Real Estate Law

There is no general Missouri seller’s disclosure statute. The disclosure form most people sign is a Missouri REALTORS® contract document, not a statutory requirement.

But Missouri common law imposes a real duty. In Hess v. Chase Manhattan Bank, USA, N.A., 220 S.W.3d 758 (Mo. banc 2007), the Supreme Court held that “a duty to speak arises where one party has superior knowledge or information that is not reasonably available to the other” — and found a duty to disclose despite an “as-is” clause. Silence about a known latent defect becomes actionable fraudulent misrepresentation. Keefhaver v. Kimbrell, 58 S.W.3d 54 (Mo. App. W.D. 2001) applied that to residential defects like a roof and basement.

Missouri also has targeted disclosure statutes — methamphetamine production under § 442.606 and § 441.236, and hazardous contamination under § 442.055. And one non-disclosure safe harbour: under § 442.600, a homicide, felony or suicide on the property, and the HIV status of an occupant, are not material facts requiring disclosure.

A general warranty deed warrants title against all defects whenever they arose, including before the grantor owned it. That requires express general warranty language — it is not supplied by the statutory phrase alone.

A special or limited warranty deed warrants only against defects arising during the grantor’s ownership. Bare “grant, bargain and sell” under § 442.420 essentially produces this, because the encumbrance covenant reaches only what the grantor “done or suffered.”

A quitclaim deed conveys whatever interest the grantor happens to have and warrants nothing at all — possibly nothing. It is appropriate for clearing a cloud, transferring between spouses or into a trust, and settling a boundary. It is almost never appropriate for a purchase. Note too that Missouri’s after-acquired-title rule in § 442.430 is framed around a grantor who undertakes to convey an indefeasible fee, so it does not automatically rescue a bare quitclaim.

Because of RSMo § 442.400: “No such instrument in writing shall be valid, except between the parties thereto, and such as have actual notice thereof, until the same shall be deposited with the recorder for record.”

An unrecorded deed binds two groups and no one else: the parties to it, and anyone with actual notice of it. A later purchaser who takes without actual notice and without record notice is not bound by it at all.

§ 442.390 supplies the other half — a recorded instrument imparts notice to all persons from the time of filing, not from indexing or transcription. So the practical rule is simple and unforgiving: record it, and record it promptly. A deed in a drawer is a deed that may lose to a stranger.

Not as a legal requirement, and for a straightforward transaction with a competent agent and a title company, many people do not use one.

Where it changes the outcome: any contract that is not the standard form; seller financing or a contract for deed; a title commitment showing exceptions nobody can explain; an easement, encroachment or survey problem; a boundary that does not match the fence; property from an estate or a trust; a divorce-related transfer; commercial property; and any transaction where you are on the other side of a deal from someone who has a lawyer and you do not.

The other trigger is coordination. A property purchase interacts with how you should hold title, with your estate plan, and sometimes with a business entity — and those decisions are cheapest to make before closing rather than by deed correction afterwards.

Under Missouri’s brokerage statutes, the default is a transaction broker, not an agent. § 339.720 provides that a licensee “shall be considered a transaction broker” unless a written agreement establishes something else, and § 339.710 defines a transaction broker as one who assists the parties “without an agency or fiduciary relationship to either party and is, therefore, neutral.”

To get an agent with fiduciary duties — loyalty, good faith, promotion of your interests — you need a written limited agency agreement, entered into by the designated broker under § 339.780. Designated agency is handled by § 339.820, and the broker disclosure form must be delivered at the earliest practicable opportunity following first substantial contact (§ 339.770).

One duty runs to everyone regardless: a licensee must “disclose to any customer all adverse material facts actually known or that should have been known by the licensee.” But do not assume the person showing you houses is legally on your side — read what you signed.

Yes, and understand which policy you are getting. Title insurance is comprehensively regulated in Missouri under Chapter 381, the Missouri Title Insurance Act.

The distinction that costs people money: a lender’s policy protects the lender, not you. § 381.015 requires that where a lender’s policy is issued without an owner’s policy, the purchaser receive written notice — which must be signed by the purchaser — stating that the lender’s policy “does not provide title insurance protection to the purchaser-mortgagor,” and that an owner’s policy may be obtained within sixty days of closing at a stated cost.

