Attorney outlines legal limits and practical hurdles for land banks and tax sales in Kansas

Chris Macklegan, an attorney who conducts tax-foreclosure work in Kansas, told Fort Scott City elected officials during the Oct. 14 meeting that statutory due-process protections and title-insurer practices significantly constrain how a municipal land bank can acquire properties from tax foreclosure.

"Even if I'm a absentee owner or I'm just kind of a very irresponsible person, I'm still entitled to due process," Macklegan said, explaining that owners retain the right to redeem property up until the day before a judicial sale. He added that if a property does not sell at auction, statutes require continued notice and procedures rather than automatic vesting of title in a county or land bank.

Macklegan gave multiple examples of practical problems counties and cities encounter, including no-bid sales, title-insurance underwriting demands, and the costs of quiet-title work. He said buyers at a tax sale receive judicial (sheriff) deeds but often cannot obtain title insurance without extra work. "If you buy a property for $5 or a million bucks ...…