Free Missouri Landlord Forms
Every Missouri landlord form we publish, organised by the stage of the tenancy it belongs to, each one paired with the RSMo section behind it — and built around the distinction most Missouri pages miss entirely: rent and possession is not unlawful detainer.
Every form linked on this page is free, fillable in your browser, and downloadable as a PDF with no account, no membership and no paywall. Missouri splits landlord law across chapter 441 for the tenancy, chapter 534 for unlawful detainer and chapter 535 for rent and possession. Those last two are different lawsuits with different notice requirements, different remedies and different post-judgment clocks — and mixing them is the state’s central error.
The short version
- A rent and possession action needs NO notice to quit. The statute says so in terms.
- What it does need is a DEMAND for rent — which is good “at any time after… the rent becomes due”. No waiting period, no prescribed form.
- Unlawful detainer is the other action, and its disseisin branch does require a written demand.
- Month-to-month takes one month’s written notice — but a year-to-year takes sixty days before the end of the year, and a mobile home lot takes sixty days from the next rent date.
- There is NO add-days-for-mailing rule — but posting-and-mailing service needs ten days rather than four.
- The deposit cap is two months’ rent, returned in thirty days, with twice the amount wrongfully withheld as the penalty.
- The tenant has a statutory right to be present at the move-out walk-through.
- Missouri has NO entry-notice statute and NO retaliation statute.
- Since August 2025, cities may not restrict what a landlord screens on.
Two Different Evictions, and Only One Needs a Notice
Section 535.020 says it outright: “Giving the notice provided in section 441.060 is not required prior to filing a statement or obtaining the relief provided in this chapter.”
What a rent and possession action needs instead is a demand: “Whenever any rent has become due and payable, and payment has been demanded by the landlord or the landlord’s agent from the lessee or person occupying the premises, and payment thereof has not been made, the landlord or agent may file a statement, verified by affidavit.”
And the demand ripens immediately. Section 535.060: any demand of rent, or rent and possession, is good “when made at any time after the right to rent and possession accrues or the rent becomes due according to the terms of the agreement, whether by written lease or otherwise”. No waiting period. No prescribed form. No statutory wording.
The widely-repeated claim that a Missouri landlord must send a written demand letter and wait before filing for nonpayment is not the law for a rent and possession action. That written-demand requirement belongs to unlawful detainer, and even there it attaches to the disseisin branch rather than to a simple holding-over.
Unlawful detainer — the other action
Section 534.030 defines unlawful detainer as holding over “after the termination of the time for which they were demised or let”, or — on the disseisin branch — where a person, “after demand made, in writing, for the delivery of such possession of the premises by the person having the legal right to such possession… shall refuse or neglect to vacate”.
That written demand is served “either by delivering a copy… to the person in possession, or by leaving such copy with some person above the age of fifteen years, residing on or being in charge of the premises; or, if no such person be in the actual occupancy thereof, then by posting such copy on the premises”. An officer’s return is “prima facie evidence of the facts therein stated”; anyone else’s return “shall be sworn to”.
Lease breach and the ten-day notice
Section 441.030 bars a tenant of two years or less, at will or by sufferance, from assigning or transferring the term without the landlord’s written assent, from violating any condition of a written lease, and from committing waste. Section 441.040 then supplies the remedy: “the landlord… after giving ten days’ notice to vacate the premises, shall have a right to reenter the premises and take possession… or to oust the tenant… by the procedure specified by law”.
See our Missouri eviction notice laws guide.
Drug activity — the lease becomes void, and there is a third proceeding
Section 441.020 provides that where a lessee allows “the illegal possession, sale or distribution of controlled substances upon the premises, the lease or agreement… shall become void, and the lessor may enter on the premises so let, and shall have the same remedies for the recovery of the premises as in the case of a tenant holding over”.
Beyond that there is a dedicated expedited eviction procedure. The court “shall… order the immediate eviction” on finding, among other things, that drug-related criminal activity occurred on the leased property, that the property was used to further it, or that the tenant, a household member or a guest engaged in it “either within, on or in the immediate vicinity”. It also reaches emergency situations involving physical injury and damage exceeding “an amount equal to twelve months of rent”.
That route needs no notice at all: “Notwithstanding any other provision of law…, it shall not be necessary… to provide notice to the tenant to vacate the premises prior to filing.”
