Can I Sue My Landlord in Missouri?
Yes — in many situations. These are the main claims Missouri tenants bring, what the law lets you recover, and where to file. Each rule links to the statute or official source. Most claims under the small claims limit can be filed without a lawyer.
Before you sue
- Write down what happened, with dates, and keep photos, texts, emails and receipts.
- Send your landlord a written demand (templates below) and give a reasonable deadline.
- Check the deadline to sue and the court's dollar limit (below).
- If the amount is over the small claims limit, or you are facing eviction, talk to a lawyer or legal aid first.
Your security deposit wasn't returned
| Penalty for withholding | Tenant may recover twice the amount wrongfully withheld. Annotation on the Revisor page cites PDQ Tower Services v. Adams, 213 S.W.3d 697 (Mo. App. W.D. 2007): double-damages provision does not apply to commercial tenants. Source: RSMo 535.300.6 |
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| Deposit return deadline | Within 30 days after the tenancy ends, the landlord must return the full deposit or send an itemized list of damages along with any remaining balance. Mailing to the tenant's last known address satisfies the duty. Landlord must give the tenant reasonable written notice of the move-out inspection, and the tenant may attend (535.300.5). Source: RSMo 535.300.3 |
Free Missouri security deposit demand letter
You were locked out or your utilities were cut off
| Lockouts & utility shutoffs | Prohibited. A landlord who removes or excludes a tenant or the tenant's property without judicial process and court order, or removes doors or locks, is guilty of forcible entry and detainer. The same applies to willfully interrupting essential services (electric, gas, water, sewer) unless done for health or safety reasons. Tenant can sue under Ch. 534, which awards double damages and double monthly rents/profits until restitution. Exception: abandonment procedure under RSMo 441.065. Damages: https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=534.330 Source: RSMo 441.233; 534.330 |
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Your landlord retaliated after you complained
| Landlord retaliation | No general statewide anti-retaliation statute for residential tenants. No section of Chs. 441, 534 or 535 bars retaliation against residential tenants. Fair-housing retaliation rules and local ordinances may apply. Whether courts recognize a common-law retaliatory-eviction defense is not settled by statute. Chapter lists: https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneChapter.aspx?chapter=534 and https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneChapter.aspx?chapter=535. |
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Your landlord won't make repairs
| Repair and deduct | Allowed in narrow cases: tenant must have lived there 6 consecutive months, be current on rent, and have no uncured written lease-violation notice. The condition must affect habitability, sanitation, or security and violate a local housing/building code. Reasonable repair cost must be under $300 or one-half month's rent, whichever is greater, but never more than one month's rent. Tenant gives written notice; landlord has 14 days (or promptly in an emergency) to fix. Tenant then gives an itemized statement with receipts. Total deductions are capped at one month's rent in any 12-month period. If the landlord disputes the repair in writing, the tenant must first get municipal written certification of the code violation. The 14 days then run from certification or notice, whichever is later. This right cannot be waived by lease. Source: RSMo 441.234 |
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| Withholding rent | No general right to withhold rent. The AG says a tenant who withholds rent may be evicted. Exceptions: repair-and-deduct under 441.234, and court-ordered rent payments in a deficient-housing/nuisance receivership action, which are a defense to eviction for nonpayment. Per the AG guide 'Missouri's Landlord-Tenant Law' (revised Sept. 2025). For 441.580, see https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=441.580 Source: RSMo 441.234; 441.570-441.580 |
| Mold | No statute — Missouri has no mold disclosure or remediation law. Missouri courts recognize an implied warranty of habitability as case law, not statute. Local housing codes set specific standards. If a condition that detrimentally affects habitability or sanitation violates a local housing or building code, an eligible tenant may use the statutory repair-and-deduct remedy. To qualify, the tenant must have lived there 6 consecutive months, be current on rent, and have no uncured lease-violation notices. Chapter 441 contents checked: https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneChapter.aspx?chapter=441. Local ordinances (e.g., in Kansas City and St. Louis) may contain moisture or mold standards. |
