Published 2026-09-25 · 14 min read

Missouri Landlord-Tenant Law 2026: The Plain-English Guide

Quick answer - Missouri: Missouri caps deposits at two months' rent (§ 535.300), held in a federally insured institution, and requires return or an itemized list of damages within 30 days after the tenancy ends. There is no notice-and-wait period for nonpayment, but a demand must actually be made and unpaid first.

Missouri has no single landlord-tenant act. The rules are spread across three chapters of the Revised Statutes — Chapter 441 (landlord and tenant), Chapter 534 (forcible entry and unlawful detainer), and Chapter 535 (landlord-tenant actions, including security deposits and rent-and-possession) — plus a body of local housing codes in St. Louis, Kansas City, and other municipalities. The statutes are short, but short is not the same as simple: the deposit section was rewritten in 2018, the repair remedy is narrower than most guides admit, and the two court tracks (rent-and-possession and unlawful detainer) have different preconditions, different money rules, and different tenant escape hatches. This guide states the current law, verified against the current text of the Missouri Revised Statutes.

Seven corrections to what older guides (including the previous version of this page) say. First, the deposit penalty is not "up to 2x the deposit for bad faith": § 535.300(6) awards the tenant twice the amount wrongfully withheld — the measure is the sum kept, not the whole deposit, and the subsection states no bad-faith element. Second, deposits have a holding rule the old page omitted entirely: under § 535.300(2) (added by the 2018 revision, S.B. 581), all security deposits must be held by the landlord for the tenant in a bank, credit union, or depository institution insured by an agency of the federal government; interest earned is the landlord's property; housing authorities and other government landlords are exempt. (An earlier draft of this page's sister guide described a trust-account and anti-commingling rule — that language appeared in a 2017 House amendment that was not enacted; § 535.300 imposes no trust rule, though licensed brokers have separate escrow duties under § 339.105.) Third, repair-and-deduct is a real, specific statute, not a vague "limited" remedy: § 441.234 lets a qualifying tenant deduct repair costs only after six consecutive months of clean tenancy, only for a condition that violates a local housing or building code, only up to the lesser-known cap formula in the statute, and only after 14 days' written notice — with a certification detour if the landlord disputes the repair in writing. Fourth, "no rent control" has a citation and a wider reach: § 441.043(1) bars any county or city from regulating the amount of rent on privately owned rental property, and § 441.043(2) also bars local source-of-income mandates, local limits on screening criteria, local deposit caps, and local rights of first refusal. Fifth, the rent demand has a statutory consequence the old page missed: § 535.020 makes a demand for rent the precondition to a rent-and-possession filing and states expressly that the § 441.060 termination notice is not required first — there is no notice-and-wait period for nonpayment, but there is also no filing without a demand actually made and unpaid. Sixth, self-help is not just "illegal" as a slogan: § 441.233 deems a landlord who removes or excludes a tenant, removes doors or locks, or willfully interrupts essential services (electric, gas, water, sewer) without judicial process guilty of forcible entry and detainer under Chapter 534. Seventh, the old page's timelines ("hearing in 3–4 weeks," "4–6 weeks uncontested") were unsourced and are removed: the timing rules the statutes actually contain are the 10-day floor before a possession execution may issue in an unlawful detainer case (§ 534.350), the appeal-bond rules (§§ 534.350, 535.110), and the tenant's tender right in a Chapter 535 case (§ 535.160).

Disclaimer: this is general information, not legal advice. Missouri eviction practice is intensely local — associate circuit divisions set their own return dates and St. Louis has a dedicated landlord-tenant court (§ 535.200); consult a Missouri landlord-tenant attorney for your situation.

Missouri's two-track court system, 2018 deposit holding rule, and one-month termination notice don't match most other states — keep all 50 straight in one file. The 50-State Landlord Law Dataset (CSV + JSON) ($29) puts all 50 states' deposit caps, return deadlines, damage multipliers, and entry-notice rules in one searchable spreadsheet so you can compare and comply without re-reading statutes.

At a glance

How much can a Missouri landlord charge as a security deposit, and when must it be returned?

