Buying and Selling Property

Not by statute. Missouri has no statewide law requiring a residential seller to complete a disclosure form; the familiar form is a creature of realtor association practice. But that is not the same as having no obligation. Missouri common law imposes a duty to disclose known material conditions that the buyer cannot reasonably discover, and in Hess v. Chase Manhattan Bank, USA, N.A., 220 S.W.3d 758 (Mo. banc 2007), the Missouri Supreme Court held that this duty was not eliminated by contract language selling the property as-is and disclaiming representations. Two disclosures are statutory: prior methamphetamine production under § 442.606, RSMo, and, under federal law, lead-based paint in most pre-1978 housing. If a seller completes the customary form, the answers on it can support a fraud claim if they are knowingly false.

Partly. An as-is clause allocates the risk of conditions neither party knows about — that is its legitimate function, and it works for that. What it does not do is permit a seller to conceal a known material defect. Hess is the controlling authority: the court allowed a fraudulent nondisclosure claim to proceed notwithstanding as-is and merger language, because the duty to speak about a known material condition arises independently of the contract. Sellers who want the protection of as-is should pair it with candid disclosure, not with silence. Buyers should treat as-is as a signal to inspect harder, not as a reason to abandon a fraud claim if something known was hidden.

Read the granting clause. Missouri has no statutory deed form, and the phrase most commonly used — “grant, bargain and sell” — is defined by § 442.420, RSMo to create three specific covenants: seisin of an indefeasible estate in fee, freedom from encumbrances done or suffered by the grantor, and quiet enjoyment against the grantor’s acts. Those covenants stop at the grantor’s own conduct, which makes it a special warranty deed, not a general warranty deed. If you want warranties covering the whole chain of title, the deed must say so in express general warranty language. A quitclaim deed conveys whatever the grantor has and warrants nothing.

Between the parties, yes. Against the world, mostly no. Section 442.400, RSMo provides that an unrecorded instrument affecting real estate is valid only as between the parties to it and those who have actual notice of it. Section 442.390 makes a recorded instrument notice to all persons. So an unrecorded deed leaves the grantee exposed to a subsequent purchaser or lender who takes without notice, and to creditors relying on the public record. Record the deed at closing, not later.

No, and it cannot without a constitutional amendment. Mo. Const. art. X, § 25, adopted by the 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. This is a constitutional bar, not a policy choice a legislature can reverse. Recording fees charged by the county recorder of deeds are fees for a service, not transfer taxes, and are still charged. Missouri is in the minority of states here, and it is worth several hundred to several thousand dollars on a typical closing compared with states that levy a transfer or stamp tax.

Deliberately, and in writing. Section 442.450, RSMo makes tenancy in common the default: a conveyance to two or more people creates a tenancy in common unless the instrument expressly declares a joint tenancy. Tenancy in common means each owner has an undivided fractional share that passes under that owner’s will or by intestacy at death — not to the co-owner — and that any owner may force a sale or division through a partition action. Joint tenancy with right of survivorship must be stated expressly and sends the whole to the survivor outside probate. Tenancy by the entirety is available only to married couples but carries real creditor protection against the separate debts of one spouse. Unmarried co-buyers should also consider a written co-ownership agreement covering contributions, expenses, and what happens if one wants out.

In almost every purchase, yes. The lender’s policy required by your mortgage insures the lender’s interest, declining as the loan is paid, and pays the lender — not you — if title fails. An owner’s policy insures your equity for as long as you own the property, and it obligates the insurer to defend covered title claims, which is often worth more than the indemnity. Title insurance in Missouri is regulated under Chapter 381, RSMo, and § 381.015 requires that purchasers be given notice that an owner’s policy is available. Read the Schedule B exceptions before closing: those are the risks the policy does not cover, and they are negotiable while you still have leverage.

For a single parcel going to a single beneficiary with no complications, it is a legitimate and inexpensive tool. Section 461.025, RSMo lets an owner record a deed naming a beneficiary who takes automatically at death, with no probate and no present interest passing during life — so the owner can still sell, mortgage or revoke. The limits matter. It does not manage the property for a minor or a beneficiary who cannot handle money, it does not coordinate multiple beneficiaries who disagree, it says nothing about incapacity during life, and under § 461.071 the property remains subject to the deceased owner’s creditors. Section 461.051 also revokes a designation in favor of a former spouse on divorce. Compare revocable trusts and read what is the difference between a will and a trust.