It has its own safety valve. The court “shall stay execution of an order for removal” where the tenant proves six conditions — including that they are drug-dependent and entering court-approved treatment or did not aid the activity, that the property is not within “one thousand feet of a school”, that no sale was to minors, that no weapon was used, and that a stay would not endanger the community. The resulting probationary tenancy “shall last either six months or for the duration of the lease agreement…, whichever is shorter”, with any noncompliance hearing held on “a five-day written notice” and “within five days”.
There is also a burden-and-safe-harbour rule worth knowing: the landlord must prove the drug use, but “the landlord shall not be liable for any damages resulting from the landlord’s reliance on written notification… by a law enforcement authority”.
Termination: Three Numbers in Three Places
| Tenancy | Notice | Where |
|---|---|---|
| At will, by sufferance, or for less than one year | “one month’s notice, in writing, to the person in possession, requiring the person in possession to vacate” | § 441.060.1 |
| Month-to-month, either party | Written notice “stating that the tenancy shall terminate upon a periodic rent-paying date not less than one month after the receipt of the notice” | § 441.060.4(1) |
| Unwritten leases of buildings | Deemed month-to-month, terminable by either party on one month’s written notice. Expressly excludes real estate “used or rented for agricultural purposes, other than garden purposes” | § 441.060.3 |
| Mobile home lot — a separate rule | Where the person owns the mobile home and leases the lot, the landlord gives written notice that the tenancy terminates “not sooner than sixty days from the date the rent payment next becomes due, notwithstanding any written lease provision regarding earlier lease termination to the contrary” | § 441.060.4(2) |
| Year to year — a separate SECTION | “Either party may terminate a tenancy from year to year by giving notice, in writing, of his intention to terminate the same, not less than sixty days next before the end of the year.” | § 441.050 |
| Fixed term ending on a certain date | “No notice to quit shall be necessary from or to a tenant whose term is to end at a certain time, or when, by special agreement, notice is dispensed with.” | § 441.070 |
The year-to-year rule is not a subsection of the month-to-month section. It lives in section 441.050, a section of its own, and it is measured backwards from the end of the year rather than forwards from the notice. The agricultural carve-out sits in section 441.060.3, not in 441.050. Sources that present Missouri as “one month, or sixty days for mobile homes” have merged three separate rules into two.
Missouri also fixes an occupancy standard: “An occupancy limitation of two persons per bedroom… shall be presumed reasonable… The two-person limitation shall not apply to a child or children born to the tenants during the course of the lease.” See our Missouri lease termination laws guide.
Every Missouri Landlord Form, by Stage of the Tenancy
An alphabetical index is the least useful arrangement, because a landlord arrives knowing what has happened, not what the document is called. These are ordered by where you are in the tenancy.
Starting the tenancy
- Missouri residential lease agreement — and note that section 535.185 requires you to identify, in writing at or before the tenancy starts, the person authorised to manage the premises and the owner or their agent for service of process. Fail to and that person “becomes an agent of each person who is a landlord” for service and for performing the landlord’s obligations.
- Lead-based paint notice — required by federal law for any dwelling built before 1978.
- Move-in / move-out condition checklist — important in Missouri because deductions may be made only to restore the unit “to its condition at the commencement of the tenancy”, and because the tenant has a right to attend the move-out walk-through.
During the tenancy
- Notice to enter the property — Missouri has no statutory entry rule at all, which makes this a lease-driven document. Use it anyway; it is the only record you will have.
- Rent increase notice — no statutory notice period exists, so for a month-to-month tenancy the practical route is the one-month termination mechanism.
- Late rent notice — no cap and no grace period, but see the important point below about late fees and possession.
- Abandoned Property Notice
- Sublease Agreement
When the tenant breaches
- Notice for unpaid rent — useful as your written demand and as your record of it, even though a rent and possession action requires no notice to quit.
- Notice to cure or quit — for a section 441.030 breach, on ten days.
- Unconditional quit notice — where the lease is void under section 441.020.
Ending the tenancy without fault
- Notice of non-renewal — one month for a month-to-month, sixty days before year-end for a year-to-year, sixty days from the next rent date for a mobile home lot.
- Tenant notice to vacate — sections 441.050 and 441.060 both run either way.
After the tenant moves out
- Security deposit itemisation — “a written itemized list of the damages for which the security deposit or any portion thereof is withheld”.
