Published 2026-09-27 · 8 min read

Missouri Security Deposit Law 2026: Limits, Deadlines & Deductions

Missouri's security deposit law is a single section, Mo. Rev. Stat. § 535.300, and it is stricter than its short length suggests: a hard cap of two months' rent, a duty to hold the deposit in a federally insured institution, a 30-day deadline to return the deposit or send a written itemized list, a mandatory written notice of the move-out inspection with the tenant's right to attend, and double damages — twice the amount wrongfully withheld — for a violation. The section also defines "security deposit" broadly, and expressly excludes pet deposits from that definition.

The short version: Collect no more than two months' rent as a security deposit (pet deposits sit outside the definition and outside the cap). Hold the deposit for the tenant in a bank, credit union, or depository institution insured by a federal agency; any interest earned is yours. Before you inspect the unit after the tenancy ends, give the tenant reasonable written notice of the inspection date and time — the tenant has the right to be there. Within 30 days after the tenancy terminates, return the full deposit or mail a written itemized list of the damages withheld, with the balance, to the tenant's last known address. You may withhold only what is reasonably necessary for unpaid rent, restoring the unit beyond ordinary wear and tear, or actual damages from inadequate notice (after reasonable mitigation efforts). Wrongfully withhold, and the tenant recovers twice the amount wrongfully withheld.

Corrections to the earlier version of this page: The old page described subsection (2) as a trust-account rule — a trust in the landlord's name, a ban on commingling, and a broker exception under § 339.105. None of that language is in the current section: the 2018 revision replaced it with a simpler rule that deposits are held by the landlord for the tenant in a federally insured bank, credit union, or depository institution, with a carve-out for housing authorities and government landlords. The old page also told landlords the itemized list must state the estimated or actual cost of each item and be followed up with paid receipts or a certification of actual costs — that per-item cost and receipt follow-up language appears in a failed 2011 bill, not in the enacted statute; the only receipt duty in the current text is for carpet cleaning under subsection (4)(2). It also softened the inspection rule to something the statute "contemplates": subsection (5) in fact requires reasonable written notice of the inspection and gives the tenant the right to attend. Finally, it omitted subsection (4)(2)'s carpet-cleaning agreement, subsection (7)'s preservation of the landlord's claim for actual damages beyond the deposit, and subsection (8)'s exclusion of pet deposits from the statutory definition.

Missouri's 30-day return deadline, mandatory inspection notice, and double-damages penalty for wrongful withholding make deposit paperwork a strict-liability exercise. The Security Deposit Disposition & Deadline Tracker ($14.95) keeps your return deadlines, itemized deductions, and mailing dates in one spreadsheet so the clock never sneaks up on you.

The statute table

Limits: how much can you charge?

The ceiling is two months' rent (§ 535.300(1)) — you may not demand or receive more as a security deposit. Subsection (8) closes the relabeling loophole in one direction: any deposit, however denominated, that secures performance of the rental agreement counts toward the cap, so splitting the charge into a "deposit" plus a "damage fee deposit" does not help. It opens a deliberate exception in the other direction: money denominated as a pet deposit is not a security deposit under the section, so a genuine pet deposit sits outside the 2-month cap (and outside the section's return and penalty machinery — your lease, not § 535.300, governs it). Check your numbers with the Security Deposit Max Checker.

The 30-day deadline, precisely

Within 30 days after the date the tenancy terminates, you must either return the full deposit or furnish the tenant a written itemized list of the damages for which any part is withheld, together with the balance (§ 535.300(3)). Mailing the statement and any payment to the tenant's last known address is deemed compliance — a tenant who disappears without a forwarding address does not extend your clock or excuse the mailing. Find your exact cutoff with the Security Deposit Deadline Finder.

When the clock actually starts

The trigger is one event: termination of the tenancy — the date the tenancy ends, not the date you finish repairs, get estimates back, or re-rent the unit. Three practical consequences:

• The inspection does not move the deadline. Subsection (5) inspection, contractor quotes, and cleaning all have to fit inside the same 30 days.
• Mailing is the compliance act. The statute measures you on mailing to the last known address, so a statement mailed on day 30 complies even if it arrives on day 34. Keep the mailing receipt.
• A skipped tenant does not pause anything. If the tenant leaves no address, mail to the last known address anyway and document it — that mailing is exactly what the statute says counts.