The full deposit rules are covered on the sister page, Missouri security deposit law. The essentials:

• What counts as a deposit. Section 535.300(8) defines "security deposit" as any deposit of money or property, however denominated, furnished by a tenant to secure performance of any part of the rental agreement, including damages to the dwelling unit. Labels do not control. Money denominated as a pet deposit is expressly excluded from the definition — pet deposits sit outside the cap and the return clock as a matter of the section's text, which is a reason to denominate them separately and carefully, not a reason to treat them casually.
• The cap is 2 months' rent. A landlord "may not demand or receive" more (§ 535.300(1)). The verb pair matters: refunding an overage later does not cure having received it.
• Hold it for the tenant, in an insured institution. Since the 2018 revision, § 535.300(2) requires deposits to be held by the landlord for the tenant in a bank, credit union, or depository institution insured by an agency of the federal government. Interest earned is the landlord's property — Missouri pays tenants no interest. A housing authority (§ 99.040) or other government entity acting as landlord is exempt from subsection (2). The section imposes no trust-account, separate-account, or anti-commingling rule on ordinary landlords (the stricter trust language circulated in a 2017 House amendment and was not enacted); if a licensed broker holds the money, separate escrow duties apply under § 339.105 and the real-estate commission's rules — a different source of law, owed by the broker.
• You may withhold only for three reasons, and only what is reasonably necessary (§ 535.300(4)): (1) to remedy a default in rent due under the rental agreement; (2) to restore the unit to its condition at the commencement of the tenancy, ordinary wear and tear excepted; and (3) to compensate for actual damages from the tenant's failure to give adequate notice to terminate, provided you make reasonable efforts to mitigate. Cleaning beyond the carpet carve-out, reletting fees, and "administrative charges" fit only if they genuinely restore condition or remedy rent default — if a charge cannot be mapped to one of the three subsections, do not take it from the deposit; bill it separately and prove it as damages.
• The carpet-cleaning carve-out. Subsection (4)(2) lets the rental agreement set amounts or fees for carpet cleaning, and actual amounts expended may be withheld even where they overlap ordinary wear — provided the agreement also warns the tenant they may be liable for actual carpet-cleaning costs exceeding ordinary wear and tear. If you withhold on this basis, you shall provide a receipt for the actual carpet cleaning costs within 30 days of the end of the tenancy. No lease provision, no deduction under the carve-out; no receipt, a deduction waiting to be doubled.
• The clock is 30 days from termination of the tenancy. Within 30 days after the date of termination, either return the full deposit or furnish a written itemized list of the damages for which any part is withheld, along with the balance (§ 535.300(3)). Mailing the statement and any payment to the tenant's last known address is compliance — keep the mailing receipt; "I sent it" is a fact you will have to prove. Our deductions guide covers documentation, and the Security Deposit Deadline Finder calendars the date.
• Give inspection notice. Before you inspect to determine withholding, § 535.300(5) requires reasonable notice in writing (at the last known address, or in person) of the date and time, at a reasonable time — and the tenant has the right to be present. A walk-through the tenant was never told about is a procedural defect the tenant's lawyer will find; a move-in/move-out inspection checklist with photos, done with the tenant invited, is the cheapest insurance in this guide.
• The penalty is measured on what you wrongfully withheld. "If the landlord wrongfully withholds all or any portion of the security deposit in violation of this section, the tenant shall recover as damages twice the amount wrongfully withheld" (§ 535.300(6)). Wrongfully keep $400 and the statutory exposure is $800 — on top of returning the $400. The old page's "up to 2x the deposit" overstated the multiplier base and invented a bad-faith element the text does not contain; the 2007 annotation (PDQ Tower Services v. Adams) confirms the provision does not apply to commercial tenants.
• Two closing rules. The tenant may never apply the deposit in lieu of rent (§ 535.300(7)) — a tenant who "uses the deposit for the last month" is in rent default, and a landlord who agrees in writing to that arrangement has converted a deposit dispute into a rent case. And subsection (7) preserves your right to recover actual damages in excess of the deposit — the deposit is security, not a liability cap.

A worked example

Rent is $1,250 a month and the deposit is $2,500 (the 2-month maximum). The tenancy terminates on Monday, March 2, 2026, and the tenant vacates and returns the keys the same day.

• The return deadline is Wednesday, April 1, 2026 — 30 days after termination.
• You gave written notice of a move-out inspection, inspected with the tenant present, and claim $910, itemized in writing: $625 of unpaid final rent, $210 to repair tenant-caused wall and blind damage beyond ordinary wear and tear, and $75 of carpet cleaning actually expended under a lease clause that contains the statutory warning — with the cleaner's receipt provided within the same 30 days.
• The balance due with the itemization is $2,500 − $910 = $1,590, mailed to the last known address by April 1.
• Hold the $1,590 past the deadline without a § 535.300(4) basis and the exposure is the $1,590 back plus twice the amount wrongfully withheld — $3,180 — under § 535.300(6), before costs. The arithmetic is why Missouri deposit letters get sent on day 20, not day 31.

