
K.S.A. 58-2563 — a lockout or a shutoff by the landlord, and one and a half months' rent or the actual damages
If the landlord unlawfully removes or locks out the tenant, or willfully cuts off the electricity, gas, water or another essential service, the tenant may get back in or end the lease, and either way recover up to one and a half months' rent or the actual damages, whichever is greater.
Who handles this in Kansas: Kansas Corporation Commission, Consumer Inquiries and Complaints; and legal aid programs, lawyer referral and the state offices, listed in the Kansas directory.
If the lease ends that way, the landlord returns the part of the deposit the tenant is owed.
No seizing belongings for rent. A landlord's lien on a tenant's household goods and other belongings is not enforceable, and distraint for rent, seizing belongings to cover it, is abolished apart from the rules on abandoned property.
Sources for this section (2)
- K.S.A. 58-2563 — Unlawful removal or exclusion of tenant; diminished services; damages; security deposit
- K.S.A. 58-2567 — Lien or security interest in tenant's personal property unenforceable; distraint abolished, exception
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Kansas attorney.