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Kansas City, Missouri High Risk Clause

Lease Acceleration Clause
in Your Lease

What it actually means, what Missouri law says, what's specific to Kansas City - and exactly what to do. In plain English.

Last reviewed: October 2026
Location: Kansas City, Missouri
Read time: 8 minutes
Not legal advice
LD
Written by
LeaseDecoded Research Team
Statutes verified against primary state sources
How this page is sourced
Every statute cited here was read in its published text before this page went live: on the state's own site where that site can be reached, otherwise on a republished copy of the code. Court decisions are quoted from the published opinion and linked to it, so you can read the original yourself.
Primary sourcesNot legal advice
Content verified against primary state statutes before publication Last updated: October 2026

Quick Summary - What You Need to Know

  • Our Missouri record of Chapter 441, §§ 535.010 to 535.300 and the unlawful detainer and judgment sections of Chapter 534 finds no statute stating a general duty to re-rent or regulating rent acceleration.
  • The deposit is where the statute speaks. § 535.300.4(3) lets a landlord withhold deposit money for actual damages from a tenant's failure to give adequate notice to terminate, "provided that the landlord makes reasonable efforts to mitigate damages."
  • The deposit rule does not cap the claim. § 535.300.7 preserves the landlord's right "to recover actual damages in excess of the security deposit", and § 535.300.6 sets damages for a wrongful withholding at twice the amount wrongfully withheld.
  • Beyond the deposit, the Supreme Court of Missouri in Rhoden Investment Co. v. Sears, Roebuck & Co. set out three landlord options on a tenant's default, and Back Ventures repeated them in 2013. Both are commercial lease cases, and no Missouri decision in our record applies the options to a residential lease.
  • A lease can price leaving instead: Paragon Group, Inc. v. Ampleman upheld an apartment lease fee of two months' rent. § 535.300 was read from an archived copy of the Revisor's page, so read its current text on revisor.mo.gov.
Section 01

Understanding the Lease Acceleration Clause

No general duty; deposit rule
Landlord duty to mitigate after an early lease break in Ka
Our Missouri record finds no statute stating a general duty to re-rent after an early break. Its mitigation words sit in the deposit rule: under Mo. Rev. Stat. § 535.300.4(3), a landlord may keep deposit money for inadequate-notice damages "provided that the landlord makes reasonable efforts to mitigate damages." The broader rule in our record comes from commercial cases.

An acceleration clause is the lease paragraph that turns the rest of your term into one bill. Miss a payment or move out early, and every month still to run is written up as payable now.

In Kansas City the question behind that bill, whether the landlord has to try to re-rent, gets a two-part answer in our Missouri record. The statute speaks to it through the deposit: Mo. Rev. Stat. § 535.300.4(3) lets a landlord keep deposit money for inadequate-notice damages "provided that the landlord makes reasonable efforts to mitigate damages."

Beyond the deposit, the rule our record holds comes from two commercial lease cases, Rhoden (1973) and Back Ventures (2013), which list three options a landlord has when a tenant defaults. A residential decision, Paragon, shows a Missouri lease pricing an early exit with a fixed fee instead.

What renters assume

An acceleration paragraph you signed makes the whole remaining term a debt, and nothing in Missouri law speaks to re-renting.

What is actually true

Missouri's statute speaks to mitigation through the deposit. Under § 535.300.4(3) a landlord may keep deposit money for inadequate-notice damages provided that the landlord makes reasonable efforts to mitigate damages, and § 535.300.6 sets damages for a wrongful withholding at twice the amount.

The three-options rule beyond the deposit comes from commercial cases, and no Missouri decision in our record applies it to a home lease.

None of the 23 rows in the comparison on this page carries a figure; each is a short label. Kansas City's reads No general duty; deposit rule.

Fourteen of the 23 labels open with Mandatory: Austin, Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, Seattle, Phoenix, Nashville, Portland, Las Vegas, Washington, Newark, Baltimore, Minneapolis and Milwaukee. Miami and Philadelphia read No duty to re-rent, Atlanta reads Likely no duty, Denver and Columbus read No statute; case law, Boston reads No statute; 93A limits, Detroit reads Non-waivable by lease, and Charlotte reads Case law; tenant proves.