People sign that notice at a closing table without reading it and believe they are insured. If you took a loan and did not separately buy an owner’s policy, you are not. The sixty-day window exists precisely for that discovery.

A deed that transfers Missouri real estate at your death without probate, under § 461.025. You keep full ownership and control while alive, and can sell, mortgage or revoke it freely.

Two requirements are absolute: it must expressly state it is not to take effect until the owner’s death, and it must be recorded before the owner dies. No consideration and no delivery to the beneficiary are required, and it may name a trust — revocable or not.

Two traps worth knowing. Under § 461.051, divorce automatically revokes a designation in favour of a former spouse. And under § 461.071 the property remains reachable by your creditors and for statutory allowances — a beneficiary deed is a probate-avoidance tool, not a creditor shield. See the basic estate plan.

Depends on how long and how. Adverse possession under § 516.010 requires ten years, and Teson v. Vasquez, 561 S.W.2d 119 (Mo. App. 1977) sets the elements: possession that is actual, hostile under a claim of right, open and notorious, exclusive, and continuous for the full ten years. Failure on any one element defeats the claim.

A prescriptive easement is a lower bar and a different remedy — it gives a right of use, not ownership. Under Whittom v. Alexander-Richardson Partnership, 851 S.W.2d 504 (Mo. banc 1993), the use must be continuous, uninterrupted, visible and adverse for ten years. There is no exclusivity element, and proof that the use in fact occurred “normally justifies a finding that the use has been adverse.”

Which means time matters and so does silence. If someone is using your land, that is a reason to act rather than to be neighbourly indefinitely. See property disputes.

File for partition. Under RSMo § 528.030, where land is held in joint tenancy, tenancy in common or coparcenary, “any one or more of the parties interested therein” may petition the circuit court. It is essentially a matter of right — a co-owner cannot be forced to stay in a co-ownership indefinitely.

The court divides the land physically if that can be done “without great prejudice to the parties in interest,” and if not, orders a sale and divides the proceeds (§ 528.340). Commissioners are appointed to report on divisibility, and a sheriff’s public auction follows if sale is ordered.

One important development: Chapter 528 now contains the Save the Family Farm Act at §§ 528.700 to 528.750, which adds cotenant notice, appraisal and buyout procedures for heirs property before a sale. If the land came to co-owners by inheritance, that regime may change the analysis substantially and should be checked before anyone files.

No. RSMo § 441.233 provides that a landlord who removes or excludes a tenant, or the tenant’s personal property, “without judicial process and court order” is deemed guilty of forcible entry and detainer under Chapter 534. Shutting off electric, gas, water or sewer service willfully does the same thing — unless done for health or safety reasons.

The exposure is real: forcible entry and detainer carries double damages and double rents under § 534.330.

There is one narrow lawful lockout, and it comes only after a judgment: under § 441.060.5, if the service officer fails to deliver possession within seven days of the writ, the landlord may act within sixty days of the judgment, in the presence of a law enforcement officer, without breach of the peace, with strict filing requirements afterwards. Everything short of that is unlawful. See landlord and tenant.

No, and it cannot. Mo. Const. art. X, § 25, approved by voters in November 2010, prevents the state, counties and other political subdivisions from “imposing any new tax, including a sales tax, on the sale or transfer of homes or any other real estate.”

Missouri had no transfer tax before that amendment either; the amendment foreclosed creating one, at any level of government.

What you still pay: county recording fees, which are not transfer taxes; prorated property taxes; and ordinary closing costs. If you are comparing a Missouri sale to Illinois or Kansas, this is a genuine and often overlooked difference in the numbers.

Two steps, and the first has a hard seasonal deadline. Start with the county board of equalization — § 137.275 allows any person “who thinks himself aggrieved by the assessment of his property” to appeal in person, by attorney or agent, or in writing, and § 137.385 frames the filing as due by the second Monday in July, on county forms — though the board may extend the time in its discretion.

Then the State Tax Commission. § 138.430 gives every owner the right to appeal from the local board, and directs the Commission to correct any assessment “shown to be unlawful, unfair, improper, arbitrary or capricious.” Further review goes to circuit court under Chapter 536.

Because charter counties and St. Louis City operate under their own provisions and boards may extend deadlines, check the date your county actually publishes rather than relying on a general rule — and do it in spring, not in autumn.