- Security deposit return letter — thirty days, and the balance travels with the list.
The Deposit: Two Months, Thirty Days, Double Damages
| Rule | Detail |
|---|---|
| Cap — two months | “A landlord may not demand or receive a security deposit in excess of two months’ rent.” That is high by national standards and frequently misreported as one month |
| Where it is held | “All security deposits shall be held by the landlord for the tenant… in a bank, credit union, or depository institution which is insured by an agency of the federal government.” Any interest earned is the landlord’s property. Housing authorities and other government landlords are exempt |
| Return — thirty days | “Within thirty days after the date of termination of the tenancy, the landlord shall: (1) Return the full amount of the security deposit; or (2) Furnish to the tenant a written itemized list of the damages for which the security deposit or any portion thereof is withheld, along with the balance” |
| Permitted deductions | Only amounts “reasonably necessary” to remedy a rent default; to “restore the dwelling unit to its condition at the commencement of the tenancy, ordinary wear and tear excepted” — with carpet-cleaning amounts withholdable if the rental agreement so provides; or to compensate for actual damages from the tenant’s failure to give adequate notice to terminate, provided the landlord makes reasonable efforts to mitigate |
| The tenant may attend the walk-through | “The landlord shall give the tenant or his representative reasonable notice in writing… of the date and time when the landlord will look over the dwelling unit following the termination… and the review shall be held at a reasonable time. The tenant shall have the right to be present” |
| Penalty — exactly twice | “If the landlord wrongfully withholds all or any portion of the security deposit…, the tenant shall recover as damages twice the amount wrongfully withheld.” Twice — not treble, and not twice plus the deposit |
| What counts | “any deposit of money or property furnished by a tenant to a landlord to secure performance of any part of the rental agreement, including damages to the dwelling unit”. Pet deposits are excluded from the definition |
See our Missouri security deposit laws guide.
Court: Two Proceedings, Two Post-Judgment Clocks
| Stage | Rent & possession (ch. 535) | Unlawful detainer (ch. 534) |
|---|---|---|
| Court date | “not more than twenty-one business days from the date the summons is issued” unless the plaintiff consents in writing to a later date | Same — a day certain “not more than twenty-one business days from the date the summons is issued” |
| Service | “served as in other civil cases at least four days before the court date” | Same four-day rule |
| Alternative service | Affix conspicuously on the dwelling and mail by ordinary mail, both at least ten days before the court date. No money judgment on default where service was by posting and mailing | Notices posted ten days on the premises and in one public place, plus ordinary mail to the last known address. No money judgment on default |
| Trial | “the judge shall set the case on the first available court date and shall proceed to hear the cause” | Per the summons |
| Judgment | Possession, “the debt for the amount of the rent then due, with all court costs”. The plaintiff “may sue for possession alone” | Double damages. Judgment is for restitution and “double the sum assessed by the jury, or found for his damages; and also… double the sum found per month, for rents and profits… until restitution be made” |
| Execution | “The officer shall deliver possession of the property to the landlord within five days from the time of receiving the execution.” A maximum, running from the officer’s receipt | “execution for the purpose of restoring possession shall be issued no sooner than ten days after the judgment”, and stayed pending appeal if the losing party posts a bond. A minimum, running from judgment |
| Post-judgment window | “The defendant has ten days… to file a motion to set aside the judgment or to file an application for a trial de novo… unless… the judgment for possession will become final and the defendant will be subject to eviction without further notice”. The clerk must post that notice to a defaulting defendant the same day | Bond required within the appeal time, “with the condition to stay waste and to pay all subsequently accruing rent… into court within ten days after it becomes due”, reduced by any housing subsidy |
| Appeal bond | No stay unless a bond is given “within ten days after an entry of the judgment”, covering damages, costs and rent then due, plus subsequently accruing rent into court | As above |
The five and the ten are not the same number in different words. Five days is a ceiling on the officer, measured from the officer’s receipt of the execution. Ten days is a floor on issuance, measured from judgment. Every published summary that reduces Missouri to a single figure has flattened two different rules from two different chapters.
Double damages exist only in chapter 534. Rent and possession contains no doubling. That matters for self-help — see below.
Cure by tender, and its limit
Section 535.160 stays the action where the defendant, on the date of the money judgment, “either tenders to the landlord, or brings into the court… all the rent then in arrears, and all the costs”. Satisfying the money judgment plus costs after trial but before final satisfaction also stays execution for possession.
