Section 4 Landlord’s Obligation to Deliver Both Legal and Actual Possession

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

Missouri has adopted the “English rule,” which establishes an implied covenant to deliver actual possession of the premises to the tenant at the beginning of the lease term. Johnson v. Mo.-Kan.-Tex. R. Co.,216 S.W.2d 499, 502 (Mo. 1949); Hughes v. Hood,50 Mo. 350 (1872); Brown v. Wall,171 S.W. 586, 587 (Mo. App. E.D. 1914) (residential context). See also L’Hussier v. Zallee,24 Mo. 13 (1856); Kean v. Kolkschneider,21 Mo. App. 538 (E.D. 1886) (both residential lease cases). This is in contrast to a minority of jurisdictions that have adopted the American rule under which there is no duty on the landlord’s part to deliver actual possession to the tenant but rather a mere duty to deliver legal possession of...