Can a Missouri city or county cap rent? (§ 441.043)

• No rent control — by preemption, not by silence. Section 441.043(1) provides that no county or city, including a charter city, "may enact, maintain, or enforce any ordinance or resolution which regulates the amount of rent to be charged for privately-owned, single-family, or multiple-unit residential or commercial rental property." Claims in some national guides that a Missouri city has adopted rent stabilization should be treated as unverified until the ordinance is produced — § 441.043(1) is why none can lawfully operate on private property. The exceptions are narrow: a city or county may regulate its own property, enter voluntary agreements regulating rent on subsidized properties, and restrict rent on properties assisted with community development block grant funds (§ 441.043(3)).
• The same section bars four other local mandates (§ 441.043(2)): ordinances that (1) prohibit refusing to rent because a person's lawful source of income includes federal or other housing assistance; (2) restrict a landlord's use of income-qualifying methods, credit scores, credit reports, or eviction, property-damage, or criminal history under the landlord's own customarily applied criteria — or bar requesting that information; (3) limit the amount of security deposit a landlord may require (the state cap in § 535.300 still binds; cities simply cannot set their own); and (4) require tenants to automatically receive a right of first refusal. Federal and state fair-housing law still applies in full — § 441.043 removes local additions, not the Fair Housing Act.
• No grace period and no late-fee cap in state law. Neither Chapter 441 nor Chapter 535 sets a grace period or caps late fees. What your lease says governs, subject to general contract and consumer-protection principles — so say it precisely: the amount, the day it attaches, and whether it repeats. See how to handle late rent.
• Rent increases ride on the termination notice. Missouri has no increase-specific notice statute. On a month-to-month tenancy, an increase is a change of terms that takes effect at a periodic boundary: give the § 441.060 written notice so the new rent applies no earlier than a rent-paying date at least one month after the tenant receives it. On a fixed term, the lease controls — no mid-term increase the agreement does not authorize. See how to raise rent legally.
• Occupancy limits. A limitation of two persons per bedroom is presumed reasonable statewide, and the limitation does not apply to a child or children born to the tenants during the lease (§ 441.060(2)). Write the presumption into the lease rather than improvising a different number.

What habitability and repair duties does a Missouri landlord have?

Missouri has no comprehensive statutory warranty of habitability of the kind found in URLTA states, and no general landlord repair list in Chapter 441. Habitability in Missouri is built from three pieces: local housing and building codes (St. Louis and Kansas City enforce real codes with real inspectors), the common-law and lease obligations you assume in writing, and two statutory tenant remedies that are easy to overstate. State them exactly.

Repair and deduct — § 441.234, and only § 441.234. The remedy belongs only to a tenant who has lawfully resided on the premises for six consecutive months, has paid all rent and charges due during that time, and received no written notice of a lease or house-rule violation that was not subsequently cured (§ 441.234(1)). Even for that tenant, every element must line up:

• the condition detrimentally affects the habitability, sanitation, or security of the premises and constitutes a violation of a local municipal housing or building code;
• the reasonable cost to correct it is less than $300, or one-half of the periodic rent, whichever is greater — and in no event more than one month's rent;
• the tenant notifies the landlord in writing of the intention to correct the condition at the landlord's expense;
• the landlord fails to correct within 14 days after the written notice (or as promptly as an emergency requires).

Only then may the tenant have the work done in a workmanlike manner and deduct the actual and reasonable cost, documented by receipts, after submitting an itemized statement (§ 441.234(2)). Three traps complete the section: if the landlord gives a written statement disputing the necessity of the repair within the notice period, the tenant may not deduct without first obtaining a written certification from the municipality that the condition violates the code — and the 14 days then run from the later of the certification or the original notice; a condition caused by the tenant, family, or guests is excluded; and aggregate deductions may not exceed one month's rent in any twelve-month period (§ 441.234(3)). The right cannot be waived in the lease. For a landlord, the operational lesson is the 14-day clock: a written § 441.234 notice is a deadline with a deduction attached, and a written dispute — if you genuinely dispute necessity — is the step that routes the claim through municipal certification instead of self-help.

A worked repair example

A tenant in month eight of the tenancy, current on rent and never noticed for a violation, finds a code-violating plumbing condition. Rent is $1,250, so the § 441.234(2) ceiling is the greater of $300 or half the periodic rent ($625), capped at one month's rent — $625. The repair reasonably costs $540: inside the ceiling.

• The tenant notifies you in writing on Monday, March 2, 2026, of the intention to correct the condition at your expense.
• You have 14 days — through Monday, March 16, 2026 — to correct it yourself (sooner if it is an emergency).
• If you do nothing and do not dispute necessity in writing, the tenant may have the $540 repair done workmanlike, submit the itemized statement and receipts, and deduct $540 from rent.
• If you dispute in writing on March 5, the tenant needs municipal certification first; the deduction cannot proceed on the tenant's say-so alone.