| Pests & bed bugs | No statute — no state law assigns pest or bed bug treatment or requires disclosure. The lease, local housing codes and the case-law implied warranty of habitability govern. Where an infestation violates a local housing code, an eligible tenant may use the repair-and-deduct remedy. Local codes in larger cities typically make owners responsible for extermination in multi-unit buildings. |
| Heat | No statewide minimum temperature or heating season for rentals. Heat requirements come from local housing codes and the lease. By statute, in master-metered multi-unit buildings, the utility must post notice 5 days before shutting off heat-related service for the owner's nonpayment. Tenants may then petition for a receiver, and service may not be cut while the petition is pending. Source: RSMo 441.650; ch. 441 (checked) |
Free Missouri repair request letter to landlord
Your landlord entered without notice or invaded your privacy
| Landlord entry notice | No statute — entry and notice before entry are governed by the lease. No section of the landlord-tenant (Ch. 441), forcible entry and unlawful detainer (Ch. 534) or rent-and-possession (Ch. 535) chapters sets a landlord right of entry or an entry-notice period. In a code-enforcement nuisance case, an owner's inability to get access despite good-faith efforts is a defense (RSMo 441.560). Chapter lists: https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneChapter.aspx?chapter=534 and https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneChapter.aspx?chapter=535. |
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| Cameras & privacy | No landlord-specific statute. It is the crime of invasion of privacy to knowingly photograph, film or otherwise create an image of someone, without consent, while they are fully or partly nude in a place where they would reasonably expect privacy. It is also a crime to create images under or through someone's clothing. This is a class A misdemeanor, and a class E felony if the image is distributed, more than one person is captured, or it is a repeat offense. Recording conversations is lawful if the recorder is a party or one party consents (one-party consent). 542.402: https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=542.402. Missouri has no statute on landlord entry; the lease governs. Source: RSMo 565.252; RSMo 542.402.2 |
You were refused or treated differently because of Section 8 or other income
| Statewide ban on refusing Section 8 / source of income | No. Missouri has no statewide ban on refusing voucher holders. Since 28 Aug 2025, cities and counties (including charter governments) are also barred from enacting, keeping, or enforcing ordinances that stop landlords from refusing tenants whose rent is paid partly with federal or other housing assistance. Local ordinances protecting recipients of veterans' benefits remain allowed. The ban covers 'maintain' and 'enforce', so it reaches existing local ordinances. Whether the state Human Rights Act (RSMo Ch. 213) lists source of income was not separately checked. |
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Other claims tenants bring in Missouri
| Injuries on the property | No statute — Missouri's landlord-tenant chapters do not set a rule on a landlord's liability for injuries on rental property. Injury claims are decided by the courts under general negligence and premises-liability law. Missouri's repair-and-deduct law (RSMo 441.234) lets a qualifying tenant fix certain code violations, but it does not itself create injury liability. Talk to a lawyer about any injury claim — filing deadlines apply. |
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Where and when to sue
| Small claims limit | $5,000, not counting interest and costs, in tort or contract cases. A plaintiff with a larger claim may still file in small claims but gives up any amount over $5,000, now and in any later case on the same issues. § 482.305 effective August 28, 2011. Source: RSMo 482.305; RSMo 482.315 |
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| Small claims filing fee | The plaintiff pays court costs and a deposit to secure costs, set under RSMo 488.010-488.020, plus the cost of service in advance. Small claims forms and clerk assistance are free. Ask the clerk for the current deposit amount. |
| Deadline to sue on a written lease | 10 years for an action upon a writing for the payment of money (a written lease's promise to pay rent); 5 years for other contract actions, including oral leases and lease claims not 'for the payment of money' (e.g., some damage/covenant claims). 5-year statute: https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=516.120. Revisor annotation (Bangert v. Boise Cascade, 1976) applied the 5-year period, not 10, to liquidated damages for breach of a lease covenant not to assign — which limit applies depends on whether the claim is for money the writing promises to pay. Source: RSMo 516.110(1); RSMo 516.120(1) |
How small claims court works in Missouri →
Tenant lawyers and free legal aid in Missouri · Missouri tenant rights · Suing a landlord 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.