Kansas City's label has two halves to read together. "No general duty" rests on Rhoden and Back Ventures, both commercial lease cases. "Deposit rule" is the proviso in § 535.300.4(3), which conditions a withholding for inadequate notice on reasonable efforts to mitigate damages.

Plain English Version

If you leave a Kansas City lease early, the Missouri statute in our record ties the landlord's re-renting effort to your deposit. The landlord may keep deposit money for losses from your short notice, provided reasonable efforts are made to cut those losses, and a wrongful withholding costs twice the amount kept.

Beyond the deposit, the rule in our record comes from commercial cases that let a landlord treat the lease as still running and collect rent. No Missouri decision in our record says how that applies to a home.

Clause decoder

Rent Acceleration Clause Example - What the Wording Looks Like in Kansas City, MO

The sample clause below is real lease language - a court quoted it word for word, and then ruled on it. What the judge decided is at the bottom of this block.

Real clause - quoted in a published court opinion

Find the equivalent paragraph in your own lease and read the two side by side. The wording will differ; the moving parts rarely do.

What follows is the Crestview acceleration paragraph as the Montana opinion quoted it, ending one sentence early; that final sentence runs late charges and interest on a sum once it has been accelerated:

If any monthly installment under this agreement is not paid when due and remains unpaid after a date specified by a notice to Tenant, the entire principal rent amount owed for the full lease term shall at once become due and payable at the option of the Landlord and judgment may be had for all said amounts due. The foregoing provision shall not relieve the Landlord of its obligation to mitigate damages. In the event the rental premises is re-rented to another for full value prior to expiration of the lease term, Landlord shall file Notice of Partial Satisfaction of any judgment entered to the extent of the third party rental agreement.

[…]

Quoted from the published opinion in Summers v. Crestview Apartments, 2010 MT 164, 357 Mont. 123, 236 P.3d 586 (No. DA 09-0489). Judicial opinions are not subject to copyright; the lease language is reproduced in limited part for commentary under 17 U.S.C. § 107.

1

“this agreement is not paid”

The trigger here is a missed installment. Missouri's statute attaches its mitigation words to a different trigger. Under § 535.300.4(3) a landlord may withhold deposit money for actual damages from the tenant's “failure to give adequate notice to terminate the tenancy pursuant to law or the rental agreement; provided that the landlord makes reasonable efforts to mitigate damages.”

Our Missouri record of Chapter 441, §§ 535.010 to 535.300 and the unlawful detainer and judgment sections of Chapter 534 finds no statute regulating rent acceleration. Its mitigation words sit in the deposit proviso.
Tenant-favourable“A missed installment may be demanded with any late charge the lease allows, and no future rent becomes due because of it”
What this lease said“this agreement is not paid”
Landlord-favourable“Any installment unpaid on its due date, for any reason, entitles Landlord to declare the whole Term’s rent due without further notice”
2

“and payable at the option of”

The paragraph hands the landlord a choice, and Missouri's case law is built on landlord choices too. In Rhoden Investment Co. v. Sears, Roebuck & Co. (1973), a commercial lease case, the Supreme Court of Missouri cited a federal appeals court for three options on a tenant's default: stay out of possession and recover rent, resume possession and relet to mitigate damages, or re-enter and close the term.

Rhoden reversed a trial court's $17,068 “mitigation factor” after holding that the lease's re-let clause did not reach the warehouse in dispute. No Missouri decision in our record applies the three options to a residential lease.
Tenant-favourable“If Tenant leaves early, Landlord will retake possession and make reasonable efforts to re-let before claiming any later rent”
What this lease said“and payable at the option of”
Landlord-favourable“Landlord may, at its sole election, leave the Premises vacant and recover each installment as it falls due for the rest of the Term”
3

“damages. In the event the rental”

This sentence promises mitigation in the lease's own words. A Missouri appeals court restated the landlord's options in 2013: in Back Ventures, L.L.C. Series D v. Safeway, Inc. (2013), also a commercial lease case, the second option was to “give notice to tenant, resume possession of the premises and attempt to relet in order to mitigate any damages”.

