Storm contractor rules in Kansas: profiteering from a disaster, door-to-door sales and unconscionable acts
Kansas handles storm contractors through its Consumer Protection Act. This page restates three sections of it from the Kansas Office of the Revisor of Statutes, as they were read on October 9, 2026: the disaster profiteering section, the door-to-door sales section and the unconscionable acts section.
Checked against the sources at the bottom of this page on October 9, 2026. Rules, fees and pay change: the source has the last word.
This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. The wider picture is on the storm contractor rules page. All three rows are statute text. None of the sections names tree work or says anything about contractor licensing, so licensing is not covered here.
The three sections in one table
| Section | What it says |
|---|---|
| 50-6,106, disaster profiteering | It is an unconscionable act for a supplier to profiteer from a disaster. That means raising, without justification and during a time of disaster, the price of any necessary property or service offered to consumers. Actual sales at the higher price are not needed for an increase to count |
| 50-6,106, the 25 percent test | A court weighs all relevant circumstances. An increase of more than 25 percent over the supplier's price on the business day before the disaster, or a price more than 25 percent above what the same or similar property or services cost other consumers in the trade area, is prima facie evidence of gross excess. Proof of additional costs actually incurred is prima facie evidence that the increase was justified |
| 50-6,106, time and services | "Time of disaster" is the period a presidential or gubernatorial state of emergency is in effect, or 30 days after the event, whichever is longer. "Necessary property or service" includes property or services for emergency cleanup, building materials and services, freight and storage services |
| 50-640, door-to-door sales | A consumer may cancel a door-to-door sale until midnight of the third business day after signing an agreement that carries the required disclosures. A door-to-door sale is a sale of consumer property or services with a purchase price of US$25 or more, where the supplier or its representative personally solicits the sale and the consumer's agreement or offer is made at a place other than the supplier's place of business |
| 50-627, unconscionable acts | No supplier may engage in an unconscionable act or practice in a consumer transaction. Among the circumstances a court considers is that the price grossly exceeded the price for which similar consumers could readily get similar property or services |
Price rule
The disaster section is the one place the Kansas text speaks to a storm. Its list of necessary services includes emergency cleanup and building materials and services, though the list does not name tree work. The test has two parts. One compares the supplier's price with the supplier's own price on the business day before the disaster. The other compares it with the price at which the same or similar goods or services were readily obtainable in the trade area. A court may find a disaster without any declaration, though a presidential or gubernatorial declaration leads the court to find one.
Door-to-door sales
Section 50-640 puts the duty to give notice on the supplier. A supplier who does not hand over a completed copy of the contract with a boldface cancellation statement and a detachable notice of cancellation commits an unfair and deceptive act. The list of sales that are not door-to-door sales includes one where the consumer started the deal and the work is needed for a bona fide immediate personal emergency, if the consumer gives the supplier a separate dated, signed, handwritten statement waiving the right to cancel. It also excludes a sale where the consumer started the deal and asked the supplier to visit the home to repair or maintain the consumer's property. The text read does not say how those two exclusions apply to tree work.
The scam warnings that attorneys general issue after storms are on the storm tree scams page. For how other states treat tree work, see contractor licences for tree work.
Sources
- Kansas Office of the Revisor of Statutes, K.S.A. 50-6,106, Unconscionable acts; remedies, read October 9, 2026
- Kansas Office of the Revisor of Statutes, K.S.A. 50-640, Door-to-door sales; cancellation, read October 9, 2026
- Kansas Office of the Revisor of Statutes, K.S.A. 50-627, Unconscionable acts and practices, read October 9, 2026