The receivership backstop — §§ 441.500–441.643. Where a building or dwelling violates building or housing codes in a way the local authority reasonably believes threatens public health, safety, or welfare, the county, municipality, local housing corporation, or neighborhood association may petition a court to appoint a receiver to perform an abatement (§ 441.510) — after giving interested parties at least 60 days' written notice of intent to file, identifying the property, the violations, and where to get information (§ 441.510(2)). This is not a tenant self-help remedy; it is the mechanism by which a neglected building can be taken out of the owner's hands until the violations are cured. A 60-day receivership notice is a five-alarm letter: cure inside the window.

What this means for your maintenance system. In a code-driven state, the landlord's defense is documentation: written repair requests logged, code citations answered in writing, and completion receipts filed. How to handle maintenance requests covers the workflow. Promises you make in the lease about systems and appliances are enforceable as contract terms even where no statute imposes them — do not let a marketing-driven lease promise more than your maintenance operation delivers.

How much written notice is required to terminate a Missouri tenancy?

Month-to-month tenancies — § 441.060(4)(1). Either the landlord or the tenant 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. Two elements get litigated: the notice must be written, and the termination date must be a periodic rent-paying date at least one month after receipt — a notice received March 2 that names April 1 as the termination date is short if rent is due on the first and a full month must run after receipt; name the first rent-paying date that is safely more than one month out (May 1 in that example) rather than the closest one. An unwritten lease for a building in a city, town, or village is, by § 441.060(3), taken to be a month-to-month tenancy terminable the same way. See the lease renewal playbook.

Tenancies at will or by sufferance, and terms under one year — § 441.060(1). The person entitled to possession may terminate by giving one month's notice in writing requiring the person in possession to vacate.

Mobile-home lots — § 441.060(4)(2). Where the occupant owns the mobile home and leases the land or lot, a tenancy for less than one year may be terminated by the landlord only on written notice terminating not sooner than 60 days from the date the rent payment next becomes due — notwithstanding any lease provision for earlier termination. Do not apply the ordinary one-month rule to a lot tenancy.

Fixed terms. A lease for a definite term ends on its own terms; Missouri has no general statutory renewal-notice period for fixed residential terms. If the tenant holds over, the tenancy converts according to the lease and § 441.060 — and your possession remedy is the unlawful detainer track below, after the tenancy has actually terminated. Accepting rent from a holdover without a written reservation is the classic way to argue yourself into a fresh month-to-month tenancy; reserve rights in writing first. See what to do when a tenant breaks the lease.

Illegal use — 10 days (§§ 441.020, 441.030, 441.040). A tenant who uses the premises for the illegal possession, sale, or distribution of controlled substances (§ 441.020), or for prostitution or illegal gambling (§ 441.030), exposes the tenancy to a specific remedy: the landlord, after giving ten days' notice to vacate, has the right to reenter and take possession — by the procedure specified by law, not by self-help (§ 441.040). The landlord bears the burden of proving the controlled-substance use, but is protected from damages liability when relying on a law-enforcement authority's written notification that the premises are being so used.

Expedited eviction for criminal activity — §§ 441.710–441.880. Chapter 441 also contains an immediate-eviction track aimed at criminal activity (notably drug-related activity) on or near the premises, under which a court may order swift removal. It is not a no-process shortcut, and § 441.750 protects the innocent tenant: the court shall not order eviction under § 441.740 where the tenant establishes they in no way furthered or assisted the activity, did not know or have reason to know of it, or were unable to act because of coercion. Where the alleged activity is by a person other than the tenant, the action may be filed only after at least five days' written notice specifying the section and the conduct, if the tenant then fails to seek protective or vacatur relief against that person or to report the activity to law enforcement or the prosecuting attorney, with written proof delivered to the plaintiff (§ 441.750(2)).

Domestic violence — § 441.920. For residential properties, no applicant, tenant, or lessee may be denied tenancy, evicted, or found in violation of a lease on the basis of being, having been, or being in imminent danger of becoming a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking (as defined in § 455.010), if they otherwise qualify — subject to exceptions where the tenant allowed the named person into the premises or the landlord reasonably believes that person threatens the safety of other occupants or the property (§ 441.920(2)). In any landlord action under Chapters 441, 534, or 535, the tenant has an affirmative defense and is not liable for rent for the period after vacating, on proof by a preponderance that they were a victim or in imminent danger, notified the landlord, and provided any requested documentation under § 441.920(4) — which may be a signed statement from a victim-service provider employee or a health or mental-health professional (signed by the victim), or a law-enforcement, court, or administrative record. False submissions may be grounds for denial, eviction, or a lease violation (§ 441.920(5)), and a landlord may impose a reasonable termination fee on a tenant who terminates early under the section (§ 441.920(6)). Handle these files with counsel; the documentation categories and the exceptions are fact-specific.