No, and often the agent is not even your fiduciary agent. Under § 339.720, RSMo, a Missouri licensee who has not signed a written agency agreement with you is presumed to be a transaction broker — someone who assists the transaction without owing either party the loyalty and confidentiality of an agent. Section 339.820 allows designated agency within a single firm. Agents are prohibited from practicing law: they can fill in blanks on approved forms, but they cannot draft custom provisions, interpret title exceptions, or advise on how to hold title. Check the brokerage relationship disclosure you were given; it states which relationship exists.

Missouri does not require one, and most residential closings are handled by a title company. A lawyer earns their fee when the transaction has a feature the form does not cover: a seller who is an estate or a trust, a property with an unresolved easement or encroachment, a legal description that does not match the survey, seller financing, a 1031 exchange, an entity buyer, a purchase from a family member, a property in probate, or any title commitment exception you do not understand. If you are the seller and you know something material about the property, that is also a conversation worth having before you sign, not after a lawsuit.

Missouri recognizes fraudulent misrepresentation and fraudulent nondisclosure claims arising from residential sales, and Hess establishes that as-is and merger clauses do not automatically defeat them. A viable claim generally requires a material fact, the seller’s knowledge of it, a false statement or a duty-bound silence, your reasonable reliance, and damages. Practically, the case turns on proof of what the seller knew: prior repair invoices, insurance claims, permit records, contractor communications, and statements to neighbors are where those cases are won. Move quickly — evidence disappears, and repairs you make can destroy proof of the condition. Note the limits: § 442.600, RSMo makes certain psychologically-impacted-property facts non-material as a matter of law. See general litigation.

An easement is a right of someone else to use part of your property for a defined purpose — a utility line, a shared drive, a neighbor’s access to a road. Recorded easements appear as Schedule B exceptions on the title commitment, which is exactly why Schedule B has to be read before the inspection period closes. Unrecorded easements are the harder problem: Missouri recognizes prescriptive easements acquired by long use, and the elements set out in cases such as Whittom v. Alexander-Richardson Partnership, 851 S.W.2d 504 (Mo. banc 1993) require use that is continuous, uninterrupted, visible, and adverse for the statutory period — notably without a requirement of exclusivity. A neighbor’s twenty-year habit of driving across the back corner can be an enforceable right. Whether an easement kills a purchase depends on where it runs and what you intended to build. See property disputes.

Only if the contract lets you, or the seller breaches. Missouri has no general residential rescission or “cooling off” right for real estate purchases. What you have are the contingencies you negotiated — inspection, financing, appraisal, sale of your current home, title review — and each has a deadline. Miss the deadline and the contingency is typically waived, which converts a walkaway into a breach and puts your earnest money at risk. Read the remedies section too: some contracts cap the seller’s recovery at the earnest money, others do not. If you want out and the deadlines have passed, the analysis shifts to whether the seller has failed to perform something — clear title, a required repair, timely closing — and that is worth a lawyer’s eye before you send any notice.

It depends on what the property is for. For investment or rental property, an LLC can separate the asset from your personal exposure and simplify co-ownership through the operating agreement — but only if the entity is genuinely respected: separate bank account, insurance in the entity’s name, leases signed by the entity, no commingling. For a personal residence, an LLC usually costs you more than it gives: it can jeopardize the Missouri homestead treatment and the federal capital gain exclusion under 26 U.S.C. § 121, complicate financing, and for a married couple it gives up tenancy by the entirety protection. Residential lenders also frequently refuse to lend to an LLC or will trigger a due-on-sale clause on a transfer. Decide this before the contract is written, because changing the buyer after the fact is not free. See business formation.

A great deal. The first question is whether title is already out of the decedent’s name — through a beneficiary deed, a trust, or joint ownership with survivorship — or whether it is still in the estate and requires probate authority to sell. A personal representative selling estate real estate does so under authority from the will or the probate court, and a trustee sells under the trust instrument; the title company will want to see that authority documented. Expect a special warranty or fiduciary deed rather than a general warranty, because the fiduciary cannot warrant the chain of title. Disclosure obligations are lighter in practice where the fiduciary never lived there and has no knowledge, but that is knowledge-dependent, not automatic. The stepped-up basis under 26 U.S.C. § 1014 usually means little or no capital gain on a prompt sale. See estate settlement and trust administration.