Rhoden also quoted an earlier appellate opinion describing the weight of authority elsewhere: a lessor, absent a lease provision to the contrary, “is under no duty to seek a new tenant” after abandonment. A lease line like this one is the kind of provision that quote refers to, so keep a copy.
Tenant-favourable“Landlord shall make reasonable efforts to re-rent the Premises promptly, and rent received from a new tenant reduces what Tenant owes”
What this lease said“damages. In the event the rental”
Landlord-favourable“Nothing in this lease obliges Landlord to seek a new tenant, and any re-letting is at Landlord’s discretion”
4

“to expiration of the lease term, Landlord shall file”

Crediting a judgment after re-renting is this lease's own accounting. Missouri's deposit section leaves the claim above the deposit open: § 535.300.7 says nothing in it limits the landlord's right “to recover actual damages in excess of the security deposit”. A Missouri lease can also fix the price of leaving, and in Paragon an apartment fee of two months' rent was upheld as liquidated damages.

On the deposit itself, § 535.300.3 gives the landlord thirty days after the tenancy ends to return it or send an itemized list, and § 535.300.6 sets damages for a wrongful withholding at twice the amount. Read the current text of § 535.300. Summers is a Montana decision, which does not make it a rule in Missouri.
Tenant-favourable“Rent Landlord receives from a new tenant before the Term ends is credited to Tenant at once, with a written account”
What this lease said“to expiration of the lease term, Landlord shall file”
Landlord-favourable“Landlord may apply any re-letting income first to its own costs and credit Tenant with any balance after the Term ends”
What the court did with it

The Montana Supreme Court struck this paragraph down, and its conclusion is one sentence: “Thus, we conclude that the accelerated rent provision is unconscionable and therefore unenforceable.” The tenants had moved out of their apartment on October 13, 2006, and Crestview answered with a Statement of Deductions from the Security Deposit charging rent through the end of the lease in June - $6,505.75 billed against a $2,170 deposit. Two reasons carried the court. Acceleration undermines the landlord's duty to mitigate and reduces the incentive to re-rent promptly, because a landlord already holding a judgment for the whole term has little reason to fill the unit. And Crestview drafted the lease while these tenants had no meaningful choice and no opportunity to negotiate any of it. The case was reversed and remanded, and two justices wrote separately - their objection being that the majority had gone as far as treating acceleration clauses as unenforceable in themselves. So read the holding narrowly, as the majority wrote it: this provision, in this residential lease, unconscionable and unenforceable. It is a Montana decision and it binds no other state's courts. What travels is the reasoning, and the reasoning is about mitigation - which is exactly the question the statute in your own city's decode answers.

Missouri's statute, as our record reads it, puts its mitigation words in the deposit rule: a landlord may keep deposit money for inadequate-notice damages provided that the landlord makes reasonable efforts to mitigate damages. The three landlord options on a tenant's default come from commercial lease cases. Read the current text before relying on it: Mo. Rev. Stat. § 535.300.4(3); Mo. Rev. Stat. § 535.300.7; Rhoden Investment Co. v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 499 S.W.2d 375 (Mo. 1973); Back Ventures, L.L.C. Series D v. Safeway, Inc., 410 S.W.3d 245 (Mo. App. W.D. 2013); Paragon Group, Inc. v. Ampleman, 878 S.W.2d 878 (Mo. App. E.D. 1994); Mo. Rev. Stat. § 441.043

One court, one lease, one state. That answer is not automatically yours, and your lease may be worded to land differently. Use this to know what to look for and what to ask - your state's tenant hotline or a local tenant attorney can answer it for your document.