Retaliation — the honest position. Missouri has no general statutory anti-retaliation provision for residential tenancies comparable to URLTA § 5.101: no codified presumption window and no statutory penalty formula in Chapters 441, 534, or 535. (A retaliation section appeared in a 2026 House bill, H.B. 3016 — a filed bill is not law, and this guide does not present it as one.) That is not a license to retaliate: rent increases or terminations that follow code complaints invite scrutiny under the lease, fair-housing law, § 441.920 where it applies, and local ordinances, and they poison your credibility in the possession case that follows. Document independent, pre-existing reasons for every adverse change.

What are Missouri's two eviction tracks, and which one should a landlord file?

Missouri possession runs through the courts — always. How to evict a tenant covers the general process; the Missouri specifics are the two tracks and their money rules.

Track 1 — Rent and possession (Chapter 535): nonpayment

1. Rent must be due and payable, and you must have demanded it. Section 535.020: "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 may file. The demand is an element of the claim — make it in writing, date it, keep proof. There is no statutory waiting period after the demand, and giving the § 441.060 notice is expressly not required before filing (§ 535.020).

2. File a verified statement with an associate circuit judge in the county where the property sits, setting out the rental terms, the amount of rent actually due, that rent was demanded and not paid, and a substantial description of the property. The clerk issues summons immediately, requiring the tenant and all occupants to appear and show cause why possession should not be restored.

3. You may join other lease sums — carefully. A Chapter 535 action for unpaid rent may join claims for other unpaid sums owed under the lease (other than property damages), however denominated — but those sums are not rent for Chapter 535 purposes, and a judgment on them alone does not entitle you to possession (§ 535.020). Keep the rent figure clean and provable; it is the figure possession rides on.

4. The tenant's tender right — § 535.160. If, on the date any money judgment is given, the defendant tenders to the landlord or brings into court all rent then in arrears and all costs, further proceedings cease and are stayed. If the defendant later satisfies the money judgment and pays all costs before the judgment becomes final, any execution for possession ceases and is stayed. There is no equivalent free-standing pay-and-stay in unlawful detainer — one more reason the tracks are not interchangeable. Where judgment is for possession only, with no money judgment, no stay is available except under § 535.110 (appeal bond), the rules of civil procedure, or agreement.

5. Appeals require a bond to stay execution — § 535.110. An appeal does not stay execution unless the defendant gives bond securing payment of all damages, costs, and rent then due, conditioned on staying waste and paying subsequently accruing rent into court within ten days after it becomes due.

In St. Louis, these cases may be heard in the dedicated landlord-tenant court in the twenty-second judicial circuit, before landlord-tenant commissioners authorized to make findings and issue orders for money, possession, and other equitable relief under Chapters 441, 524, 534, and 535 (§ 535.200).

Track 2 — Unlawful detainer (Chapter 534): holdover and wrongful possession

Unlawful detainer is the track for possession after a tenancy has ended or where possession is wrongfully held (§ 534.030): a person who willfully and without force holds over after the termination of the term; a foreclosed-property occupant after the new owner's statutory notice (not less than ten business days to vacate, and no possession action may be commenced within those ten business days, § 534.030(2)–(3)); an employment-incident occupant holding over after the employment ends; or a person who wrongfully obtained possession by disseisin and, after written demand for delivery of possession, refuses or neglects to vacate.

• Damages are doubled. On a judgment for the complainant, § 534.330(1) awards restitution of the premises, double the damages assessed, and double the monthly rents and profits from judgment until restitution, plus costs. The court must transmit a copy of the judgment to the enforcing law-enforcement agency within two business days after it becomes final (§ 534.330(2)).
• Execution waits 10 days. The judge may issue execution after judgment, but an execution for restoring possession shall be issued no sooner than ten days after the judgment, and it is stayed pending appeal if the losing party posts an appeal bond (§ 534.350).
• Default judgments get their own notice. Where a defendant defaults, the court entering a possession judgment must send the defaulting party notice that judgment has been entered and that they must vacate when it is final (§ 534.345).
• Unauthorized occupants have their own exposure. If a tenant has collusively put another person into sole possession without the landlord's permission, the court may add damages of up to twice the rent due (§ 534.347).

