Posted August 6, 2026
On Thursday, July 30, 2026, the Kansas City, MO City Council approved the vacant property measure (Committee Substitute for Ordinance 260401) that MAREI and the Kansas City Regional Housing Alliance (KCRHA) opposed as drafted. Sponsored by Mayor Quinton Lucas, it amends Chapter 56 of the City Code to expand vacant property registration and add new inspection, fee, and penalty provisions.
Our advocacy — as a back up to the Kansas City Regional Association of Realtors (KCRAR) — secured meaningful changes before the final vote, even though we were not able to stop the ordinance itself. The ordinance has now passed and is in effect, so owners of vacant property should review the requirements below and make sure they are registered and compliant.
What the Passed Ordinance Requires
- Expanded registration. Owners must register vacant property with the City through the online portal at city.kcmo.org/kc/vacantProperty. Registration itself carries no fee. Deadlines: within 90 days of a property becoming and remaining vacant; within 14 days for a property entering foreclosure; and, for property already vacant, before August 1, 2026. Annual renewals run July 1 and are penalty-free through July 31 (Sec. 56-573).(We are still validating timelines on this)
- Monthly inspection affidavit. At registration the owner must submit a notarized affidavit by a person with management control stating they will personally inspect the property at least once per month, along with disclosure of the owner's plans or intent for the property (Sec. 56-573(g)).
- Chronically Vacant Nuisance Property fee. A $200 fee per semiannual period applies to a "chronically vacant nuisance property" — a residential property with a residential structure, or a commercial property with multiple dwelling units, vacant at least the previous six months and with multiple violations of Chapters 34, 48, 56, or 62 (Secs. 56-572, 56-586).
- Late registration penalty: $50 for the first 30 days and $100 for each additional 30 days (Sec. 56-581).
- Violation fines: not less than $200 and not more than $1,000, with escalating minimums for repeat offenses (Sec. 56-583).
- Liens. Unpaid fees delinquent for one year become a lien on the property, subject to foreclosure like delinquent property taxes; the lien is released and the fee forgiven upon sale to an unrelated party (Sec. 56-586(f)).
Amendments We Helped Secure
Through repeated meetings with the City — including the Mayor's Policy Director, Melissa Patterson-Hasley, Nathan Willett, and Councilman Wes Rogers — the following relief was built in:
- Property actively for sale is not treated as vacant. A property "being currently marketed by a licensed real estate professional hired by the former or current occupant" is not considered vacant under the ordinance (Sec. 56-572) — keeping listed homes and lots out of the registration and fee scheme while on the market.
- Fine and fee waivers. The Director has discretion to waive penalties where the owner repairs or demolishes, donates the property to a qualifying nonprofit, or — where the only infraction was failing to register and the property is now registered — to waive all but $500 (Sec. 56-585).
- Appeals. Owners may request a reinspection and reconsideration of a chronically-vacant determination within 30 days, with a further appeal to the Property Maintenance Appeals Board (Sec. 56-586).
Our consistent message to City Hall was to use incentives rather than penalties to return vacant property to productive use. That approach was not adopted.
Companion Ordinance 260399
Passed by Council on the same day (also as a version 3 Committee Substitute) was Ordinance 260399 (sponsored by Mayor Lucas), the education-and-outreach companion. It directs the City Manager to:
- Develop and publish a plain-language vacant property maintenance guide — consolidating existing standards under Chapters 26, 48, and 56 — within 120 days, and provide it to all registrants.
- Launch a city-wide registration outreach campaign (direct mail, digital, community meetings, multiple languages) within 180 days.
- Allocate $50,000 for the education campaign in the first-quarter FY2026-27 budget analysis, subject to available funds in the Development Services Fund.
How to Register
Register online through the City's Neighborhood Preservation Division:
Register Your Vacant Property →
city.kcmo.org/kc/vacantProperty
Questions: Kionna Jett, 816-513-9018 — Neighborhood Services, City Hall, 414 E. 12th Street, Kansas City, MO 64106.
Where We Stand
The ordinance, as passed, remains — in our view — an unnecessarily counterproductive measure that adds to an already unfriendly regulatory atmosphere at City Hall. MAREI and KCRHA will continue to advocate for incentive-based solutions and keep members informed.
