Missouri Security Deposit Law

Maximum deposit

Landlords may not demand or receive a security deposit of more than two months' rent, though a deposit denominated as a pet deposit is excluded from the cap (RSMo § 535.300.1, .8). (RSMo § 535.300.1, RSMo § 441.043.2(3))

Two months' rent

Return deadline

Within 30 days after the tenancy ends, landlords must return the full deposit or mail an itemized list of damages along with any remaining balance (RSMo § 535.300.3). (RSMo § 535.300.3)

Itemized statement of deductions

Landlords who keep any part of the deposit must give the tenant a written itemized list of damages within 30 days after the tenancy ends (RSMo § 535.300.3(2)). (RSMo § 535.300.3(2))

Interest on the deposit

Missouri landlords do not owe tenants interest on deposits, because any interest earned belongs to the landlord, but deposits must be held in a federally insured institution (RSMo § 535.300.2). (RSMo § 535.300.2)

Deposits must be held in a federally insured bank, credit union or depository institution; any interest earned belongs to the landlord.

Penalty for wrongful withholding

A landlord who wrongfully withholds any part of the deposit owes the tenant twice the amount wrongfully withheld (RSMo § 535.300.6). (RSMo § 535.300.6)

Where the deposit is held

Missouri landlords must hold each tenant's deposit for that tenant in a bank, credit union or depository institution insured by a federal agency (RSMo § 535.300.2). (RSMo § 535.300.2)

Interest earned belongs to the landlord. Housing authorities and other government landlords are exempt from the holding rule, and the statute does not expressly bar keeping deposits in the landlord's general insured account.

Receipt or written notice of the deposit

Missouri's deposit statute requires no receipt at move-in and no notice telling the tenant where the deposit is kept (RSMo § 535.300). (RSMo § 535.300 (no receipt or bank-notice rule))

Move-in condition checklist

Missouri requires no move-in checklist, but after the lease ends the landlord must give the tenant reasonable written notice of the move-out inspection date and time, and the tenant may attend (RSMo § 535.300.5). (RSMo § 535.300.5)

Pet deposits

A Missouri pet deposit is carved out of the statutory definition of a security deposit, so it does not count toward the two-month cap or fall under the 30-day return and double-damages rules (RSMo § 535.300.8). (RSMo § 535.300.8)

The exclusion covers only money 'denominated as a deposit for a pet on the premises'; any other deposit securing the lease is a security deposit however it is labeled. The pet-deposit carve-out has been in the statute since its 1983 enactment (L. 1983 H.B. 175).

Nonrefundable fees

Missouri has no statute on nonrefundable fees, although its deposit law covers any deposit securing the lease 'however denominated' and allows lease-agreed carpet-cleaning charges to be taken from the deposit if the lease warns the tenant (RSMo § 535.300.4(2), .8). (RSMo § 535.300.4(2), .8)

Small-landlord exemptions

Missouri's deposit statute has no exemption for small or owner-occupant landlords; the only carve-out frees housing authorities and other government landlords from the insured-account rule (RSMo § 535.300.2). (RSMo § 535.300)

Deposit alternatives and installments

No Missouri statute regulates deposit-alternative products, surety bonds or installment payment of a deposit (RSMo § 535.300). (RSMo § 535.300 (current version effective 2018-08-28))