Things left behind

Before the eviction, the state marshal must try to tell you the date and time it will happen. The marshal must also give the town's chief official 24 hours notice before removing you. Anything left behind is taken to a storage location. If you do not claim your things and pay the storage cost within 15 days, the town can sell them at a public auction.

After law enforcement removes you, the landlord must give you reasonable access to the home for 72 hours. You can use it to get your personal property. After 72 hours, the landlord may move what is left to the curb, a garbage area, or another place agreed with you.

Missouri law lets your landlord treat your home as abandoned (given up) once two things are both true. Your rent has been unpaid for 30 days. Your landlord also reasonably believes you have moved out for good and do not plan to come back. Before treating your home as abandoned, your landlord must post a written notice on your door. Your landlord must also mail the same notice to your last known address, by regular mail and by certified mail with a return receipt.

If Missouri treats your home as abandoned (given up), you have 10 days after your landlord both posts and mails the notice to respond. Paying what you owe, or telling your landlord in writing you have not moved out, stops your home from being treated as abandoned. If you do not respond in time, your landlord may remove your belongings and dispose of them.

Missouri has a different rule for a home a tenant left behind. It is not the same as a landlord locking you out. The rule applies only if your landlord reasonably believes you moved out for good, and your rent has been unpaid for 30 days. Your landlord must post a written notice on your home. Your landlord must also mail a notice to your last known address by first-class and certified mail with a return receipt. You then have 10 days after both the posting and the mailing to pay rent or write back. If you do not, your landlord may remove your things. Save texts and emails as well; they are also a record of what you sent.

You may be removed with your things still inside. Then the landlord must mail you a letter about them. You have 10 days to act, counted from the postmark (the date the post office stamps on the envelope) on that letter. Get your things back, or ask the landlord to store them. If you do nothing, the landlord can throw your things away.

Say a sheriff or constable removes you from your home. You may not get to your things until you pay what it cost to move and store them. The landlord, sheriff, or constable must give you reasonable access to your property within 5 business days after the removal. That is only for some items, for example clothing.

A court order may give the landlord the home. If you do not remove all your belongings by the time the order sets, the landlord may remove and store them, among other choices. The landlord may get rid of stored belongings after 30 days without any liability (legal responsibility) in two cases. One is that you have not paid the reasonable costs of storage and removal and have not taken them back. The other is that the storage costs equal their value.

Stored belongings worth more than $300 may get 30 more days. This applies if they were not removed within 30 days with the required fees paid. The landlord must then store them for up to 30 more days. You, or a person holding a security interest in them (a lender's legal claim on them), must tell the landlord you intend to remove them. You or that person must also pay the reasonable costs of storage and removal.