Eviction in Missouri

A

akb0925

New Member
Jurisdiction
Missouri
backstory- I had an ongoing family court case that finally ended last month, I had to pay our GAL $1k by a certain date or he was going to strike my pleadings. I paid him but it caused us to be late on our rent, my fault not blaming anyone. The balance due, including a late fee of $100.00 was $2120.00 according to my resident portal as of 06/06/24 (rent was due 06/01). I received a 3 day notice to pay or quit in the mail on 06/14 (letter was dated 06/10, post mark was 06/12) in the amount of $1825.00, I made a payment of $1000.00 that same day of receiving the letter. Not sure why the letter had a different amount than the portal showed.

I emailed my landlord and advised I would be paying the remaining balance on 06/21/24, they advised the eviction process had not yet started and paying remaining balance would stop the process. I log into the portal today, paid $825.00, and then noticed there is now an additional charge of $650.00 added to the ledger for eviction. I contacted my the property owner again and they stated the court fee has been added to the ledger as they sent the referral to their lawyer. Now because of the addition of the $650.00 I cannot pay this until next Thursday 06/27/24 which would then be officially paid in full.

Again, not blaming anyone buy myself here as I was late on rent and this is the process and what happens to people who are late/do not pay rent. My question is a family friend who is a family law attorney mentioned something about new MO eviction laws went into play around 2023 which state that if eviction is for non payment of rent that it must be one month (30 days) late before a landlord can file a lawsuit for eviction for non-payment of rent. Just for my piece of mind knowing I will be okay if I can't pay this new balance by the 27th. July's rent will be on time and will make sure this never happens again.
 
revisor.mo.gov

535.020

Procedure to recover possession — filing of statement — issuance of summons — procedure.
revisor.mo.gov revisor.mo.gov

Ask your attorney friend to cite the law.
 
He directed me to that section but indicated he thought some things were updated in 2023, he is not a landlord-tenant lawyer which is why I am here.
 
I can't speak to whether or not there has been a change to what is listed on the state website, but I would argue that the additional $650 is not "rent."
 
Zigner said:
I can't speak to whether or not there has been a change to what is listed on the state website, but I would argue that the additional $650 is not "rent."
Click to expand...
I am trying, they said if I pay in full (to include the $650) they can look into getting it credited but they are indicating that has to be paid as well. The whole thing is just off, the demand letter was $195.00 less than what I actually owed so that wasn't even sent with the correct amount. They are a large company and are based out of TX, so everything I get comes via email or mail as they have no office in MO.
 
Zigner said:
I can't speak to whether or not there has been a change to what is listed on the state website, but I would argue that the additional $650 is not "rent."
Click to expand...
They emailed me this on Wednesday 06/18 after I emailed asking about the eviction word in the portal:
you can still pay on Friday (Eviction status works for internal use and does not mean we are going to evict you immediately).
If you plan to bring your balance down, we will close any Eviction records that the system might have created.

Then today they said the following after I asked about the $650 fee added:
Good morning,

Indeed, the court fee has been charged due to the referral that was sent to our attorney.
However, you may still want to pay the remaining balance in order to dismiss the case.
Regarding to the court fee, this can possibly be credited once the payment in full is received.

Thanks!
 
akb0925 said:
I am trying, they said if I pay in full (to include the $650) they can look into getting it credited but they are indicating that has to be paid as well. The whole thing is just off, the demand letter was $195.00 less than what I actually owed so that wasn't even sent with the correct amount. They are a large company and are based out of TX, so everything I get comes via email or mail as they have no office in MO.
Click to expand...
I'm not saying that you don't owe it (I'm not taking a position either way on that), rather, I am simply pointing out that the statute refers to "rent" but what they are asking for may not actually be "rent." The statute allows them to join (add) any additional amounts to the suit, but I don't think that sending the matter to their lawyer means that anything was even filed. What I am getting at is that the additional $650 may not be something they can evict you for as unpaid "rent." In fact, unless your lease allows them to add this amount to what you owe, it's questionable whether the $650 is a legitimate charge. You would want to review your lease because simply sending the case to the attorney with no further action taken by the attorney seems like something they wouldn't be successful in collecting. You may wish to speak to an attorney of your own who can review all the facts in the matter.
 
akb0925 said:
They emailed me this on Wednesday 06/18 after I emailed asking about the eviction word in the portal:
you can still pay on Friday (Eviction status works for internal use and does not mean we are going to evict you immediately).
If you plan to bring your balance down, we will close any Eviction records that the system might have created.

Then today they said the following after I asked about the $650 fee added:
Good morning,

Indeed, the court fee has been charged due to the referral that was sent to our attorney.
However, you may still want to pay the remaining balance in order to dismiss the case.
Regarding to the court fee, this can possibly be credited once the payment in full is received.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Well, there you go - it sounds as if they just want their rent. Don't be late on July's rent!
 
Zigner said:
Well, there you go - it sounds as if they just want their rent. Don't be late on July's rent!
Click to expand...
Oh trust and believe I won't be late going forward. Lived here since March 2019 and don't want to leave. I am going to pay the $650 regardless because my paying late caused this, I was just worried that since I cannot pay the $650 now until next Thursday 06/27 that it would be too late and court proceedings would have started. That is why I asked if they did have to wait until I was one month behind or not before filing with the court because if so I would be okay.
 

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