Summary of 2025 HB 2099
Legislation addressing rental inspections for subsidized housing (HB 2099) was introduced during the 2025 Legislative Session at the request of a representative of the City of Topeka. The bill would have:
- Defined “direct public financial assistance” to mean a financial payment or consideration from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD);
- Authorized the City of Topeka to adopt an ordinance to require:
- Periodic property inspections of privately owned residential housing property when the owner of such property is receiving direct public financial assistance, with reasonable notice to tenants; and
- Landlords to perform random inspections at the request of the City in response to code violation complaint;
- Directed the City of Topeka to obtain an administrative search warrant to facilitate the inspection if a tenant objected to an inspection; and
- Had a sunset date of July 1, 2030.
Under current law, cities and counties are prohibited from conducting interior inspections of private residential property without the occupant’s consent.
The bill was heard by both the House Committee on Local Government and the Senate Committee on Local Government, Transparency and Ethics, and died on Senate General Orders.
Federal Inspection Requirements
At the federal level, inspections of subsidized housing are regulated by HUD and its newly formulated NSPIRE (National Standards for the Physical Inspection of Real Estate) standards.
These inspections take place in-unit, inside facilities, and outside of subsidized housing developments. HUD provides inspectors a checklist using HUD standards to note any deficiencies in multiple areas of a facility. If a violation is found, a code is applied, and a correction period is agreed upon for the inspector to check if a change has been made. Currently, HUD inspections happen at the time a tenant moves in and every one to two years after.
By the Numbers
HUD reports that, as of publication of this article, the Topeka area has 744 units that fall under Annual Contributions Contracts (ACC) between the federal government and a public housing agency to provide subsidized housing. Of these 744 units, 687, or 92.0 percent, are currently leased to tenants. These units are spread between 7 different residential property developments.
In the State of Kansas, as of publication of this article, there are 7,954 units with ACC authorization. Currently, 6,968 are leased, with 660 unleased units. For these units, there are 104 developments across the state. Overall, Topeka makes up 0.09 percent of the units for affordable housing in Kansas.
By Julia Kofoid and Jillian Kincaid.
See State and Local Government for more.