Section 11 Remedies for Failure to Comply

• Library: Real Estate Leasing and Landlord-Tenant Actions and Remedies 2011

If a landlord fails to return the security deposit in a timely manner, or wrongfully withholds all or part of the security deposit, the tenant’s recovery is limited to twice the amount wrongfully withheld. Section 535.300.5, RSMo 2000. The court may award less than twice the amount wrongfully withheld. See Battis v. Hofmann,832 S.W.2d 937, 940–41 (Mo. App. W.D. 1992) (rejecting the tenant’s argument that the statute imposes a mandatory penalty on the landlord equal to twice the amount wrongfully withheld). But cf. Clark v. Walker,590 P.2d 1043 (Kan. 1979) (construing the Kansas Uniform...