But there is a sting: “If for any reason no money judgment is entered against the defendant and judgment for the plaintiff is limited only to possession…, no stay of execution shall be had” except under the appeal-bond provisions or by agreement. A landlord suing for possession alone removes the tenant’s tender route.
Self-Help: Banned, and the Penalty Runs Through Chapter 534
Section 441.233 is short and its mechanism is worth understanding, because the penalty is not stated in the section itself.
Lockouts. “a landlord or its agent who removes or excludes a tenant or the tenant’s personal property from the premises without judicial process and court order, or causes such removal or exclusion, or causes the removal of the doors or locks…, shall be deemed guilty of forcible entry and detainer as described in chapter 534.”
Utilities. “Any landlord or its agent who willfully diminishes services… by interrupting or causing the interruption of essential services, including but not limited to electric, gas, water, or sewer… shall be deemed guilty of forcible entry and detainer… provided however, this section shall not be applicable if a landlord or its agent takes such action for health or safety reasons.”
The penalty is indirect but real. Being deemed guilty of forcible entry and detainer pulls in the chapter 534 judgment formula — double the damages assessed and double the monthly rents and profits. Section 441.233 states no dollar figure of its own, which is why the mechanism matters.
The lawful re-entry route, when the sheriff is slow
Missouri gives landlords something unusual. Where execution is requested with no stay and “the service officer fails to deliver possession… within seven days of the delivery of the writ”, the landlord may, within sixty days of judgment, “in the presence of a municipal or county law enforcement officer… without breach of the peace, break and remove locks, enter and take possession” — conditioned on presenting a true copy of the judgment and order of execution, obtaining a written acknowledgment, and filing it within five days of taking possession.
Liability is limited except for “negligent, willful or wanton acts or omissions… or failure to both timely obtain and file the law enforcement officer acknowledgment”. Miss the filing and the protection goes.
Abandonment
Property left after abandonment “may be removed or disposed of by the landlord without liability”, but only where all four conditions hold: a reasonable belief the tenant has vacated and does not intend to return; rent due and unpaid for thirty days; a written notice of the landlord’s belief posted on the premises AND mailed to the last known address by both first class mail and certified mail, return receipt requested; and the tenant failing to pay or respond in writing “within ten days after both the date of the posting and deposit of such notice”.
After an execution, third-party property bearing “a conspicuous permanent label or marking identifying it as the property of a third party” requires certified-mail notice to that party, who gets five business days from receipt to recover it.
Habitability: a Narrow Repair-and-Deduct With Real Preconditions
Missouri has no codified general warranty of habitability imposing an affirmative statutory repair duty. What it has is section 441.234, and the conditions are strict.
| Requirement | Detail |
|---|---|
| Who qualifies | The tenant must have “lawfully resided on the rental premises for six consecutive months, has paid all rent and charges due… during that time, and did not during that time receive any written notice… of any violation of any lease provision or house rule, which violation was not subsequently cured” |
| What qualifies | A condition that “detrimentally affects the habitability, sanitation or security” and “constitutes a violation of a local municipal housing or building code” and costs “less than three hundred dollars, or one-half of the periodic rent, whichever is greater, provided that the cost may not exceed one month’s rent” |
| Landlord’s window | Fourteen days after written notice, “or as promptly as required in case of an emergency” |
| If the landlord disputes it | Where the landlord serves “a written statement disputing the necessity of the repair, then the tenant may not deduct… without securing, before the repair is performed, a written certification from the local municipality… that the condition… constitutes a violation” |
| Annual cap | “A tenant may not deduct in the aggregate more than the amount of one month’s rent during any twelve-month period.” And no remedy at all where the condition was caused by the tenant, their family, or someone on the premises with their consent |
| Non-waivable | “No lease agreement shall contain a waiver of the rights described in this section.” |
The other Missouri habitability mechanism, the receivership provisions, is not a tenant remedy at all — it belongs to “a county, municipality, local housing corporation or neighborhood association”, requires “at least sixty days prior… written notice by regular mail to all interested parties”, and carries no jury trial. See our Missouri habitability laws guide.
What Changed: the 2025 Screening Preemption
Section 441.043, effective 28 August 2025, is the most commercially significant recent change — and it runs directly to screening.