After judgment — the § 441.060(5) backstop. If execution on a judgment under Chapters 524, 534, 535, or 441 has been requested, there is no stay, and the service officer fails to deliver possession within seven days of the writ's delivery, the landlord may — within 60 days of the judgment, in the presence of a municipal or county law-enforcement officer, without breach of the peace — remove locks, enter, take possession, and remove personal property left behind, provided the officer is first presented a true copy of the judgment and execution order and acknowledges it in writing, with the acknowledgment filed in court within five days (§ 441.060(5)). This is a post-judgment, officer-present procedure with paperwork at both ends — not a self-help license, and § 441.233 (below) is what applies without a judgment.

Can a Missouri landlord change the locks or enter without a court order?

Self-help is forcible entry and detainer — § 441.233. Except as provided in the abandonment section (§ 441.065), a landlord or agent who removes or excludes a tenant or the tenant's property from the premises without judicial process and court order, or causes the removal of doors or locks, is deemed guilty of forcible entry and detainer under Chapter 534 (§ 441.233(1)). The same is true of a landlord who willfully diminishes services by interrupting essential services — electric, gas, water, or sewer — unless the action is taken for health or safety reasons (§ 441.233(2)). Lock changes because rent is late, utility shutoffs to force a move-out, and removing a front door are not leverage in Missouri; they are a cause of action for the tenant.

Entry. Missouri has no statute setting an entry-notice period for residential tenancies — no 24-hour rule, no 48-hour rule, in Chapters 441, 534, or 535. Entry is governed by your lease and by the tenant's common-law right to quiet enjoyment, which § 441.233 reinforces in the extreme cases. Write the rule into the lease (24 hours' written notice, reasonable hours, emergencies excepted is the market standard), log every entry, and treat the lease clause as binding on you, because a court will.

Abandonment — the § 441.065 four-part test. Property left behind after a tenant abandons may be removed or disposed of without liability — but only when the premises are "deemed abandoned," which requires all four:

1. the landlord has a reasonable belief the tenant has vacated and intends not to return;

2. rent is due and has been unpaid for 30 days;

3. the landlord posts written notice on the premises and mails it to the tenant's last known address by both first-class mail and certified mail, return receipt requested, using the statutory notice language (the rent has been due and unpaid for thirty consecutive days; the landlord believes the tenant has moved out and abandoned the property; possessions may be removed and disposed of unless the tenant writes within ten days stating they have not abandoned; with the landlord's name and street address inserted); and

4. the tenant fails to pay rent or respond in writing within 10 days after both the posting and the mailing, stating an intention not to abandon.

Miss a step — especially the double mailing or the 10-day wait — and the disposal loses its statutory shelter and becomes a § 441.233 problem. The § 441.065 route is also the stated exception to § 441.233; outside it, hold property and use the court track.

The bottom line

Missouri rewards landlords who run the statutes exactly: cap the deposit at 2 months and hold it in an insured institution; itemize and return within 30 days of termination, with inspection notice given and the carpet receipt attached; treat a § 441.234 repair notice as a 14-day deadline; terminate month-to-month tenancies in writing on a rent-paying date at least a month after receipt; demand rent before you file under Chapter 535, and expect the tenant's § 535.160 tender right; use Chapter 534 for holdovers, where damages double and the execution waits 10 days; and never — locks, doors, or utilities — take possession yourself. The statutes are short. The penalties for improvising around them are not.

Checklist: a Missouri tenancy, start to finish

1. Screen under your own customarily applied criteria — income, credit, eviction and criminal history (§ 441.043(2) bars local limits on them; fair-housing law still governs).

2. Cap the deposit at 2 months' rent (§ 535.300(1)); pet deposits denominated separately (§ 535.300(8)).

3. Hold every deposit for the tenant in a federally insured bank, credit union, or depository institution; interest is yours (§ 535.300(2)).

4. Put the carpet-cleaning clause and the statutory beyond-wear-and-tear warning in the lease if you intend to use the carve-out (§ 535.300(4)(2)).

5. Write the entry rule into the lease — no statute supplies one — and log every entry.

6. Answer a § 441.234 repair notice within 14 days, or dispute necessity in writing inside the same window (§ 441.234(2)).

7. Terminate month-to-month tenancies in writing, on a rent-paying date not less than one month after receipt (§ 441.060(4)(1)); use 60 days for owner-occupied mobile-home lots (§ 441.060(4)(2)).

8. For illegal use of the premises, give the 10-day notice to vacate and proceed only through lawful process (§§ 441.020–441.040).

9. Demand rent in writing before filing rent-and-possession; the § 441.060 notice is not a prerequisite (§ 535.020). Budget for the tenant's § 535.160 tender.

