Late Rent Fee Limits in Missouri

At a glance

Requirements one by one

The residential chapters do not supply a late-fee formula

Missouri's current official chapter indexes place ordinary landlord-tenant rules, rent collection, and related housing procedures in RSMo §§ 441.005- 441.920. Rent-and-possession actions and security deposits are in RSMo §§ 535.010-535.300. Those indexes contain no residential section setting a late fee's amount, grace period, disclosure, accrual method, calculation base, or special tenant remedy.

That does not turn an eviction clock into a fee rule. Chapter 535 covers what a landlord may do when rent is unpaid, but its procedure is not a statutory grace period before a late charge may attach.

What trips people up

The $20-or-20% rule is for storage units. RSMo § 415.400 names §§ 415.400- 415.425 the "Self-Service Storage Facilities Act." Section 415.417 then creates a written-agreement requirement, monthly structure, and a safe harbor of $20 or 20% of the monthly rental amount, whichever is greater. Its parties are an "operator" and "occupant" of a self-service storage facility, not a residential landlord and tenant.

No residential statutory grace period appears in the housing chapters. A lease or form may choose a number of days, but that number is not supplied by chs. 441 or 535.

Common questions

Does Missouri cap an apartment late fee at 20%? No. The 20% figure in § 415.417 belongs to the Self-Service Storage Facilities Act.

Does Chapter 535's rent-and-possession process create a late-fee grace period? No. The chapter governs a court remedy for unpaid rent; its index does not prescribe when a residential late fee may attach.

Does Missouri require a residential late fee to be written into the lease? The writing rule in § 415.417 is storage-specific. The fetched residential chapters contain no late-fee-specific writing or assessment-notice rule.

Statutes and sources

• RSMo §§ 441.005-441.300, official Chapter 441 index — general landlord-tenant provisions and collection of rent, with no late-fee section. Official source: https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneChapter.aspx?chapter=441 (accessed 2026-08-17)

• RSMo §§ 535.010-535.300, official Chapter 535 index — rent-and-possession, landlord-tenant courts, and security deposits, with no late-fee section. Official source: https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneChapter.aspx?chapter=535 (accessed 2026-08-17)

• RSMo § 415.400 — identifies the separate storage-facility act.

  Sections 415.400 to 415.425 shall be known and may be cited as the "Self-Service Storage Facilities Act".

Official source: https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=415.400 (accessed 2026-08-17)

• RSMo § 415.417(1)-(6) — storage-only late-fee rules, including the writing rule, monthly structure, and $20-or-20% safe harbor.

  Any late fee charged by the operator shall be stated in the rental agreement. ... An operator may impose a reasonable late fee for each month an occupant does not pay rent when due. ... A late fee of twenty dollars or twenty percent of the monthly rental amount, whichever is greater, for each late rental payment shall be deemed reasonable, and shall not constitute a penalty.

Official source: https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=415.417 (accessed 2026-08-17)