How to Evict a Roommate in Missouri (and Other Household Situations)
What Missouri law says about roommates who are not on the lease, guests who won't leave, family members, renting a room in your own home, and tenancies at will — each with the statute or official source.
Short answer: Missouri's landlord-tenant law defines a tenant as any person who occupies the premises with the landlord's consent. So an occupant who is not on the written lease can still be a tenant if the landlord has consented to them living there; someone living there without the landlord's consent is not the landlord's tenant. No statute sets out separate rules for roommates. RSMo 441.005
| Roommate not on the lease | Missouri's landlord-tenant law defines a tenant as any person who occupies the premises with the landlord's consent. So an occupant who is not on the written lease can still be a tenant if the landlord has consented to them living there; someone living there without the landlord's consent is not the landlord's tenant. No statute sets out separate rules for roommates. Whether the landlord consented is a question of fact (for example, accepting rent from the occupant). The lease usually controls who may live in the unit. Source: RSMo 441.005 |
|---|---|
| Removing a roommate or subtenant | No roommate-specific statute. A tenant who rents to a subtenant acts as that person's lessor. A subtenant whose term has ended, or who holds over after the term of the person they claim under, can be removed through an unlawful detainer case in court; a month-to-month or at-will occupancy is first ended with one month's written notice. Notice rule: https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=441.060. Lockouts and self-help removal are risky; the court process is the safe route. |
| Guests who won't leave | No statute sets a number of days after which a guest becomes a tenant. Under the definition of tenant, the question is whether the person occupies with the landlord's consent. A person who wrongfully keeps possession and refuses to leave after a written demand from the person entitled to possession can be removed through an unlawful detainer case. Missouri's fast-track removal procedure for unauthorized occupants cannot be used against guests of the owner. Unlawful detainer: https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=534.030. |
| Removing a family member or partner | No statute addresses removing a family member or partner who has no lease. Missouri's expedited unauthorized-occupant procedure does not apply to immediate family members of the property owner, so an owner generally must use an ordinary court possession case (such as unlawful detainer after written demand or notice). |
| Renting a room in your own home (lodgers) | No statute. Missouri has no separate lodger or roomer law. The definitions in the landlord-tenant chapter contain no exclusion for lodgers, so a person renting a room with the owner's consent generally falls under the ordinary tenant rules. Source: RSMo 441.005 |
| Tenancy at will | A tenancy at will or by sufferance, or a tenancy for less than one year, may be ended by the person entitled to possession by giving one month's written notice to the person in possession requiring them to leave. Unwritten leases of houses and other buildings in cities, towns and villages are treated as month-to-month tenancies (441.060.3). Source: RSMo 441.060.1 |
Never remove someone by changing the locks or taking their belongings: if the person has become a tenant, only a court can order them out. If there is violence or a threat, call 911 and ask about a protective order.
Templates
Missouri eviction laws · Free legal help in Missouri · Roommate rules in other states
General legal information, not legal advice. Laws change and local rules can differ; check the linked official source or talk to a lawyer about your situation.