10. For holdovers, file unlawful detainer: double damages (§ 534.330), possession execution no sooner than 10 days after judgment (§ 534.350).

11. On move-out, give written inspection notice and honor the tenant's right to attend (§ 535.300(5)); return the deposit or the itemized list plus balance within 30 days of termination (§ 535.300(3)).

12. Use the § 441.065 abandonment test — all four steps, in order — before disposing of anything left behind.

FAQ

What is the maximum security deposit in Missouri?

Two months' rent. Section 535.300(1) provides that a landlord may not demand or receive a security deposit in excess of two months' rent. Money denominated as a pet deposit is excluded from the statutory definition of a security deposit (§ 535.300(8)). Check a planned deposit against Missouri's two-month cap with the Security Deposit Max Checker, which returns a compliant or over-the-limit verdict for the amount and state you enter.

Where must a Missouri landlord hold a security deposit?

With the landlord, for the tenant, in a bank, credit union, or depository institution insured by an agency of the federal government (§ 535.300(2)). Any interest earned belongs to the landlord. The section sets no trust-account or anti-commingling rule for ordinary landlords (licensed brokers have separate escrow duties under § 339.105), and housing authorities and other government landlords are exempt from the holding subsection.

How long does a Missouri landlord have to return a security deposit?

Thirty days after the date of termination of the tenancy (§ 535.300(3)). By that date the landlord must either return the full deposit or furnish a written itemized list of the damages for which any part is withheld, along with the balance. Mailing the statement and payment to the tenant's last known address counts as compliance.

What is the penalty for wrongfully withholding a Missouri security deposit?

Twice the amount wrongfully withheld (§ 535.300(6)) — not twice the whole deposit. If $400 was wrongfully kept, the statutory damages are $800, in addition to the return of the $400 itself.

Can a Missouri landlord deduct carpet cleaning from the deposit?

Yes, in two ways: as restoration of damage beyond ordinary wear and tear under § 535.300(4)(2), or under a rental-agreement carpet-cleaning provision — in which case actual amounts expended may be withheld, the agreement must warn the tenant about liability for actual costs exceeding ordinary wear and tear, and the landlord must provide a receipt for the actual carpet-cleaning costs within 30 days of the end of the tenancy.

How much notice ends a Missouri month-to-month tenancy?

A written notice stating that the tenancy will terminate on a periodic rent-paying date not less than one month after the other party receives it (§ 441.060(4)(1)). Either party may give it. For an owner-occupied mobile home on a leased lot, the landlord's notice must run at least 60 days from the next rent due date (§ 441.060(4)(2)).

Does a Missouri landlord have to give notice before filing for nonpayment of rent?

No termination notice — but a demand is mandatory. A rent-and-possession action under § 535.020 requires that rent be due, that payment has been demanded by the landlord or agent, and that payment has not been made. The statute expressly provides that the § 441.060 notice is not required before filing.

Can a tenant stop a Missouri rent-and-possession case by paying?

Yes — that is the design of § 535.160. Tendering all rent in arrears plus all costs on the date a money judgment is given stops the action; satisfying the money judgment and costs at any point before the judgment becomes final stays an execution for possession. The protection does not apply where judgment is for possession only with no money judgment, and it has no equivalent in an unlawful detainer case. To run these same dates for your own case — the § 535.020 demand with no § 441.060 notice wait before filing, and the § 535.160 tender window that runs until the judgment becomes final — use the Eviction Timeline Calculator.

What damages can a Missouri landlord recover in unlawful detainer?

Double damages. Under § 534.330(1), a judgment for the complainant awards restitution of the premises, double the damages assessed, and double the monthly rents and profits from judgment until restitution is made, plus costs. An execution to restore possession may not issue sooner than ten days after judgment (§ 534.350).

Can a Missouri tenant repair and deduct?

Only within § 441.234's narrow limits: six consecutive months of lawful residence with all rent paid and no uncured written violation notice; a condition that detrimentally affects habitability, sanitation, or security and violates a local municipal housing or building code; a reasonable correction cost under the greater of $300 or one-half the periodic rent, never exceeding one month's rent; written notice to the landlord; and the landlord's failure to correct within 14 days. If the landlord disputes necessity in writing, the tenant must first obtain municipal certification. Total deductions are capped at one month's rent in any twelve-month period, and the right cannot be waived in the lease.

Can a Missouri landlord change the locks or shut off utilities to force a tenant out?

No. Section 441.233 deems a landlord who removes or excludes a tenant or their property without judicial process and court order — or who removes doors or locks, or willfully interrupts electric, gas, water, or sewer service (other than for health or safety reasons) — guilty of forcible entry and detainer under Chapter 534.

