Kansas Mortgage Fee Being Phased Out Thanks to REALTORS®

Everyone wants lower taxes, and now Kansas state residents will have them.

The Kansas mortgage fee is being phased out, thanks to the lobbying efforts of the Kansas Association of REALTORS® and the National Association of REALTORS®.

The tax will officially end in 2019.

The tax is calculated on the amount of the mortgage, so this saves homebuyers 26 cents on every $100 borrowed — or $520 on a $200,000 purchase.

Whether a house costs $200,000 or $1 million, the actual costs to record the document are the same.

The registration fee was only charged to those buying property with a mortgage: cash buyers were not charged the transfer tax. REALTORS® argued the tax unfairly discriminated against people who needed a mortgage, and the courts agreed.

Kansas has the distinction of being the only state in the nation to repeal an existing real estate transfer tax. It becomes the 15th state in the nation with no real estate transfer tax.

The National Association of REALTORS® has now assisted five states in banning real estate transfer taxes since 2007.

Chrystal Caruthers contributed to this article.