It bars any local ordinance regulating “the amount of rent to be charged”, and separately bars ordinances that:
- prohibit refusing to rent because “the person’s lawful source of income to pay rent includes funding from a federal or other housing assistance program”;
- “Restrict a landlord’s ability to use or consider income-qualifying methods, credit scores, credit reports, eviction or property damage history, or criminal history, according to such landlord’s own customarily applied criteria, or prohibit landlords from requesting such information”;
- “Limit the amount of security deposit a landlord may require”;
- or “Require tenants to automatically receive the right of first refusal”.
Local protection for a recipient of veterans’ benefits is expressly preserved.
Separately, since 28 August 2024: “No county, municipality, or other political subdivision shall impose or enforce a moratorium on eviction proceedings unless specifically authorized by state law.”
See our Missouri tenant screening laws and Missouri rent increase laws guides.
Late Fees, and Why They Cannot Get You Possession
Missouri sets no late fee cap and no grace period. But there is a rule that changes how you plead. Section 535.020 lets you join “any other unpaid sums, other than property damages, regardless of how denominated or defined in the lease” — and then says those sums “shall not be considered rent for purposes of this chapter, and judgment for the landlord for recovery of such other sums shall not by itself entitle the landlord to an order for recovery of possession”.
Late fees alone cannot support an eviction for possession in Missouri. That is a real limit on a common pleading habit. See our Missouri late fee laws guide.
Which Missouri Form Do I Need?
- The tenant has not paid rent. Make and record a demand, then file for rent and possession. No notice to quit is required.
- The term has ended and they are holding over. Unlawful detainer — no notice needed where the term ended at a certain time.
- They are refusing to leave after a written demand. Unlawful detainer on the disseisin branch, with the written demand served properly.
- They have breached the lease, assigned it, or committed waste. Ten days’ notice to vacate.
- There is drug activity. The lease is void; consider the expedited route, which needs no notice.
- Nobody is at fault, month-to-month. One month, ending on a rent-paying date.
- Nobody is at fault, year-to-year. Sixty days before the end of the year.
- It is a mobile home lot. Sixty days from the next rent date — and the lease cannot shorten it.
- The tenant has moved out. Offer the walk-through in writing, then thirty days for the list and the balance.
How to Handle a Missouri Rent Demand
- Make the demand. It is good the moment rent is due; there is no waiting period.
- Put it in writing anyway. The statute prescribes no form, and a written demand is how you prove it happened.
- State the amount and the date it fell due.
- Keep late fees separate. They may be joined but they are not rent, and they cannot by themselves get you possession.
- File the verified statement, supported by affidavit.
- Plan service. Personal service needs four days before the court date; posting and mailing needs ten.
- Do not expect a money judgment on default if you served by posting and mailing.
- Diary the ten-day post-judgment window before assuming the judgment is final.
What Happens If the Form Is Wrong
The distinctively Missouri failure is treating the two proceedings as one — usually by sending a notice the statute does not require and waiting a period it does not impose, or by importing the unlawful detainer written demand into a rent and possession filing.
The second is the termination numbers: one month, sixty days before year-end, and sixty days from the next rent date are three separate rules in two chapters.
The third is the execution split — five days from the officer’s receipt in one chapter, ten days from judgment in the other.
And the fourth is self-help, which in Missouri is not merely unlawful but routes you into the chapter that doubles what you owe.
What This Page Does Not Have
We would rather scope this honestly than promise documents we do not host. Missouri landlords also commonly want a rental application, a sublease, a roommate agreement, a commercial lease, a pet addendum, a lease amendment and an adverse action notice. Those are not published here as Missouri-specific forms.
Five things we state as verified absences rather than gaps, and two we simply could not check.
Missouri has no landlord-entry statute. No notice period, no reasonable-hours rule, nothing. Entry is governed only by your lease and the general law. Any page quoting a Missouri statutory entry-notice period is wrong.
Missouri has no anti-retaliation statute in chapters 441, 534 or 535.
No statutory rent increase notice period exists, and no late fee cap or grace period.
No statutory deposit interest for tenants — the statute says the opposite.
No habitability rent escrow. The rent-into-court provisions that exist are appeal-bond and cure-by-tender mechanisms, not escrow.
We name no Missouri court form. The state courts site was unreachable, and both chapters contemplate local circuit court rules for filing and case assignment, so forms may well be circuit-specific.
