Missouri Landlord-Tenant Law for DIY Landlords (2026)

Security deposits, late fees, notice periods, the rent and possession case and the eviction timeline in Missouri, in plain English for landlords who manage their own rentals.

Last updated September 23, 2026

Missouri splits its rental rules across two chapters. Chapter 441 covers the tenancy itself, and Chapter 535 covers deposits and the fast court case landlords use to get a unit back. The state is light on tenant-side mandates compared with its neighbours, so most of what binds you sits in your own lease.

The one hard statutory deadline you cannot miss is the 30-day deposit rule. Here is the rest, with the code section behind each rule.

Security deposits

The cap is two months' rent. A landlord may not demand or receive a security deposit larger than two months' rent (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 535.300). A deposit labelled as a pet deposit sits outside that definition.

Hold it at a real bank. The deposit stays in a federally insured bank, credit union or depository institution. Any interest it earns belongs to you, not the tenant (§ 535.300).

You have 30 days to return it. The clock runs from the end of the tenancy. Within that window you either hand back the whole deposit or send a written itemised list of the damages you are withholding money for, along with whatever is left over. Mailing to the tenant's last known address counts (§ 535.300).

You can only withhold for three things. Unpaid rent, restoring the unit to its move-in condition minus reasonable wear and tear, and damages you take on when a tenant leaves without giving proper notice (§ 535.300).

The tenant can watch the inspection. You have to set a time and date for the move-out inspection and give the tenant written notice of it, and the tenant has the right to be present (§ 535.300).

The penalty is double. Withhold any part of the deposit wrongfully and the tenant recovers twice the amount you kept (§ 535.300). Photographs, a dated itemised list and receipts are what keep you on the right side of that number.

Late fees

Missouri statute sets no late-fee cap and no grace period for residential rent. Nothing in Chapter 441 or Chapter 535 fixes an amount or a waiting period.

That puts the whole question in your lease. Write the fee and the day it attaches in plain terms, keep it proportionate to the rent, and apply it the same way every month. An unpaid late fee is not rent, so it does not by itself support a rent and possession case (§ 535.020).

Rent increases and rent control

There is no rent control in Missouri, and cities and counties cannot create any. No county or city, chartered or not, may enact or enforce an ordinance regulating the amount of rent charged for privately owned residential or commercial rental property (§ 441.043).

A 2025 amendment widened that. House Bills 595 and 343 amended § 441.043, dated August 28, 2025 according to the revisor's history note rather than the session law. Confirm the current text before relying on it. Local governments are now barred from limiting how landlords screen applicants on source of income or credit history, and from capping security deposits by ordinance. Narrow carve-outs remain for government-owned property, voluntary agreements on subsidised units and properties using community development block grant money.

So the ceiling on an increase is your lease. Raise rent at renewal, or with proper notice on a month-to-month.

Entering the unit

Missouri has no statutory notice period for landlord entry. Chapter 441 contains no entry section at all.

Put one in your lease. Twenty-four hours' written notice for anything that is not an emergency is the standard most Missouri leases use, and it keeps an entry dispute from turning into a habitability fight.

Ending a month-to-month tenancy

One month's written notice, from either side. A tenancy at will, at sufferance, or for less than one year ends on one month's written notice, and the notice has to state that the tenancy terminates not less than one month after the tenant receives it (§ 441.060). Line the end date up with a rent period and serve it early.

Mobile home lots get 60 days. A landlord ending a mobile home lot tenancy gives 60 days' written notice running from the next rent due date (§ 441.060).

A fixed term with a set end date needs no notice. No notice to quit is required where the term ends at a certain time, or where the parties agreed in writing to dispense with notice (§ 441.070).

When rent isn't paid

Missouri uses a rent and possession action. Two points make it faster than most states.

Demand the rent. A demand for rent is good when made at any time after the rent becomes due under the agreement (§ 535.060). There is no statutory waiting period before you make it.