Section 02

Missouri Law on Lease Acceleration Clause

The law in Missouri
  • The deposit is where Missouri writes mitigation into statute. Section 535.300.4 lets a landlord withhold from the security deposit "only such amounts as are reasonably necessary" for three reasons, the third being "To compensate the landlord for actual damages sustained as a result of the tenant's failure to give adequate notice to terminate the tenancy pursuant to law or the rental agreement; provided that the landlord makes reasonable efforts to mitigate damages." Section 535.300.3 gives the landlord thirty days after the tenancy ends to return the deposit or send an itemized list, and § 535.300.6 sets damages for a wrongful withholding at "twice the amount wrongfully withheld."
  • The deposit rule does not cap the landlord's claim. Section 535.300.7 says "Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the right of the landlord to recover actual damages in excess of the security deposit". In Rhoden the Supreme Court of Missouri cited a federal appeals court for the statement that under Missouri law the landlord, on the tenant's default, may "remain out of possession, treat term as subsisting and recover rent", may "give notice to tenant, resume possession and relet to mitigate damages, collecting loss from tenant", or may "re-enter, resume possession in own right and close the term", and, after holding that the lease clause requiring the landlord to re-let did not reach the warehouse in dispute, it reversed the trial court's $17,068 "mitigation factor" in that commercial case.
  • The rule has been restated recently. In Back Ventures, L.L.C. Series D v. Safeway, Inc. (2013), a commercial lease case, the Court of Appeals quoted the same three options: "(1) [r]emain out of possession, treat the lease as subsisting and collect rent; (2) give notice to tenant, resume possession of the premises and attempt to relet in order to mitigate any damages; or (3) reenter, resume possession in its own right and, effectively, terminate the lease." Rhoden also quoted an earlier appellate opinion describing the weight of authority elsewhere as holding that a lessor, absent a lease provision to the contrary, "is under no duty to seek a new tenant" after abandonment.
  • A lease can fix the price of leaving instead. In Paragon Group, Inc. v. Ampleman (1994) an apartment lease charged two months' rent to a tenant who ended a one-year lease with nine months left, and the court upheld it as valid liquidated damages, reasoning that "it is hard to say how long the apartment will be vacant or how much time, expense and energy will be expended to re-let the premises." The court also let the landlord apply the $100 deposit to the unpaid fee. Paragon quoted § 535.300 under its 1986 numbering, where the mitigation proviso appeared as subsection 3(3); check the current text of § 535.300 before relying on it.

Sources include Mo. Rev. Stat. § 535.300.4(3); Mo. Rev. Stat. § 535.300.7; Rhoden Investment Co. v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 499 S.W.2d 375 (Mo. 1973); Back Ventures, L.L.C. Series D v. Safeway, Inc., 410 S.W.3d 245 (Mo. App. W.D.

2013); Paragon Group, Inc. v. Ampleman, 878 S.W.2d 878 (Mo. App. E.D. 1994); Mo. Rev. Stat. § 441.043 - statutes change; verify the current text for your situation.

Missouri's statute speaks to mitigation in one place our record found, and it is the deposit. § 535.300.4 lets a landlord withhold from the security deposit amounts reasonably necessary for three reasons. The third is actual damages from the tenant's failure to give adequate notice to terminate, "provided that the landlord makes reasonable efforts to mitigate damages."

Three more subsections set the deposit's edges. Under § 535.300.3 the landlord has thirty days after the tenancy ends to return the deposit or send an itemized list, and § 535.300.6 sets damages for a wrongful withholding at "twice the amount wrongfully withheld." § 535.300.7 says nothing in the section limits the landlord's right "to recover actual damages in excess of the security deposit".

Beyond the deposit, our Missouri record holds case law rather than a statute. In Rhoden Investment Co. v. Sears, Roebuck & Co. (1973), a commercial lease case, the Supreme Court of Missouri cited a federal appeals court for three options a landlord has on a tenant's default:

  • "remain out of possession, treat term as subsisting and recover rent";
  • "give notice to tenant, resume possession and relet to mitigate damages, collecting loss from tenant";
  • "re-enter, resume possession in own right and close the term".

After holding that the lease's re-let clause did not reach the warehouse in dispute, the court reversed the trial court's $17,068 "mitigation factor". Rhoden also quoted an earlier appellate opinion describing the weight of authority elsewhere: a lessor, absent a lease provision to the contrary, "is under no duty to seek a new tenant" after abandonment.

The Court of Appeals repeated the three options in Back Ventures, L.L.C. Series D v. Safeway, Inc. (2013), also a commercial lease case. No Missouri decision in our record applies them to a residential lease.

