Security Deposit Not Returned in Missouri: What Can I Do?
Missouri law sets a deadline for your landlord to return your deposit or send you a written list explaining what money it is keeping. It also covers what your landlord can take from your deposit and what you can do if your landlord breaks these rules.
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In Missouri, your landlord has 30 days after your rental ends to deal with your deposit. Your landlord must do one of two things in that time. It can return your full deposit to you. Or it can send you a written list of each damage it is keeping money for, along with the rest of your deposit.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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Your landlord can meet the 30-day deadline for returning your deposit or sending the list of each charge by mail, instead of in person. Missouri law says your landlord meets that deadline once it mails the money or the list to your last known address.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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After you move out, your landlord must give you reasonable written notice before it inspects your home. Your landlord can send that notice to your last known address or give it to you in person. The inspection must happen at a reasonable time, and it decides how much of your deposit your landlord will keep. You have the right to be there when your landlord does the inspection.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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In Missouri, your landlord can take money from your deposit to cover rent you did not pay under your lease. Your lease is the written rental agreement between you and your landlord. Your landlord can only take the amount of unpaid rent you actually owe, not more.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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Missouri law lets your landlord take money from your deposit to pay for damage to the home. That only covers damage beyond wear and tear (the usual aging that happens from everyday living). Your landlord cannot take money from your deposit for that normal wear and tear.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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Your lease can set a fee for carpet cleaning, but only if it warns you that you could owe more than that fee. If your lease has that warning, your landlord can take the actual cost of carpet cleaning from your deposit. That cost is on top of wear and tear (the usual aging from everyday use). Your landlord must give you a receipt for that actual cost within 30 days after you move out.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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Your lease or Missouri law may require you to give notice before you move out and end your lease. If you do not give that notice, your landlord can take the actual money it loses from your deposit. Your landlord can only do this if it makes reasonable efforts to keep that loss as small as possible. Your landlord cannot take more from your deposit than the actual money it lost.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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Your landlord can take money from your deposit for its loss from your late or missing move-out notice. Before it does, Missouri law requires your landlord to first make a reasonable effort to keep that money loss as low as possible.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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Missouri's deposit law does not cover deposits charged only for a pet. The law defines a deposit as money or property you give your landlord tied to your lease promises, including money for damage. That definition leaves out any money charged and labeled only as a pet deposit. If your landlord charged you a deposit just for having a pet, Missouri's deposit law does not apply to that money.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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If damage to your home costs more to fix than your deposit, your landlord can sue you for the rest of that money. Keeping your deposit does not stop your landlord from doing this. Missouri law does not cap what your landlord can recover from you at the amount of your deposit.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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Missouri law does not let you use your deposit to cover rent instead of paying it. It applies at any time during your lease, not only near the end. If you skip a rent payment expecting your deposit to cover it, your landlord could start the legal process to evict you. Pay your rent as usual, and deal with your deposit separately after you move out.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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Your landlord may keep all or part of your deposit without a legal right to it. If so, you can sue for twice the amount it kept that way. For example, if your landlord keeps $500 of your deposit without a legal right to it, you can sue for $1,000, twice that $500. You get this money only if you win your case and your landlord pays.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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