You do not need a notice to quit first. The one month's notice in § 441.060 is not required before filing a rent and possession statement (§ 535.020).

The eviction timeline

File a verified statement. You file with an associate circuit judge, setting out the terms of the rental, the rent actually due, that you demanded it and were not paid, and a description of the property (§ 535.020).
Summons issues. The court date is set no more than 21 business days from the day the summons is issued, and the summons has to be served at least four days before that date (§ 535.030).
Posting, if personal service fails. The court can order the summons and complaint posted conspicuously on the dwelling and mailed by ordinary mail to the last known address, each at least 10 days before the court date. Serve that way and you can still get possession, but no money judgment against a defaulting tenant (§ 535.030).
Judgment. If the rent is unpaid and not tendered before judgment, the court awards you possession, the debt and costs (§ 535.040).
The tenant's 10 days. A tenant has 10 days from judgment to move to set it aside or to apply for a trial de novo, after which the judgment is final (§ 535.030). An appeal bond stays execution (§ 535.110).
Execution. The officer delivers possession within five days of receiving the execution (§ 535.040). If the officer fails to deliver within seven days, you may remove locks and the tenant's property within 60 days, with a law enforcement officer present who acknowledges the judgment in writing (§ 441.060).

The tenant can stop it by paying. Tender of all rent owed plus costs on the day judgment is entered stops the proceedings (§ 535.160).

Never do it yourself. Removing or excluding a tenant without judicial process and a court order, or willfully shutting off electricity, gas, water or sewer, is forcible entry and detainer under § 441.233. Health and safety work is the only carve-out.

St. Louis City and Jackson County run dedicated landlord-tenant courts with their own local practice (§§ 535.200, 535.210). Check the local rules before you file there.

Repairs and habitability

Repair and deduct exists, with tight limits. A tenant who has lived in the unit for six consecutive months, is current on rent and has no lease violations can give written notice of a condition affecting habitability, sanitation or security that breaks a local housing code. You get 14 days, or immediately for an emergency. If you dispute that the repair is needed, the tenant has to get the condition certified by the municipality first. The repair has to cost less than $300 or one half of one month's rent, whichever is greater, and deductions cannot exceed one month's rent in any 12-month period (§ 441.234). No lease can waive it.

Bad conditions can go to court. Tenants can bring an action asking a court to find the property a nuisance, pay rent into court instead of to you, and have a receiver appointed to fix it (§§ 441.500 to 441.640). A lease clause waiving those sections is void (§ 441.610).

Tell tenants who manages the place. Before the tenancy starts, give the tenant in writing the name and address of the person authorised to manage the premises and of an owner or representative who can receive notices and service of process. Keep it current. Miss it and the person who failed to disclose becomes your agent for service, for notices and for your obligations as landlord, including collecting rent (§ 535.185).

Missouri has no general anti-retaliation statute for residential tenancies. Raising rent or ending a tenancy soon after a code complaint still reads badly to a judge, so document your reason.

The short version

Deposit cap of two months' rent, held at a federally insured institution
30 days to return it with a written itemised list of damages, or pay twice what you wrongly kept
The tenant may attend the move-out inspection, on written notice from you
No statutory late-fee cap and no grace period, so the lease governs
No rent control, and cities cannot create it (§ 441.043, widened in 2025)
No statutory entry notice, so write one into the lease
One month's written notice ends a month-to-month either way
Rent and possession needs a demand, not a notice to quit, and the court date lands within 21 business days

Let Taz handle the paperwork

Taz is an AI property manager for landlords who would rather not live in the code books. It tracks the 30-day deposit clock, sends rent reminders, takes maintenance requests day and night, and keeps the records a Missouri associate circuit judge would ask for. See how Taz works.

Where this guide says a state has no rule on something, that means we found no statute setting one, which is not the same as none existing. Local ordinances and court practice can add requirements. Confirm anything you plan to rely on.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Laws change, and your city or county may add rules. Talk to a Missouri attorney before acting on a specific situation. Last checked September 2026.