By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Democratic incumbent 102nd House District Representative Jason Probst said Thursday work he's done on changing how land contracts work in Kansas is going forward.
"We've brought in attorneys and people who work in real estate and lenders," Probst said. "There's a really good group of smart people working to figure out what the best solution for this might be. I feel really good about that because it's kind of been removed from the partisanship and there are people that are working toward a real solution on that."
The issue is that nothing needs to be filed on a land contract right now and that doesn't protect either side in a dispute.
"I really want to leave agriculture and commercial property alone," Probst said. "My focus on this is residential transactions. If you buy a house on a mortgage, there are a number of inspections that happen, there's a recording of the deed. If you go to get a second mortgage, the bank is going to see there's a first mortgage, all sorts of things like that that are public record that are available to see."
Some states have done away with land contracts, but that's not the aim here.
"I'm not looking to do away with land contracts," Probst said. "This is sometimes the only way some people can get into a home. I just think that we need to formalize it a little bit, so that there's a lot more protection for everybody involved in the contract."
The Judicial Council has another meeting Friday to discuss the topic.