A lease can fix the price of leaving instead. In Paragon Group, Inc. v. Ampleman (1994), an apartment lease charged two months' rent to a tenant who ended a one-year lease with nine months left, and the court upheld it as valid liquidated damages.

It reasoned that "it is hard to say how long the apartment will be vacant or how much time, expense and energy will be expended to re-let the premises."

Paragon quoted § 535.300 under its 1986 numbering, where the mitigation proviso appeared as subsection 3(3). The section was read from an archived copy of the Revisor's page captured May 12, 2026, so read its current text on revisor.mo.gov before relying on it.

Missouri Tenant Protections

The protection in our Missouri record sits in the deposit statute. Under § 535.300.4(3) a landlord may withhold deposit money for actual damages from a tenant's failure to give adequate notice to terminate, provided that the landlord makes reasonable efforts to mitigate damages.

Under § 535.300.3 the landlord has thirty days after the tenancy ends to return the deposit or furnish a written itemized list of damages, and § 535.300.6 lets the tenant recover twice the amount wrongfully withheld.

The deposit rule does not cap the landlord's claim: § 535.300.7 preserves the right to recover actual damages in excess of the security deposit. Beyond the deposit, the rule in our record comes from Rhoden and Back Ventures, commercial lease cases listing three options on a tenant's default.

The first is to stay out of possession, treat the term as subsisting and recover rent, and the second is to resume possession and relet to mitigate damages.

No Missouri decision in our record applies those options to a residential lease. A lease may instead fix the price of leaving.

Paragon upheld a fee of two months' rent on an apartment lease as valid liquidated damages and let the landlord apply the $100 deposit to the unpaid fee. Read the current text of § 535.300 and current Missouri case law before relying on any of it.

Section 03

What's Specific to Kansas City

Landlord duty to mitigate after an early lease break

Same clause, 23 cities, different rules. Tap any city for its own guide.

Austin, Texas
Mandatory, non-waivable
Los Angeles, California
Mandatory, tenant proves
New York City, New York
Mandatory, non-waivable
Miami, Florida
No duty to re-rent
Chicago, Illinois
Mandatory statewide
Seattle, Washington
Mandatory on abandonment
Denver, Colorado
No statute; case law
Phoenix, Arizona
Mandatory after abandonment
Atlanta, Georgia
Likely no duty
Nashville, Tennessee
Mandatory in large counties
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
No duty to re-rent
Portland, Oregon
Mandatory on abandonment
Boston, Massachusetts
No statute; 93A limits
Las Vegas, Nevada
Mandatory on abandonment
Washington, District of Columbia
Mandatory, actual damages
Columbus, Ohio
No statute; case law
Newark, New Jersey
Mandatory, landlord proves
Detroit, Michigan
Non-waivable by lease
Charlotte, North Carolina
Case law; tenant proves
Baltimore, Maryland
Mandatory, non-waivable
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Mandatory on abandonment
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Mandatory; acceleration voids lease
Kansas City, Missouri
No general duty; deposit rule

Figures are the state rule, or the stronger city ordinance where one exists. Verify the current law for your own situation before relying on it.

For this question Kansas City's own code is not where the answer sits, as far as our record reaches. Our record of the Code of Ordinances was read on Municode in the code codified through Ordinance No. 260342, enacted April 16, 2026 (Supp. No. 139).

It covers Chapter 35 (Housing), Chapter 34, Article XIX (Healthy Rental Homes) and § 50-109, and finds no Kansas City ordinance on rent acceleration or on a landlord's duty to re-rent. A text search of the whole code for "mitigate", "acceleration" and "remainder of the lease" returned no landlord-tenant section.

The city code does point back to state law. § 34-848.1(f), in the Healthy Rental Homes article, says "No owner shall violate Chapters 441, 534 or 535 RSMo." Chapter 535 is where the deposit mitigation proviso in § 535.300.4(3) sits.

Our record describes these chapters as enacted. Mo. Rev. Stat. § 441.043, as amended effective August 28, 2025, lists ordinances a Missouri county or city may not enact, maintain or enforce.

Its subjects are rent amounts, housing-assistance source of income, a landlord's own screening criteria, security deposit amounts and a tenant right of first refusal. This guide does not predict how it would apply to any Kansas City chapter.