A worked example

Rent is $1,200 a month and the deposit is $2,400 (the two-month maximum). The tenancy terminates on Monday, March 2, 2026.

• The return-or-itemize deadline is Wednesday, April 1, 2026 (30 days after March 2).
• You give written notice of a move-out inspection on Thursday, March 5, at a reasonable time, and the tenant attends.
• Your lawful withholdings are $650: $400 of unpaid rent and $250 to repair damage beyond ordinary wear and tear. The balance is $1,750.
• You mail the itemized list and the $1,750 to the tenant's last known address on or before April 1: you have complied.
• If instead you kept the $650 without a lawful basis — invented damage, or rent that was never owed — subsection (6) sets the tenant's damages at twice the amount wrongfully withheld: $650 wrongfully kept becomes $1,300 in statutory damages, on top of the $650 itself having to be accounted for.

Deductions and the itemized list

Under § 535.300(4), you may withhold only amounts reasonably necessary for three purposes:

1. Unpaid rent — to remedy the tenant's default in rent due under the rental agreement.

2. Restoration — to restore the unit to its condition at the start of the tenancy, ordinary wear and tear excepted — with one written-agreement carve-out, below.

3. Inadequate-notice damages — actual damages from the tenant's failure to give adequate notice to terminate, as required by law or the agreement, and only where you made reasonable efforts to mitigate those damages.

Two discipline rules follow. First, each amount must be reasonably necessary for a listed purpose — a padded estimate or a charge for pre-existing wear fails even if the category is right. Second, the itemized list under subsection (3) must identify the damages withheld for; note what the current statute does not require — unlike some states, it imposes no per-item cost breakdown or paid-receipt follow-up duty (an earlier draft of this page said otherwise; that language was never enacted). Itemizing carefully is still your best evidence if the withholding is ever challenged. Generate a compliant letter with the Security Deposit Deduction Letter Generator.

The carpet-cleaning carve-out

Subsection (4)(2) lets a landlord and tenant agree in the rental agreement on amounts or fees for carpet cleaning, and actual amounts expended on carpet cleaning may then be withheld even where the cleaning overlaps ordinary wear — provided the agreement also notifies the tenant that they may be liable for actual carpet-cleaning costs exceeding ordinary wear and tear. If you withhold on this basis, you must give the tenant a receipt for the actual carpet cleaning costs within 30 days of the end of the tenancy. No agreement in the lease, no receipt, no carpet deduction beyond genuine damage.

Move-out compliance checklist

1. At signing, verify the deposit total against the 2-month cap (§ 535.300(1)), counting every performance-securing deposit however labeled; keep any pet deposit separately denominated (§ 535.300(8)).

2. Hold the deposit for the tenant in a federally insured bank, credit union, or depository institution (§ 535.300(2)); interest is yours, and no separate trust account is required by the section.

3. When the tenancy terminates, log that date — the 30-day clock under § 535.300(3) runs from it and from nothing else.

4. Serve written notice of the inspection at the tenant's last known address (or in person): date, time, and a reasonable hour, per § 535.300(5). Let the tenant attend, and photograph everything either way.

5. Price each charge against the three lawful purposes only (§ 535.300(4)) — unpaid rent, restoration beyond wear and tear, mitigated inadequate-notice damages — and keep invoices or real estimates for each.

6. If you deduct carpet cleaning under a lease agreement, attach the actual-cost receipt and deliver it within 30 days of the end of the tenancy (§ 535.300(4)(2)).

7. Mail the itemized list and the balance to the last known address by day 30 (§ 535.300(3)) and keep the mailing proof — that mailing, not the tenant's receipt of it, is what the statute counts.

Interest and where the money sits

Under § 535.300(2), all deposits are held by the landlord for the tenant — the tenant named in the rental agreement — in a bank, credit union, or depository institution insured by an agency of the federal government. Any interest earned is the landlord's property; Missouri requires no interest payment to tenants. Correcting the common summary (including the earlier version of this page): the current section imposes no trust-account, no-separate-account, and no anti-commingling rule — that stricter language was removed by the 2018 revision. A housing authority or other government entity acting as landlord is exempt from subsection (2) altogether. Segregating deposits remains good bookkeeping and cheap protection in a dispute, but do not cite a trust rule Missouri no longer has.

