Missouri: Security Deposit Return Deadlines & Deductions
The short answer
A Missouri landlord has 30 days after the tenancy ends to either return the full deposit or mail an itemized list of damages along with whatever's left. The deposit itself can't exceed two months' rent, and it has to sit in an insured bank, credit union, or depository institution account — but any interest it earns belongs to the landlord, not you. A landlord who wrongfully withholds any part of the deposit owes you double the amount wrongfully withheld; the statute itself doesn't add attorney's fees on top of that.
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This is the general rule in Missouri. Ezel applies current Missouri law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law | Mo. Rev. Stat. § 535.300 |
|---|---|
| Deadline to return the deposit | 30 days after termination of the tenancy — return the full deposit, or mail a written itemized list of damages plus the balance, to the tenant's last known address |
| Itemized statement required? | Yes, within the same 30 days, if any amount is withheld; if the deduction includes carpet cleaning, the landlord must also give the tenant a receipt for the actual carpet-cleaning cost within 30 days |
| What can be deducted | Unpaid rent; the cost to restore the unit to its move-in condition, ordinary wear and tear excepted (a lease may separately authorize a flat carpet-cleaning charge regardless of actual damage, with required tenant notice); actual damages from the tenant's failure to give adequate notice before ending the tenancy, if the landlord made reasonable efforts to re-lease. Pet deposits are excluded from the statute's definition of "security deposit" entirely. |
| Maximum deposit amount | 2 months' rent |
| Interest on the deposit? | No — any interest the deposit earns belongs to the landlord, not the tenant |
| Penalty for a late/bad-faith withholding | Mandatory 2x the amount wrongfully withheld. The statute itself doesn't add attorney's fees on top of that (despite some secondary sources and the live CTA template claiming otherwise). |
| Separate account or bond required? | Yes — must be held in a bank, credit union, or other depository institution insured by a federal agency (no separate trust or anti-commingling requirement in the current text) |
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Requirements one by one
Governing law
Missouri's entire security deposit scheme lives in one section, Mo. Rev.
Stat. § 535.300, inside the Landlord-Tenant Actions chapter.
Deadline to return the deposit
The clock is 30 days after the tenancy ends. The landlord has to "[r]eturn
the full amount of the security deposit," or instead "[f]urnish to the
tenant a written itemized list of the damages for which the security deposit
or any portion thereof is withheld, along with the balance of the security
deposit" — and the statute specifically says the landlord satisfies this duty
"by mailing such statement and any payment to the last known address of the
tenant" (§ 535.300.3). Mailing on time counts, even if the tenant hasn't
received it yet.
Itemized statement required?
Yes, if the landlord is withholding anything. The itemized list has to
accompany the balance and go out within the same 30 days. There's a related
wrinkle for carpet cleaning specifically: if a lease authorizes a flat
carpet-cleaning charge (allowed even without actual damage, as long as the
lease also warns the tenant they could owe more for cleaning beyond ordinary
wear and tear), "[w]ithin thirty days of the end of the tenancy, the landlord
shall provide the tenant a receipt for the actual carpet cleaning costs"
(§ 535.300.4(2)).
What can be deducted
Three categories: unpaid rent; the cost to restore the unit to its move-in
condition, "ordinary wear and tear excepted"; and actual damages from the
tenant ending the tenancy without adequate notice, but only if the landlord
"makes reasonable efforts to mitigate damages" by trying to re-lease the
unit (§ 535.300.4). One scope point worth knowing: the statute's own
definition of "security deposit" carves out pet deposits by name — "[t]his
term does not include any money or property denominated as a deposit for a
pet on the premises" (§ 535.300.8) — so a pet deposit sits outside this
statute's cap, deadline, and penalty protections entirely.
Maximum deposit amount
Two months' rent. The statute is direct about it: "A landlord may not demand
or receive a security deposit in excess of two months' rent" (§ 535.300.1).
Interest on the deposit?
No — and the statute doesn't just stay silent on it, it affirmatively assigns
the interest to the landlord: "Any interest earned on a security deposit
shall be the property of the landlord" (§ 535.300.2).
Penalty for a late/bad-faith withholding
Double damages, and the statute's wording makes it sound automatic rather
than something a court can scale back: "If the landlord wrongfully withholds
all or any portion of the security deposit in violation of this section, the
tenant shall recover as damages twice the amount wrongfully withheld"
(§ 535.300.6). What the statute does NOT do is add attorney's fees to that
remedy — nothing in § 535.300 mentions attorney's fees at all, despite that
claim appearing in some secondary sources and in the CTA template linked
from this page.
Separate account or bond required?
Yes, though it's a lighter requirement than a full trust arrangement: the
deposit must sit "in a bank, credit union, or depository institution which is
insured by an agency of the federal government" (§ 535.300.2). The current
statute doesn't require a dedicated trust account or bar commingling with the
landlord's other funds — Missouri briefly had a stricter anti-commingling
rule from 2016 to 2018, but that language was removed by a later amendment
and isn't part of current law.
What trips people up
Missouri doesn't require attorney's fees for a security-deposit claim,
even though double damages are mandatory. Section 535.300.6 stops at
"twice the amount wrongfully withheld" — a tenant would need a separate legal
basis (like a fee-shifting provision in a different statute or contract) to
recover fees on top of that.
You have a right to be present at the move-out inspection, and the
landlord has to tell you when it is. Separately from the itemized-list
deadline, § 535.300.5 requires the landlord to give written or in-person
notice of the date and time of the post-move-out inspection, and the tenant
"shall have the right to be present."
A pet deposit isn't a "security deposit" under this statute at all. The
cap, the 30-day deadline, and the double-damages penalty all key off the
statute's own definition of "security deposit" — and that definition
expressly excludes anything labeled a pet deposit.
Common questions
My landlord kept my whole deposit and never sent anything — what am I
owed? If the withholding was wrongful, you can recover twice the amount
wrongfully withheld under § 535.300.6, on top of getting the wrongfully
withheld amount itself back.
Can my landlord charge me a flat carpet-cleaning fee even if the carpet
wasn't damaged? Yes, if your lease says so and also warns you that you
could owe more if the carpet needs cleaning beyond ordinary wear and tear —
but the landlord still has to give you a receipt for the actual cleaning
cost within 30 days of the end of the tenancy.
Do I get interest on my deposit while my landlord holds it? No. Missouri
law gives any interest earned on the account to the landlord, not the
tenant.
Statutes and sources
- Mo. Rev. Stat. § 535.300.1 — two-month deposit cap.
https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=535.300 (accessed 2026-07-06) - Mo. Rev. Stat. § 535.300.2 — insured-account requirement; interest belongs to the landlord.
https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=535.300 (accessed 2026-07-06) - Mo. Rev. Stat. § 535.300.3 — 30-day return/itemization deadline.
https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=535.300 (accessed 2026-07-06) - Mo. Rev. Stat. § 535.300.4 — permitted deductions, including the carpet-cleaning carve-out.
https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=535.300 (accessed 2026-07-06) - Mo. Rev. Stat. § 535.300.5 — tenant's right to notice of, and presence at, the move-out inspection.
https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=535.300 (accessed 2026-07-06) - Mo. Rev. Stat. § 535.300.6 — mandatory double damages for wrongful withholding.
https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=535.300 (accessed 2026-07-06) - Mo. Rev. Stat. § 535.300.8 — definition of "security deposit," excluding pet deposits.
https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=535.300 (accessed 2026-07-06)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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