Breaking a lease in Missouri

Missouri has no general statute letting a tenant end a fixed-term lease early. Two statutes change the result in particular cases: a tenant who was, or was in imminent danger of becoming, a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking, and who notified you and gave any documentation you requested has a defense to rent for the period after moving out, and a tenant whose home is destroyed by an act of God or other disaster they did not cause owes no rent for the rest of the term (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 441.920.3; Mo. Rev. Stat. § 441.645).

• You may charge a reasonable termination fee to a tenant who ends the lease early under the victim protection section (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 441.920.6).See Fair housing on the Missouri page
• When a tenant fails to give adequate notice to terminate, you may withhold your actual damages from the deposit only if you make reasonable efforts to mitigate (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 535.300.4(3)).See Returning the deposit on the Missouri page
• In a landlord action under chapters 441, 534 or 535, the victim-related rent protection is an affirmative defense. The court must find by a preponderance of the evidence that the tenant was a victim or in imminent danger of becoming one, notified the landlord and supplied any requested statutory documentation. The rent protection concerns the period after the tenant vacates (Mo. Rev. Stat. section 441.920.3-.4).See Fair housing on the Missouri page

A tenant who has lawfully lived in the home for six consecutive months, paid all rent and charges due in that time, and received no written notice of an uncured lease or house rule violation may use repair and deduct. The condition must detrimentally affect habitability, sanitation or security and violate a local housing or building code, and its reasonable repair cost must be less than $300 or half the periodic rent, whichever is greater, but never more than one month's rent. If you do not fix it within 14 days after the tenant's written notice, or as promptly as an emergency requires, the tenant may have the work done in a workmanlike manner and, after giving you an itemized statement with receipts, deduct the actual and reasonable cost from rent (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 441.234.1, .2).

• If you give the tenant a written statement disputing the need for the repair within the notice period, the tenant may not deduct unless, before the work, they get written certification from the local government that the condition violates the housing or building code; you then have 14 days from the later of the certification or the tenant's notice (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 441.234.2).
• The tenant may not deduct more than one month's rent in total in any 12 months, or repair at your expense a condition caused by the deliberate or negligent act of the tenant, their family or someone on the premises with their consent (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 441.234.3).
• The remedy does not replace the tenant's other legal remedies, and no lease may waive it (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 441.234.2).

A tenant for a term of two years or less, or at will or by sufferance, may not assign or transfer the tenancy, or any part of it, without your written assent (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 441.030).

• If the tenant does, you may give ten days' notice to vacate and then retake possession, removing the tenant and any subtenant, by the procedure the law sets (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 441.040).
• In a rent or possession case, if the tenant let someone else take sole possession without your permission, the court may award damages of up to twice the rent due, on top of the rent (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 534.347).
• If the tenant sublets, you may name the tenant and every subtenant as defendants in the same action (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 441.230).

You or the tenant may end a month-to-month tenancy with written notice stating that it ends on a periodic rent-paying date at least one month after the other side receives the notice (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 441.060.4(1)).

• A tenancy at will, by sufferance or for less than one year may be ended by the person entitled to possession with one month's written notice to vacate (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 441.060.1).
• A tenancy from year to year ends with written notice given at least 60 days before the end of the year (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 441.050).
• A rental of a house, apartment or other building that is not made in a writing signed by the parties is a month-to-month tenancy, unless it is a rental of real estate for agricultural purposes other than gardening (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 441.060.3).
• No notice to quit is needed for a tenancy that ends on a set date, or when the parties agreed to dispense with notice (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 441.070).
• A tenant who gives written notice to leave on a date and stays afterward owes double rent for the time they remain (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 441.100).
• For an oral tenancy, a tenancy at will, or one for less than a year, a termination notice can be changed or withdrawn only by a writing dated after the notice; oral testimony cannot vary it (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 441.120.2).

Within 30 days after the date the tenancy terminates, you must either return the full deposit or give the tenant a written itemized list of the damages you are withholding for, together with the balance. Mailing the statement and any payment to the tenant's last known address meets this duty. If you wrongfully withhold any part of the deposit, the tenant recovers twice the amount wrongfully withheld (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 535.300.3, .6).

• You may withhold only amounts reasonably necessary to cover unpaid rent due under the rental agreement, to restore the unit to its condition at the start of the tenancy (ordinary wear and tear excepted), or to cover your actual damages when the tenant failed to give adequate notice to terminate, provided you make reasonable efforts to mitigate (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 535.300.4).
• If the lease sets carpet cleaning amounts and also tells the tenant they may be liable for actual carpet cleaning costs beyond ordinary wear and tear, you may withhold the agreed amounts you actually spend on carpet cleaning and those excess actual costs; within 30 days after the tenancy ends, give the tenant a receipt for the actual carpet cleaning costs (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 535.300.4(2)).
• Give the tenant reasonable written notice, at their last known address or in person, of the date and time of the move-out inspection, hold it at a reasonable time, and let the tenant attend (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 535.300.5).
• You may still sue for actual damages beyond the deposit, and the tenant may not apply the deposit to rent in place of paying it (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 535.300.7).