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

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