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HB2856 • 2026

Sets a cap on rental application fees charged by a landlord from a prospective tenant

Sets a cap on rental application fees charged by a landlord from a prospective tenant

Housing
Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
Smith, David Tyson (046)
Last action
2026-05-15
Official status
05/15/2026 - Referred: Emerging Issues(H)
Effective date
2026-08-28

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

Sets a cap on rental application fees charged by a landlord from a prospective tenant

Sets a cap on rental application fees charged by a landlord from a prospective tenant

What This Bill Does

  • Sets a cap on rental application fees charged by a landlord from a prospective tenant

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2026-05-15 Missouri House of Representatives and Missouri Senate

    Referred: Emerging Issues(H)

  2. 2026-01-08 Missouri House of Representatives and Missouri Senate

    Read Second Time (H)

  3. 2026-01-07 Missouri House of Representatives and Missouri Senate

    Introduced and Read First Time (H)

Official Summary Text

Sets a cap on rental application fees charged by a landlord from a prospective tenant

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 2856
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBL Y
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENT A TIVE SMITH (46).
5867H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
T o amend chapter 441, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to rental
application fees.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Chapter 441, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto one new section, to be
2 known as section 441.007, to read as follows:
441.007. 1. For purposes of this section, the following terms mean:
2 (1) "Prem ises", as defined in section 441.005;
3 (2) "Rental agr eement", any agreement, written or oral, between a landlord and
4 a tenant embodying the terms and conditions concerning the use and occupancy of
5 pr emises;
6 (3) "Rental application", any information, written or oral, submitted to a
7 landlord by a pr ospective tenant for the purpose of entering into a rent al agreement;
8 (4) "Rental application fee", any sum of moneys, however denominated, that is
9 charged or accepted by a landlord from a prospective tenant in connection with the
10 pr ospective tenant's submission of a ren tal application or any nonr efundable fee that
11 pr ecedes the beginning of tenancy . "Rental application fee" does not include a
12 r efundable security deposit or any ren t that is paid before the tenancy begins;
13 (5) "T enant", a person under a rent al agr eement to occupy the pr emises with the
14 landlord's consent to the exclusion of others.
15 2. A landlord shall not charge a pr ospective tenant a re ntal application fee unless
16 the landlord uses the fee to cover the landlord's costs in pr ocessing the rent al
EXPLANA TION — Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is not enacted and is
intended to be omitted from the law . Matter in bold-face type in the above bill is proposed language.
17 application. A landlord shall not charge a r ental application fee gre ater than fifteen
18 dollars.
19 3. A landlord who receiv es a ren tal application fee fro m a pr ospective tenant and
20 does not use the entir e amount of the fee to cover the landlord's costs in pro cessing the
21 r ental application shall rem it to the prospec tive tenant the rem aining amount of the fee.
22 A landlord shall make a good-faith effort to rem it such amount within twenty calendar
23 days after pro cessing the application.
24 4. A landlord shall, upon recei pt of any moneys paid as a r ental application fee,
25 furnish a recei pt to the prospective tenant for the amount paid by the tenant. A
26 landlord shall pr ovide a pr ospective tenant an electr onic receipt, unless the pr ospective
27 tenant re quests a paper receip t in which case a landlord shall pr ovide the pr ospective
28 tenant with a paper r eceipt.
✔
HB 2856 2