That leaves a Kansas City renter with the lease, § 535.300 and the case law. Read the acceleration paragraph for the figure it demands and the event that triggers it.

Then look for a fixed early-termination fee, the kind Paragon upheld, and for any line about re-renting the unit.

Watch the deposit statement closely, because that is where the statute's mitigation words apply. A withholding for your short notice is conditioned by § 535.300.4(3) on reasonable efforts to mitigate, and § 535.300.3 sets thirty days after the tenancy ends for the return or the itemized list.

For a Kansas City early break, keep these:

  • The date you returned the keys, with proof.
  • Any listing or advertisement for the unit after you left.
  • The deposit statement and the date it arrived.
  • Any demand for rent beyond the deposit.

Our record holds no Missouri decision applying the three options to a residential lease, so check current case law. A Kansas City tenant lawyer or legal aid office can read your clause and the deposit statement with you before you agree to any figure.

Does the clause make every remaining month due at once?

Our Missouri record finds no statute regulating rent acceleration, and § 535.300.7 preserves the landlord's claim for actual damages in excess of the security deposit. Read the figure the clause demands with care.

Can you show what happened to the unit after you left?

§ 535.300.4(3) conditions a deposit withholding for inadequate notice on the landlord making reasonable efforts to mitigate damages, so a record of the unit after you left bears on it.

Did the itemized list arrive within thirty days?

§ 535.300.3 gives the landlord thirty days after the tenancy ends to return the deposit or furnish a written itemized list of damages.

Does the lease say the landlord will re-let if you leave?

Rhoden, a commercial lease case, quoted authority that a lessor, absent a lease provision to the contrary, "is under no duty to seek a new tenant" after abandonment. A re-letting promise in your lease is the kind of provision that quote refers to.

Sources

The law this guide relies on, and where to read it. Statutes change, so confirm the current text before you act on it.

Section 04

Red Flags to Watch Out For

  • The deposit kept with no word on re-renting

    § 535.300.4(3) lets a landlord keep deposit money for inadequate-notice damages provided that the landlord makes reasonable efforts to mitigate damages. A statement that keeps the deposit and says nothing of re-renting deserves a question.

  • No itemized list after thirty days

    § 535.300.3 asks the landlord to return the deposit or furnish a written itemized list of damages within thirty days after the tenancy ends.

  • A deduction outside the listed reasons

    § 535.300.4 lists three reasons for withholding from the deposit, and § 535.300.6 sets damages for a wrongful withholding at twice the amount wrongfully withheld.

  • A commercial case quoted as a home rule

    Rhoden and Back Ventures are commercial lease cases. A demand letter citing them against a residential tenant is applying them to a setting no Missouri decision in our record addresses.

  • A fixed fee and every remaining month

    Paragon upheld a fee of two months' rent as liquidated damages on an apartment lease. A demand for a fee and for every remaining month is one to read against the lease paragraphs that name each.

Section 05

Your Rights as a Kansas City Tenant

  • Mitigation before a notice deduction

    § 535.300.4(3) lets a landlord withhold deposit money for inadequate-notice damages provided that the landlord makes reasonable efforts to mitigate damages.

  • The deposit back or a list in thirty days

    § 535.300.3 gives the landlord thirty days after the tenancy ends to return the deposit or furnish a written itemized list of damages.

  • Twice the amount wrongly kept

    § 535.300.6 lets the tenant recover as damages twice the amount wrongfully withheld from the security deposit.

  • Withholding tied to listed reasons

    § 535.300.4 lets a landlord withhold from the deposit amounts reasonably necessary for three listed reasons, and the third carries the mitigation proviso.

Section 06

What To Do - Step by Step

1

Find the acceleration paragraph

Note the figure it demands and the event that triggers it. Then look for a fixed early-termination fee and any line about re-renting the unit.

2

Return the keys in a way you can prove

A dated handover and a photograph of the empty unit fix when the landlord's chance to re-let began.

3

Keep evidence of what happened to the unit

Save listings for the unit and the date a new tenant moved in. § 535.300.4(3) ties a notice deduction from the deposit to reasonable efforts to mitigate damages.