"The whole ordinance and its purpose is unnecessarily counterproductive and adds to the unfriendly regulatory atmosphere in City Hall. We stressed in our meetings with them — including the Mayor's Policy Director — to use incentives instead of penalties, to no avail." — Stacey Johnson-Cosby, MAREI Legislative Director & leader of the Kansas City Regional Housing Alliance
"Your local politics matter more to your everyday life and more to your pocketbook than almost anything nationally." — Jennifer Justus, Kansas City Regional Association of Realtors
Learn More
MAREI Joins KCRAR in Opposing Kansas City's Vacant Property Ordinance 260401
| Editor's note This article reflects MAREI's position on Ordinance 260401, informed by feedback the Kansas City Regional Association of REALTORS® (KCRAR) submitted to the City. MAREI stands alongside KCRAR in opposing the ordinance as it currently stands. It is not a neutral explainer, and it should not be your only source on this issue. The City Clerk's docket for File #260401 is the authoritative record — we encourage every member to read the actual ordinance text, follow committee meetings, and reach their own conclusions before the committee's July 14 meeting and any final Council vote. |
Kansas City, Missouri's proposed vacant property ordinance — Ordinance No. 260401 — would overhaul the City's existing vacant property registration program, adding new fees, disclosure requirements, and inspection rules. The Kansas City Regional Association of REALTORS® (KCRAR) has weighed in with detailed feedback on the latest committee substitute, and the Mid-America Association of Real Estate Investors (MAREI) joins KCRAR in opposing the ordinance as currently drafted.
What the ordinance does
Ordinance No. 260401, sponsored by Mayor Quinton Lucas, would repeal and replace Article VI of Chapter 56 of the City's Code of Ordinances, the section governing registration of vacant and foreclosing properties. The rewrite would:
- Expand registration requirements beyond vacant buildings to include unimproved vacant land.
- Require owners to disclose their plans or intent for a vacant property.
- Create procedures for identifying vacant residential properties with multiple housing code violations and impose a $200 semiannual fee on those deemed "chronically vacant nuisance" properties.
- Direct the City Manager to launch a citywide registration outreach campaign.
The bill was introduced and referred to the Neighborhood Planning and Development Committee on April 23, 2026, and has since been held on the committee agenda multiple times (May 5, May 19, and June 9) while City staff worked through stakeholder feedback. The docket had listed it as agenda-ready for June 23, 2026, but that date has passed with no recorded committee action; the committee's next regularly scheduled meeting is July 14, 2026. Track its status directly on the City Clerk's legislation page for File #260401.
Registration is already the law — this isn't a new concept
It's worth noting that Kansas City already requires vacant property registration. Under the current Article VI (Sec. 56-582), owners of vacant or foreclosing housing units not occupied by the owner must register with the City annually, between December 1 and January 31, and provide contact and maintenance information. Ordinance 260401 doesn't create registration from scratch — it rewrites and expands an existing program.
That existing-law point is central to the property-owner community's broader argument: many owners we've heard from believe the City's focus should be on enforcing the registration, maintenance, and nuisance rules already on the books rather than layering on new registration categories, new fees, and new inspection mandates. If chronically vacant nuisance properties are a problem today, the argument goes, that's at least in part an enforcement gap under existing code — not necessarily a gap in the code itself.
It's also worth flagging who owns a meaningful share of Kansas City's vacant, blighted parcels: the City itself, through the Land Bank of Kansas City, a public entity created in 2012 specifically to acquire tax-delinquent properties that went unsold at the annual county tax sale. The Land Bank currently holds more than 2,700 vacant residential and lot properties. A new fee and inspection regime aimed at chronically vacant nuisance property will, by definition, also apply to publicly owned parcels that ended up vacant because previous owners abandoned them over unpaid taxes — which raises a fair question about how much of the City's own inventory would be subject to the very fees and inspections it is proposing for private owners.
Where we stand
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The ordinance would be more effective, fairer, and easier for the real estate community to support if its fees and inspection requirements tracked actual nuisance conditions and measurable neighborhood impact rather than vacancy status alone. As drafted, it does not do that — so both KCRAR and MAREI oppose Ordinance 260401 in its current form. In MAREI's view, the City should also demonstrate it is fully enforcing the registration and maintenance requirements already in the Code — and account for its own Land Bank inventory — before asking property owners to absorb a new layer of registration categories, fees, and inspections. |
The Neighborhood Planning and Development Committee is expected to take the bill back up at its July 14, 2026 meeting; members interested in following developments — including any further substitutes — should monitor the file directly rather than rely solely on this summary.
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Please educate yourself on this issue directly. This piece reflects MAREI's advocacy position, taken alongside KCRAR, and is based on public records from the Kansas City, MO City Clerk's Office. Before forming your own view or contacting your Council representative, we'd encourage you to read the full ordinance text, attend or watch a Neighborhood Planning and Development Committee meeting, and consider perspectives beyond ours — including the City's stated rationale and other stakeholders' testimony (several groups, including preservation and neighborhood advocacy organizations, have filed comments supporting the ordinance). Read the Full Ordinance Text Track File #260401 on the City Clerk's Site |
Sources: Kansas City, MO City Clerk's Office, Legislation File #260401 (clerk.kcmo.gov) · KCTV5, "KCMO weighs stricter vacant property rules," May 12, 2026 · Internal committee notes, James Toy, KCRAR · Published by MAREI, Mid-America Association of Real Estate Investors.
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