The penalty, spelled out

Under § 535.300(6), if you wrongfully withhold all or any portion of the deposit in violation of this section, the tenant recovers as damages twice the amount wrongfully withheld. Keep the measure straight:

• The multiplier attaches to what you wrongfully kept, not to the whole deposit. On the worked example, $650 wrongfully withheld = $1,300 in damages — not $4,800 on a $2,400 deposit.
• The text does not add a separate bad-faith element — wrongful withholding in violation of the section is the trigger, so a missed 30-day mailing or a baseless charge is enough to put the multiplier in play.
• The deposit itself is not the ceiling of the landlord's exposure in reverse, either. Subsection (7) preserves your right to recover actual damages in excess of the security deposit from the tenant — the deposit caps what you hold, not what you can claim.
• Commercial tenancies are outside the double-damage rule. A 2007 Missouri Court of Appeals decision (PDQ Tower Services, Inc. v. Adams) held the twice-the-deposit provision does not apply to tenants of commercial property; § 535.300 deposit practice on this page is written for residential landlords.

FAQ

Can I use the deposit for the last month's rent?

No. Subsection (7) expressly says nothing in the section permits a tenant to apply or deduct any portion of the deposit in lieu of rent — and a landlord who treats it as prepaid rent has spent the security before knowing the damage bill.

Does a pet deposit count toward the 2-month cap?

No. Subsection (8) defines "security deposit" broadly — any deposit, however denominated, securing performance of the rental agreement — but expressly excludes money denominated as a deposit for a pet on the premises. A genuine pet deposit is outside the cap and outside the section's return rules.

What if the tenant skips and I can't find them?

Mail the itemized list and balance to the tenant's last known address within 30 days. Subsection (3) deems that mailing compliance.

Can I deduct for carpet cleaning?

Yes, on either of two bases: as restoration of damage beyond ordinary wear and tear under § 535.300(4)(2), or under a written 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 beyond wear and tear, and you must provide a receipt for the actual costs within 30 days of the end of the tenancy.

Do I have to let the tenant attend the move-out inspection?

Yes. Under § 535.300(5) you must give the tenant reasonable written notice of the inspection date and time (at their last known address or in person), hold the inspection at a reasonable time, and the tenant has the right to be present.

Can I charge the tenant for lost rent if they leave without notice?

Yes, but only your actual damages from the failure to give adequate notice, and only after reasonable efforts to mitigate (§ 535.300(4)(3)) — re-list promptly and keep records of the effort.

Does Missouri require me to pay interest on the deposit, or hold it in a trust account?

Neither. Interest earned is the landlord's property, and the current § 535.300(2) requires only that the deposit be held for the tenant in a federally insured institution — no trust account or segregation rule. (Older summaries, and the earlier version of this page, describe a trust rule the 2018 revision removed.)

If the damage exceeds the deposit, am I capped at the deposit?

No. Subsection (7) preserves the landlord's right to recover actual damages in excess of the security deposit — the deposit is what you hold, not a limit on the claim.

Read the statute yourself

Everything here traces back to one section, Mo. Rev. Stat. § 535.300 (effective in its current form August 28, 2018). If anything is disputed, the primary sources control:

• Mo. Rev. Stat. § 535.300 (Missouri Revisor of Statutes) — the official text of the section, subsections 1–8.
• Mo. Rev. Stat. § 535.300 (Justia) — the full current text with the section's history.
• Mo. Rev. Stat. § 535.300 (Cornell LII) — the same section in Cornell's code.

The deposit is only one piece of Missouri compliance. Our full Missouri landlord-tenant law guide covers the rest of the relationship — rent rules, habitability and repairs, the one-month written termination notice, the two eviction tracks, and the self-help, entry, and abandonment rules.

More security deposit guides

• Security deposit laws by state
• Mississippi security deposit law
• Montana security deposit law
• Minnesota security deposit law
• Nebraska security deposit law

Last verified: October 15, 2026. This is general information, not legal advice. Verify with a licensed Missouri attorney before acting.