| Rent Increase Facts | Answer |
| Reason Needed? | No |
| Maximum Amount | None |
| Required Notice | No Statute (except for mobile homes) |
Does Missouri Have Rent Control?
Missouri does not have rent control laws limiting the amount landlords request. State law prohibits local governments from establishing local rent control laws.
When Can a Landlord Raise Rent in Missouri?
Landlords in Missouri can raise the rent at any time, as long as they comply with the following:
- Wait until the end of the lease term (unless otherwise specified in the lease)
- Give reasonable notice
- Aren’t raising rent for discriminatory or locally determined retaliatory reasons
60 days before the end of a year-long lease, a landlord sends the tenant a notice that rent will increase by 2.5% if they choose to renew the lease.
When Can’t a Landlord Raise Rent in Missouri?
Landlords in Missouri may not raise the rent if:
- The increase is applied in a way that discriminates against one of the protected classes specified in the Fair Housing Act
- It is during the middle of a lease’s fixed term (unless stated otherwise in the lease agreement)
Although most other states have landlord retaliation laws, Missouri law does not address retaliatory rent increases. However, local governments may have laws which ban landlord retaliation.
For example, Kansas City landlords cannot increase rent because a tenant:
- Filed a complaint with the landlord or appropriate agency regarding the health or safety of the property
- Joined or organized a tenants’ group or union
- Was the victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking
How Often Can Rent Be Increased in Missouri?
Landlords in Missouri can increase the rent as often as they wish. There is no legal limit or cap on the number of rent increases per year.
How Much Notice is Needed to Raise Rent in Missouri?
Missouri law does not require a specific notice period before raising the rent, except that 60 days’ notice is required for mobile homes (unless the rent increase is due to an increase in property taxes).
The notice period required for the termination of a lease also typically serves as reasonable notice for a rent increase:
- Year-to-year lease – 60 days’ notice
- Month-to-month lease – 30 days’ notice
How Much Can a Landlord Raise Rent in Missouri?
In Missouri, landlords can raise the rent by any amount. There is no legal limit or cap on the amount of a rent increase.
Sources
- 1 Mo. Rev. Stat. § 441.043
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No county or city, or county or city with a charter form of government may enact, maintain, or enforce any ordinance or resolution which regulates the amount of rent to be charged for privately-owned, single-family, or multiple-unit residential or commercial rental property. This section shall not be construed as prohibiting any county or city, or any authority created by a county or city for that purpose, from:
(1) Regulating in any way property belonging to that city, county, or authority;
(2) Entering into agreements with private persons which regulate the amount of rent charged for subsidized rental properties; or
(3) Enacting ordinances or resolutions restricting rent for properties assisted with community development block grant funds.
Source Link - 2 Kansas City Code of Ord. § 50-109(d)
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A landlord or its agent may not retaliate by increasing rent or decreasing services, threatening to evict or evicting the tenant because:
(1) The tenant has complained in good faith to a governmental agency charged with responsibility for enforcement of a building or housing code of a violation applicable to the premises;
(2) The tenant has complained in good faith to the landlord or his agent of a violation of a building or housing code; or
(3) The tenant has organized or become a member of a tenants’ union or similar organization.
(4) The tenant or his or her dependent is the victim of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking and has provided to the landlord a copy of an ex-parte or full order of protection issued for the tenant or tenant’s dependent pursuant to state statute, or documentation signed by a medical provider stating that the tenant or his or her dependent is the victim of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking.
Any landlord or his agent who acts in violation of this subsection shall be deemed guilty of a violation of this section.
Source Link - 3 Mo. Rev. Stat. § 700.600
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A landlord of a manufactured or mobile home land lease community shall provide written notice to all of the community’s tenants who own their manufactured or mobile homes at least one hundred twenty days prior to requiring such tenants to vacate the property due to a change in use of the property. In cases where more than one hundred twenty days remain on a current lease, the longer time period shall apply for purposes of providing notice pursuant to this section. The landlord shall not increase the rent, except for a rent increase based solely on an increase in property taxes, for any tenant of the manufactured or mobile home land lease community during the sixty-day period prior to providing such notice or at any time after providing such notice.
Source Link - 4 Mo. Rev. Stat. § 441.050
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Either party may terminate a tenancy from year to year by giving notice, in writing, of his intention to terminate the same, not less than sixty days next before the end of the year.
Source Link
- 5 Mo. Rev. Stat. § 441.060(4)
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(1) Except as provided in subdivision (2), the landlord or the tenant may terminate a month-to-month tenancy by a written notice given to the other party stating that the tenancy shall terminate upon a periodic rent-paying date not less than one month after the receipt of the notice.
(2) When a person occupies and has an ownership interest in a mobile home and is leasing the land or the lot upon which the mobile home is located, a tenancy for less than one year may be terminated by the landlord by giving written notice to the tenant that the tenancy shall terminate not sooner than sixty days from the date the rent payment next becomes due, notwithstanding any written lease provision regarding earlier lease termination to the contrary.
Source Link