St. Louis City and Jackson County have dedicated landlord-tenant courts whose local procedure may differ. That is outside this page.
Common Missouri Landlord Form Mistakes
- Sending a notice to quit before a rent and possession filing and waiting for it to run.
- Importing the unlawful detainer written demand into a rent and possession case.
- Assuming a statutory waiting period after the demand. There is none.
- Using one month’s notice on a year-to-year tenancy. Sixty days before year-end.
- Using a lease clause to shorten a mobile home lot notice. The statute overrides it.
- Giving one month’s notice on a farm tenancy, which is carved out of the unwritten-lease rule.
- Serving four days before the hearing after posting and mailing. Ten days.
- Expecting a money judgment on default after posting-and-mailing service.
- Treating the judgment as final on day one. Ten days to move to set aside or seek a trial de novo.
- Confusing the five-day and ten-day execution rules.
- Taking more than two months’ rent as a deposit.
- Skipping the written notice of the move-out walk-through.
- Deducting carpet cleaning with no lease clause allowing it.
- Deducting for ordinary wear and tear.
- Missing the thirty-day deposit deadline. Twice the amount wrongfully withheld.
- Paying deposit interest to the tenant in the belief it is required. It is the landlord’s.
- Changing locks or cutting utilities. That routes you into the double-damages chapter.
- Re-entering after seven days without the officer present, or without filing the acknowledgment within five days.
- Discarding belongings without the four abandonment conditions.
- Suing for possession on unpaid late fees alone. They are not rent.
Free Fillable Forms Versus the Paid Missouri Form Sites
Missouri’s results page runs to roughly seventeen hundred words at its deepest, and it shares one structural mistake: it describes “Missouri eviction” as a single process. It is two, and the differences are not cosmetic. One requires no notice and delivers possession within five days of the officer receiving the writ; the other requires a written demand on the disseisin branch, doubles the damages, and cannot issue an execution for ten days.
A form labelled “Missouri eviction notice” cannot tell you which of those you are in. That is the whole reason this page leads with the distinction rather than the document list.
Every form linked from this page is free, fills in the browser, and downloads as a finished PDF. There is no account, no trial and no upsell attached to the documents themselves. What we ask in return is straightforward: if you are about to hand keys to someone, run the screening first, because nearly every dispute described on this page is cheaper to prevent than to litigate.
Missouri Landlord Forms: FAQ
Does Missouri require a notice to quit before an eviction for unpaid rent?
Not for a rent and possession action. Section 535.020 provides that “Giving the notice provided in section 441.060 is not required prior to filing a statement or obtaining the relief provided in this chapter.” What is required is a demand for rent, which section 535.060 makes good “at any time after the right to rent and possession accrues or the rent becomes due”. There is no waiting period and no prescribed form.
What is the difference between rent and possession and unlawful detainer in Missouri?
They are separate lawsuits. Rent and possession under chapter 535 addresses unpaid rent, needs no notice to quit, and gives possession plus the rent due. Unlawful detainer under chapter 534 addresses holding over after the term ends, or refusing to vacate “after demand made, in writing”, and carries double damages — judgment for “double the sum assessed by the jury” and “double the sum found per month, for rents and profits”.
How much notice ends a Missouri month-to-month tenancy?
One month’s written notice under § 441.060.1, and for a month-to-month tenancy either party may terminate by written notice “stating that the tenancy shall terminate upon a periodic rent-paying date not less than one month after the receipt of the notice”. A year-to-year tenancy is different and lives in § 441.050: not less than sixty days before the end of the year. A mobile home lot is different again: not sooner than sixty days from the date the rent payment next becomes due, notwithstanding any contrary lease clause.
Does Missouri add days when a notice or summons is mailed?
No add-days rule exists. What exists instead is a longer lead time for substitute service: personal service must be made “at least four days before the court date”, while posting a copy conspicuously on the dwelling and mailing by ordinary mail must both be done at least ten days before the court date. Where service was by posting and mailing, no money judgment may be entered against a defendant in default.
What is the maximum security deposit in Missouri?
Two months’ rent. Section 535.300.1: “A landlord may not demand or receive a security deposit in excess of two months’ rent.” Deposits must be held in a federally insured bank, credit union or depository institution, and any interest earned is the landlord’s property.
How long does a Missouri landlord have to return a deposit?
