Rent Increases in Missouri: What Are My Rights?
Your landlord can raise your rent, but Missouri law limits how and when. This page covers the rules for month-to-month rentals, written leases, and mobile home lot rents. It also covers steps you can take if your rent goes up.
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No city or county in Missouri can pass a law that limits how much a landlord may charge for rent. That rule covers privately owned homes of any size, from a single-family house to a building with many units. It also covers privately owned commercial rental property. A city or county with its own charter cannot pass this kind of law either.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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Missouri's ban on local rent control does not stop a city, county, or public authority from setting rent on property it owns. A city, county, or authority can also agree, voluntarily, with a landlord to limit rent on certain housing. That kind of housing is where the government helps pay part of the rent. A city or county can still limit rent on housing built using certain government grant money.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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If you rent in Missouri without a signed written lease, the law treats your rental as month to month. On this kind of rental, your landlord can raise your rent by giving you one month's notice. One month's notice means a full calendar month, not just 30 days, and it must cover a full rental period. For example, say your rent is due on the 3rd of the month. Then your rental period runs from the 3rd of one month to the 3rd of the next.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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If you rent month to month in Missouri and your landlord raises the rent, you do not have to accept it and stay. Missouri law gives you the same right your landlord has: you can give your own one month's notice to end the rental and move out. Your notice must also cover a full calendar month and a full rental period, just like your landlord's notice must.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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If you let someone else move in and take over your rent payments, ask your landlord first. Without that approval, Missouri law allows your landlord to double your rent. For example, if your rent is $800 a month, your landlord could raise it to $1,600.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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If you own a manufactured or mobile home and rent only the land it sits on in a shared land-lease community, special rules apply. If your landlord plans to make everyone move because it is changing how the land is used, it must give 120 days' notice. If more than 120 days remain on your lease, your landlord must give notice that far ahead instead. Your landlord cannot raise your rent in the 60 days before that notice, or at any time after it. The only allowed increase is one caused only by higher property taxes.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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Before you agree to pay a higher rent, read your lease from start to finish to see if it says anything about rent changes. If any part is unclear, ask your landlord to explain it before you agree to anything new.
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Ask your landlord to give you any rent increase in writing, including the exact new dollar amount and the date it starts. Keep a copy for your own records in case you need to show it later.
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If you cannot pay a higher rent, talk to your landlord before the new amount starts. Ask whether a smaller increase, a payment plan, or more time is possible.
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