Missouri Revised Statutes § 441.043 - Prohibited ordinances and resolutions, exceptions
Counties and cities generally may not pass or enforce rent-control ordinances, certain landlord-screening limits, security-deposit caps, or automatic first-refusal rights, but there are listed exceptions.
441.043. Prohibited ordinances and resolutions, exceptions. — 1. 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. 2. No county or city, or county or city with a charter form of government, shall enact, maintain, or enforce any ordinance or resolution that: (1) Prohibits landlords from refusing to lease or rent a privately owned, single-family, or multiple-unit residential or commercial rental property to a person because the person's lawful source of income to pay rent includes funding from a federal or other housing assistance program; (2) Restricts a landlord's ability to use or consider income-qualifying methods, credit scores, credit reports, eviction or property damage history, or criminal history, according to such landlord's own customarily applied criteria, or prohibits landlords from requesting such information, to determine whether to rent or lease a property to a prospective tenant; (3) Limits the amount of security deposit a landlord may require from a prospective tenant; or (4) Requires tenants to automatically receive the right of first refusal. 3. 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 voluntary 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. 4. Nothing in this section shall prevent a county or city, or county or city with a charter form of government, from enacting, maintaining, or enforcing an ordinance or resolution that prohibits a landlord from discriminating against a tenant or prospective tenant solely on the basis that such tenant is a recipient of veterans' benefits. (L. 1989 H.B. 602 § 2, A.L. 2025 H.B. 595 & 343)