Closing Costs in Kansas 2026: Buyer & Seller Guide
Kansas puts no tax on a deed, and the mortgage registration tax that once took 0.26% of the debt a mortgage secured has been 0.0% since January 1, 2019. What the county collects is a statewide per-page recording fee under K.S.A. 28-115: $21 for the first page of a deed or mortgage and $17 for each page after it.
No deed tax, and a statute that keeps cities from adding one
Chapter 79 of the Kansas Statutes, the tax chapter, runs from property tax to income, sales and severance taxes. No article in it taxes the transfer of real estate.
Local government can’t fill that gap on its own. K.S.A. 12-194(a) says “no city or county shall levy or impose an excise tax or a tax in the nature of an excise, other than a retailers’ sales tax and a compensating use tax.” Its exceptions, all written for cities, are utility franchise charges, occupation taxes and license fees (which may not be based on receipts “from the sale or transfer of personal or real property”), development excise taxes a city already had on January 1, 2006, and ticket taxes for events on city or county property.
The mortgage registration tax: 0.26% in 2014, gone from 2019
For a mortgage filed before January 1, 2015, the register of deeds collected a registration tax of 0.26% of the principal debt it secured. On a $200,000 loan that was $520. The 2014 Legislature cut the rate in steps: 0.2% for 2015, 0.15% for 2016, 0.1% for 2017 and 0.05% for 2018. For mortgages “received and filed for record on and after January 1, 2019, the tax shall be 0.0%.” The section itself, K.S.A. 79-3102, was then repealed (L. 2014, ch. 140, § 22, effective January 1, 2019). The statute book now marks every mortgage registration section of Article 31, 79-3101 through 79-3108a, as repealed.
What the register of deeds charges under K.S.A. 28-115
The fee schedule is set by statute and binds “the register of deeds of each county.” The current amounts apply to documents filed on and after January 1, 2018. Each page carries a base fee plus two per-page add-ons: $3 for county technology funds (subsection (b)) and $1 for the state heritage trust fund (subsection (i)).
| Item | Statutory fee | Where in 28-115 |
|---|---|---|
| Deed or mortgage, first page (up to 8½” x 14″) | $17 + $3 + $1 = $21 | (a)(5)(A), (b), (i) |
| Each additional page | $13 + $3 + $1 = $17 | (a)(5)(B), (b), (i) |
| Release or assignment of a mortgage | $16, plus $3 and $1 per page | (a)(5)(D), (b), (i) |
| Signer or notary name not typed or printed under the signature | $1 extra | (d) |
| Mortgage on a single-family principal residence securing $75,000 or less | capped at $125 | (j) |
A three-page deed costs $55 to record. A 20-page mortgage costs $21 plus 19 pages at $17, or $344. The fees are “due and payable before the register of deeds shall be required to do the work.” Section 28-115 names no payer for them; check the closing-cost clause of your purchase contract.
The sales validation questionnaire that has to travel with the deed
A register of deeds will not record a deed that transfers title unless it is “accompanied by a real estate sales validation questionnaire completed by the grantor or grantee or the agent of such grantor or grantee” (K.S.A. 79-1437c). It asks for the sale price, whether personal property was included and how the purchase was financed, but may not ask your interest rate or the term of your mortgage (K.S.A. 79-1437d).
The questionnaire itself is not recorded. The register keeps it for five years and then destroys it. Sixteen kinds of transfer are exempt under K.S.A. 79-1437e, among them gifts stated in the deed, transfers to or from a trust without consideration, divorce settlements, sheriff’s deeds, and deeds that only correct an earlier deed without additional consideration. An exempt deed must state the exemption on its face. Falsifying the value is a misdemeanor with a fine of up to $500 (K.S.A. 79-1437g).
Title insurance: filed rates, no rebates, no pre-printed title company
Kansas regulates title charges by filing. Each title insurer, agency and agent must file its manual of rules and rates with the Commissioner of Insurance for property in counties with a population of 10,000 or more, and “no charge may be made” that has not been filed (K.S.A. 40-952(c)). Search and examination charges count as premium. Closing services and abstract extensions may be billed but are not premium.
Three rules in K.S.A. 40-2404(15) shape how you pick a title company:
- No rebate or discount may be offered as an inducement for title business, and that covers “escrow, settlement and closing charges” too. The statute still allows reasonable entertainment and advertising expenses.
- A title company may not take the order if it knows or has reason to believe its name was pre-printed in the sales contract before the buyer or seller chose it.
- If the real estate agent, lender or other “producer of title business” who refers you has a financial interest in the title company, they must give you a written disclosure, signed by you before any commitment, that states the interest, estimates the charges, says you are not obligated to use that company, and names at least three other title companies operating in the county (or all of them if the county has fewer than three).
Who handles the money at a Kansas closing
“A title insurance agent may operate as an escrow, settlement or closing agent,” says K.S.A. 40-1137, on conditions. Deposits go into a separate fiduciary trust account no later than the close of the next business day. Funds deposited for a closing, refinances included, “which exceed $2,500” must come in a form the statute lists: cash, a wire, a cashier’s, certified or teller’s check or bank money order from a federally insured institution, government funds, a draw on a Kansas-licensed broker’s or title agent’s escrow account, a FedNow or RTP instant payment, or another negotiable instrument that has been on deposit in the escrow account at least 10 days. A personal check counts only under that last option.
Your real estate agent has a disclosure duty too. K.S.A. 58-3062(a)(16) requires telling the buyer when the offer is made, and the seller when it is presented, “that certain closing costs must be paid and the approximate amount of such costs.”
Related pages
- Closing costs by state
- Kansas real estate guide
- Homeowner insurance guide for Kansas
- Mortgage calculator and home affordability calculator
- Down payment calculator
- Next door: Nebraska, Oklahoma, Colorado
Kansas closing questions
My lender’s old worksheet shows a Kansas mortgage registration fee. Do I owe it?
No. The rate has been 0.0% for mortgages filed on or after January 1, 2019, and K.S.A. 79-3102 has been repealed. There is nothing to pay on a mortgage filed today.
Does recording cost more in a big county than a small one?
No. Every register of deeds charges the K.S.A. 28-115 schedule: $21 for the first page and $17 for each page after. A three-page deed is $55.
Our contract form came with a title company’s name already printed in it. Is that allowed?
Not if the name was printed there before the buyer or seller chose that company. Under K.S.A. 40-2404(15)(i)(3), a title company that knows or has reason to believe this may not accept the order or issue the policy.
Why won’t the title company take my personal check at closing?
When closing funds exceed $2,500, K.S.A. 40-1137(c) accepts only listed forms of payment. A personal check qualifies only after it has been on deposit in the escrow account for at least 10 days.