Is there rent control in Missouri?

No locality may create it. Section 441.043(1) bars any county or city from enacting, maintaining, or enforcing an ordinance regulating the amount of rent charged for privately owned rental property. The same section bars local source-of-income mandates, local restrictions on customary screening criteria, local deposit caps, and mandatory rights of first refusal (§ 441.043(2)).

How much notice must a Missouri landlord give before entering a rental unit?

Missouri has no statute on entry notice; the lease controls. The market standard — 24 hours' written notice at reasonable times, emergencies excepted — should be written into the lease and followed, because entry rights in Missouri rest on the agreement and the tenant's right to quiet enjoyment, reinforced by § 441.233.

When is a Missouri rental unit legally abandoned?

Only when all four § 441.065 conditions are met: the landlord reasonably believes the tenant has vacated and does not intend to return; rent is due and unpaid for 30 days; the landlord posts the statutory notice on the premises and mails it to the last known address by both first-class and certified mail, return receipt requested; and the tenant neither pays nor responds in writing within 10 days after both the posting and the mailing. Only then may remaining property be removed or disposed of without liability.

Primary sources

• Mo. Rev. Stat. § 535.300 (Missouri Revisor of Statutes) — the security deposit section as revised in 2018: the 2-month cap, the federally insured holding rule, the 30-day return and itemization, the three withholding grounds and carpet-cleaning carve-out, inspection notice, twice-the-amount-wrongfully-withheld damages, and the pet-deposit exclusion.
• Mo. Rev. Stat. § 535.300 (Justia, 2025) — the same section with its enactment history (L. 1983 H.B. 175; A.L. 2016 H.B. 1862; A.L. 2018 S.B. 581).
• Mo. Rev. Stat. § 441.234 (Justia, 2025) — repair and deduct: the six-month qualifying tenancy, the code-violation and cost-cap elements, the 14-day notice, the dispute-and-certification detour, the tenant-caused exclusion, and the one-month-per-twelve-months aggregate cap.
• Mo. Rev. Stat. § 441.065 (Missouri Revisor of Statutes) — abandonment of rental premises: the four-part test, the dual-mailing requirement, and the statutory notice text.
• Mo. Rev. Stat. § 441.233 (Missouri Revisor of Statutes) — unlawful removal, exclusion, lock and door removal, and willful interruption of essential services as forcible entry and detainer.
• Mo. Rev. Stat. § 441.920 (Justia, 2025) — victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking: the non-discrimination rule, the affirmative defense to rent after vacating, the documentation categories, the false-submission rule, and the reasonable termination fee.
• Mo. Rev. Stat. § 441.750 (Missouri Revisor of Statutes) — when an immediate eviction under §§ 441.710–441.880 must not be granted: the innocent-tenant showing and the five-day notice-and-action route where a non-tenant is the alleged actor.
• Mo. Rev. Stat. § 534.030 (Missouri Revisor of Statutes) — unlawful detainer defined: holdover, the foreclosed-property occupant's ten-business-day notice, employment occupancy, and disseisin after written demand.
• Mo. Rev. Stat. § 534.330 (Missouri Revisor of Statutes) — judgment for the complainant: restitution, double damages, double monthly rents and profits, and transmittal of the judgment to law enforcement.
• Mo. Rev. Stat. § 535.020 (Justia, 2025) — rent-and-possession: the demand element, the verified statement, the express statement that § 441.060 notice is not required, and the joinder limit for non-rent sums.
• Mo. Rev. Stat. § 535.160 (Missouri Revisor of Statutes) — tender of rent and costs on the judgment date, satisfaction before finality as a stay of possession execution, and the no-money-judgment exception.
• Mo. Rev. Stat. Chapter 441 (Missouri Revisor of Statutes) — the full landlord-and-tenant chapter, including § 441.043 (prohibited local ordinances), § 441.060 (termination of tenancies, occupancy presumption, post-judgment possession backstop), and §§ 441.020–441.040 (illegal use; ten days' notice to vacate).
• Mo. Rev. Stat. Chapter 535 (Missouri Revisor of Statutes) — the full landlord-tenant actions chapter, including § 535.110 (appeal bonds) and § 535.200 (the St. Louis landlord-tenant court).

More landlord-tenant law guides

• Landlord-tenant law by state
• Mississippi landlord-tenant law
• Montana landlord-tenant law
• Minnesota landlord-tenant law
• Nebraska landlord-tenant law

This is general information, not legal advice. St. Louis and Kansas City have local housing codes and, in St. Louis, a dedicated landlord-tenant court — consult a Missouri landlord-tenant attorney for specific situations.