Thirty days after termination of the tenancy, either returning the full amount or furnishing “a written itemized list of the damages for which the security deposit or any portion thereof is withheld, along with the balance”. The landlord must also give the tenant reasonable written notice of the date and time of the move-out walk-through, and “the tenant shall have the right to be present”.
What is the penalty for wrongfully withholding a Missouri deposit?
“the tenant shall recover as damages twice the amount wrongfully withheld”, section 535.300.6. Twice — not treble, and not twice the amount plus the deposit.
How much notice must a Missouri landlord give before entering?
Missouri has no entry statute at all. There is no notice period, no reasonable-hours rule and no permitted-purposes list anywhere in chapters 441, 534 or 535. Entry is governed only by the lease and general law. Any source stating a Missouri statutory entry-notice period is asserting something the code does not contain.
Does Missouri protect tenants against retaliation?
Not by statute. No anti-retaliation provision exists in chapters 441, 534 or 535 — no protected-activity list, no presumption, no remedy, and no retaliation defence to an eviction. Missouri also has no statutory rent increase notice period, no late fee cap and no grace period.
What happens if a Missouri landlord locks a tenant out?
Section 441.233 deems a landlord who removes or excludes a tenant or their property “without judicial process and court order”, or who removes the doors or locks, or who wilfully interrupts “essential services, including but not limited to electric, gas, water, or sewer”, to be “guilty of forcible entry and detainer as described in chapter 534”. That routes the landlord into the chapter 534 judgment formula, which doubles the damages assessed and the monthly rents and profits. Health or safety reasons are excepted for utilities.
Can a Missouri tenant repair and deduct?
Yes, but narrowly. Under § 441.234 the tenant must have resided there six consecutive months, be current on rent, and have received no uncured lease-violation notice in that time. The condition must both detrimentally affect habitability, sanitation or security and violate a local housing or building code, and the repair must cost “less than three hundred dollars, or one-half of the periodic rent, whichever is greater”, capped at one month’s rent. The landlord has fourteen days. If the landlord disputes the repair in writing, the tenant needs municipal certification before the work is done. No more than one month’s rent may be deducted in any twelve-month period.
Can a Missouri city restrict how landlords screen tenants?
No, since 28 August 2025. Section 441.043 bars local ordinances that “Restrict a landlord’s ability to use or consider income-qualifying methods, credit scores, credit reports, eviction or property damage history, or criminal history, according to such landlord’s own customarily applied criteria, or prohibit landlords from requesting such information”. It also bars local rent control, local source-of-income mandates covering housing assistance funding, local security deposit caps, and automatic rights of first refusal — while preserving local protection for recipients of veterans’ benefits.
Related Missouri Guides
- Missouri landlord-tenant laws — the full statutory overview.
- Missouri eviction notice laws — the two proceedings compared.
- Missouri security deposit laws — the cap, the walk-through and the penalty.
- Missouri rent increase laws — and the 2025 preemption statute.
- Missouri lease termination laws — the three separate notice rules.
- Missouri breaking lease laws — early termination and mitigation.
- Missouri late fee laws — and why fees alone cannot get possession.
- Missouri landlord entry laws — and the absence of any statute.
- Missouri habitability laws — the narrow repair-and-deduct route.
- Missouri pet and ESA laws — pets, deposits and assistance animals.
- Missouri tenant screening laws — screening, reports and the preemption rule.
Published by Tenant Screening Background Check · Editorial Team
Established 2004. Our editorial team has spent two decades helping landlords and property managers run lawful tenant screening and follow state landlord-tenant codes across all fifty states. Missouri’s whole difficulty is that two statutes describe what looks like one process, and the summaries in circulation blend them. We resolved it by reading the chapter listings for 441, 534 and 535 in full, which is also how we can state the absences — no entry statute, no retaliation statute — as findings rather than as things we failed to locate.
Screen Missouri Applicants Before They Sign
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Last reviewed 2026. This page is general information about Missouri landlord-tenant law, not legal advice. It rests on the Missouri Revisor of Statutes; no independent publisher was reachable on this pass, so nothing here is second-sourced, and we name no court form because the state courts site could not be read and both chapters contemplate local circuit rules. Section 441.043 took effect 28 August 2025. St. Louis City and Jackson County operate dedicated landlord-tenant courts with their own procedure. Confirm the current position with your circuit court clerk or a Missouri attorney before making a demand or filing a case.
