Landlord and Tenant Law

No more than two months’ rent. Section 535.300, RSMo prohibits a landlord from demanding or receiving a security deposit in excess of two months’ rent for the unit. Renaming part of it does not help: a nonrefundable “cleaning fee” or “pet deposit” that functions as security for performance of the lease is analyzed for what it does, not what it is called. Landlords who want to charge for something else — a genuine one-time service, for instance — should identify it clearly and be prepared to show it is not security. Tenants who paid more than two months’ rent should raise it, because the same statute’s remedy provisions are the leverage.

Thirty days after the tenancy terminates. Within that window, § 535.300, RSMo requires the landlord to return the deposit less any lawful deductions and to give the tenant a written itemized list of the damages for which any portion was withheld. “I’m still getting estimates” is not an extension. A landlord who misses the deadline or withholds without the itemization is exposed to the statutory penalty of twice the amount wrongfully withheld. Tenants should leave a forwarding address in writing and keep a copy, because the obligation runs to the tenant and a landlord who cannot deliver has an argument.

Three categories: unpaid rent, damage to the premises beyond ordinary wear and tear, and costs arising from the tenant’s failure to comply with the lease. What falls outside is where the fights happen. Ordinary wear and tear — carpet worn along a traffic path, nail holes from hanging pictures, faded paint, appliances aging normally — is not deductible; it is the cost of owning rental property. Full replacement cost for a partly-worn item is also usually not defensible: a five-year-old carpet damaged in year five is not worth a new carpet. The itemized list required by the statute is the landlord’s best protection here, because a specific, documented deduction is defensible and a round number is not.

No. Section 441.233, RSMo prohibits a landlord from dispossessing a tenant by removing the tenant’s property, changing the locks, or similar self-help measures without a court order. Notably, the statute is not limited to residential tenancies — commercial landlords in Missouri are covered too, which surprises many of them. The prohibition applies regardless of how much rent is owed and regardless of what the lease purports to allow. The only lawful path to possession is a court judgment executed by the sheriff. A landlord who takes the shortcut converts a strong eviction case into a damages claim against themselves.

One month, in writing, by either the landlord or the tenant. Section 441.060, RSMo sets that period for ordinary periodic tenancies. For a tenancy of a mobile home lot, the same section requires sixty days’ notice, reflecting how much harder it is to relocate a manufactured home. A written lease can require more notice than the statute; it generally cannot give a residential tenant less protection than the statute provides. The notice ends the tenancy — it does not by itself remove anyone. If the tenant stays past the termination date, the landlord’s remedy is an unlawful detainer action under Chapter 534.

They answer different questions. A rent and possession action under Chapter 535, RSMo is for nonpayment: the landlord sues for the rent owed and for possession, and the tenant has a statutory right under § 535.160 to keep the unit by paying the rent, interest and costs before the judgment is executed. An unlawful detainer action under Chapter 534 is for someone whose right to be there has ended — lease expired, notice given, holdover — and there is no cure-by-payment right. Chapter 534 also allows double damages for rents, profits and waste under § 534.330. Filing the wrong one costs weeks.

Be very careful. Missouri recognizes an implied warranty of habitability in residential leases, established in Detling v. Edelbrock, 671 S.W.2d 265 (Mo. banc 1984), and it does not apply to commercial leases. But the warranty is a defense and a damages theory, not a self-executing licence to stop paying. A tenant who simply withholds rent invites a rent and possession action in which they must then prove the condition, the notice, and the reduction in value — from a defensive position, with possession at stake. The safer sequence is written notice to the landlord describing the defect, a reasonable time to cure, photographs, and legal advice before any money is held back. Local code enforcement complaints also create a documentary record.

Faster than most tenants expect and slower than most landlords want. Both actions are summary proceedings heard in associate circuit divisions on short dockets, so a case can go from filing to judgment in a few weeks if service goes smoothly. Timelines vary substantially by county and by how the tenant is served. What is fixed is the shape: the tenancy must be properly terminated or the rent properly demanded, the petition filed, the tenant served, a hearing held, judgment entered, and then a writ executed by the sheriff. A landlord who compresses any of those steps by acting personally violates § 441.233. A tenant who ignores the summons gets a default judgment, which is the fastest possible outcome and the worst one.

Less than residential law does, with one important exception. The implied warranty of habitability recognized in Detling is residential only — commercial tenants are expected to inspect and to bargain for the condition they want, and the lease governs. The security deposit rules of § 535.300 are written around dwelling units. But the self-help prohibition in § 441.233, RSMo is not limited to residential tenancies, and commercial landlords who lock out a defaulting business tenant regularly discover this the expensive way. For commercial tenants, the protection you get is the protection you negotiate — which is why the lease review matters far more than it does on an apartment. See business law.

Federal fair housing law prohibits discrimination in the sale or rental of housing on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status and disability, and Missouri’s Human Rights Act contains parallel protections. Familial status protection means refusing to rent to households with children is generally unlawful, and occupancy limits set below what local codes allow can operate as a proxy for the same thing. Disability protection includes obligations around reasonable accommodations and reasonable modifications, including assistance animals in a no-pet building. Source-of-income protection — refusing housing vouchers — is not a federal protected class and depends on local ordinance. Screening criteria applied unevenly is the most common way a landlord creates liability without intending to. See civil rights.

Generally the lease survives. A buyer takes subject to an existing lease of which they have notice, and a tenant in visible possession is itself a form of notice that a purchaser is expected to investigate. That is why title commitments carry exceptions for the rights of parties in possession, and why buyers of rental property should demand copies of every lease, an estoppel certificate from each tenant, and an accounting of the security deposits — which should be transferred at closing, because the returning obligation under § 535.300 lands on whoever is the landlord when the tenancy ends. A month-to-month tenant can be terminated by the new owner on one month’s notice under § 441.060; a fixed-term tenant generally cannot. See buying and selling property.

Not on your own judgment, and this is where landlords who have done everything else correctly get into trouble. Removing a tenant’s property is precisely the conduct § 441.233, RSMo addresses, and the tenancy having ended does not automatically make abandoned property yours to discard. The safer course is to complete the possession process through the court, document the condition of the unit and the property left in it with dated photographs, store rather than destroy anything of apparent value, and give written notice to the tenant’s last known address before disposing of it. If the amount at stake is meaningful, get advice before acting — the cost of the call is far below the cost of a conversion claim.