4

Read the deposit statement against § 535.300

The landlord has thirty days after the tenancy ends to return the deposit or send an itemized list, and § 535.300.6 sets damages for a wrongful withholding at twice the amount.

5

Check the code and the law today

Our record of the Kansas City code runs through Ordinance No. 260342. § 535.300 was read from an archived copy, so read its current text on revisor.mo.gov, and check current Missouri case law.

6

Get local advice before you agree to a figure

Take the lease, the deposit statement and your evidence to a Kansas City tenant lawyer or legal aid office before you pay anything beyond the deposit.

Section 07

Frequently Asked Questions

does my landlord in kansas city have to re-rent if i break my lease
Our Missouri record finds no statute stating a general duty to re-rent. § 535.300.4(3) ties mitigation to the deposit: a landlord may withhold deposit money for inadequate-notice damages provided that the landlord makes reasonable efforts to mitigate damages. The broader three-options rule comes from commercial cases.
can my kansas city landlord keep my deposit if i leave early
For actual damages from your failure to give adequate notice, under § 535.300.4(3), provided the landlord makes reasonable efforts to mitigate damages. The return or itemized list is due within thirty days after the tenancy ends, and a wrongful withholding costs twice the amount withheld.
can a missouri landlord sue for rent beyond the deposit
§ 535.300.7 says nothing in the deposit section limits the landlord's right to recover actual damages in excess of the security deposit. No Missouri decision in our record decides how far that reaches in a residential case, so read current case law.
is an early termination fee enforceable in missouri
In Paragon Group, Inc. v. Ampleman (1994), the court upheld an apartment lease fee of two months' rent, charged to a tenant with nine months left, as valid liquidated damages. That was one lease on its facts, so read your own fee closely before paying.
where can i read mo. rev. stat. § 535.300.4(3) for myself
The section is Mo. Rev. Stat. § 535.300.4(3), and this guide read it on web.archive.org: open Mo. Rev. Stat. § 535.300.4(3). Statutes are amended, so check the text as it reads on the day you need it.
what is the landlord duty to mitigate after an early lease break in kansas city
Missouri: No general duty; deposit rule. Missouri's statute ties mitigation to the security deposit: Mo. Rev. Stat. § 535.300.4(3) lets a landlord keep deposit money to cover actual damages from a tenant's failure to give adequate notice to terminate "provided that the landlord makes reasonable efforts to mitigate damages." Beyond the deposit, the Supreme Court of Missouri in Rhoden Investment Co. v. Sears, Roebuck & Co. (1973), a commercial lease case, set out a landlord's three options on a tenant's default, the first being to stay out of possession, treat the term as subsisting and recover rent, and reversed a trial court's mitigation deduction; the Court of Appeals repeated the three options in 2013.
does kansas city add its own rule or does missouri law decide
Our Kansas City record covers Chapter 35 (Housing), Chapter 34, Article XIX (Healthy Rental Homes) and § 50-109 of the Code of Ordinances, read on Municode in the code codified through Ordinance No. 260342, enacted April 16, 2026 (Supp. No. 139), and finds no Kansas City ordinance on rent acceleration or on a landlord's duty to re-rent; a Municode text search of the whole code for "mitigate", "acceleration" and "remainder of the lease" returned no landlord-tenant section. Kansas City Code § 34-848.1(f), in the Healthy Rental Homes article, provides that "No owner shall violate Chapters 441, 534 or 535 RSMo.", and Chapter 535 is where the deposit mitigation rule sits. Mo. Rev. Stat. § 441.043, as amended effective August 28, 2025, lists what a Missouri county or city may not enact, maintain or enforce between landlord and tenant: an ordinance regulating the amount of rent, barring refusals based on a housing-assistance source of income, restricting a landlord's own screening criteria, limiting the amount of a security deposit, or requiring a tenant right of first refusal.
how does missouri compare with other states on this
Missouri: No general duty; deposit rule. Texas: Mandatory, non-waivable. The chart above on this page shows every city side by side.
Legal Disclaimer: This guide is for general educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Information reflects general Missouri and Kansas City law as of October 2026 but may not reflect recent changes. Consult a licensed attorney in Missouri for advice about your specific situation.