Missouri Landlord Compliance Kit: Deposit, Notice and Eviction Checklists with an Excel Tracker

Who it is for

Landlords and property managers with rentals in Missouri, and tenants who want the same record, from move-in through move-out or a court case.

Not the right fit if

Your rental is outside Missouri: get that state's kit. Not legal advice, not a lawyer's review of a lease, notice or court case, and not a set of legal notice forms; city and county rules aren't covered.

Why it is different

• Built only from our Missouri data files, checked November 2026 against 7 official pages, among them Missouri Revisor of Statutes: RSMo 535.300; Missouri Revisor of Statutes: RSMo 441.060; Missouri Attorney General: Missouri's Landlord-Tenant Law; Missouri Revisor of Statutes: RSMo 535.020; Revised Statutes of Missouri 535.040; RSMo 535.030 Service of summons, court date included in summons (Revisor of Missouri), plus FindLaw Codes and Justia (statute text) and Nolo and National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel (a vetted secondary source, marked in the kit) where no official page could be read.
• 6 items the official pages didn't state are left out of the rules and put on a short look-up list with the page to check, never guessed.
• The workbook recalculates with zero formula errors and works out Missouri notice and deposit dates for you.

What is inside

• Start here. How to use the kit, the 17 confirmed Missouri rules at a glance and a short look-up list of 6 points to check: late fee limits, filing fee, judgment to writ, writ to lockout, who carries out the lockout, diversion or mediation (statewide), each with the official page.
• Missouri landlord rules checklist. Deposits, notice periods, the eviction case and the small claims limit, each confirmed rule with its source link and check date. What it confirms: deposit limit: No more than two months' rent (535.300.1); return deadline: Within 30 days after the tenancy ends: the full deposit, or a written itemized list of damages with the balance (535.300.3); itemized list of deductions: A written itemized list of the damages for which any part is withheld (535.300.3); interest on the deposit: Interest earned on a security deposit belongs to the landlord (535.300.2); where the deposit is held: Held by the landlord for the tenant in a bank, credit union or depository institution insured by an agency of the federal government; housing authorities and other government landlords are exempt (535.300.2); penalty the law states: Twice the amount wrongfully withheld (535.300.6); ending month-to-month (landlord): One month's written notice by either side, ending on a rent-paying date at least one month after the notice is received; ending month-to-month (tenant): One month's written notice by either side, ending on a rent-paying date at least one month after the notice is received; rent increase notice: Under an oral agreement, rent can be raised on one month's notice; unpaid rent notice: No notice period before filing a rent and possession case: the landlord states that rent was demanded and not paid, and the notice in RSMo 441.060 isn't required; entry notice: No entry notice statute for entry during a tenancy: Nolo's 50-state chart (updated 7/18/2025) lists Missouri as 'No statute'; court: The landlord files a sworn statement with an associate circuit judge in the county where the property is; time to answer or appear: The summons requires the tenant to appear before the judge on the day it names and show cause why possession shouldn't be restored; hearing after filing: The summons must be served at least four days before the court date it names, or at least ten days before when it's served by posting and mailing (the earliest date here assumes personal service on the filing day); paying to stop the case: In a rent and possession case, tendering the rent with all costs to the judge at the hearing avoids a judgment for possession; right to counsel (statewide): No statewide right to counsel for tenants in eviction cases (as of November 2026, per the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel): its tracker of enacted laws lists no statewide law here.
• Move-in and move-out deposit checklist. A room-by-room condition checklist for both visits and the steps after move-out, with Missouri's return deadline (within 30 days).
• Notice calendar. When each notice must go out: the lead time for every notice the state's text confirms, with a 2027 month-by-month serve-by table worked out with our notice date calculator's rules.
• Eviction timeline sheet. The Missouri case in order from notice to lockout, with each confirmed stage, an example dated from a sample filing day where the rules give periods, and blanks for your own case dates.
• Missouri landlord workbook (Excel). A tenant notice log that dates each notice from the Missouri rules, a deposit tracker that works out the return date for each move-out, and a rent ledger with a running balance.