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Missouri Notice to Vacate Letter
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[Date]
[Your landlord's name]
Re: Notice to vacate — [Rental property address]
Dear [Your landlord's name],
Please accept this letter as my formal written notice that I will terminate my tenancy at [Rental property address] and vacate the premises on [Move-out date].
Under Missouri Revised Statutes § 441.060 (Tenancy at will, sufferance, month to month — termination) (RSMo § 441.060.4), a month-to-month tenancy may be terminated by the tenant on one month written notice. This notice is given in accordance with that requirement and with any additional notice period my lease provides.
I will leave the unit clean and in good condition, ordinary wear and tear excepted, and will return all keys and access devices on or before my move-out date. I would like a move-out inspection during my final week; please propose a date and time.
Please send my security deposit, with any itemized statement required by law, to my forwarding address: [Your forwarding address]. Kindly confirm receipt of this notice in writing.
Sincerely,
[Your full name]
Know your rights
Notice to vacate law in Missouri
- Tenant notice required
- One month
- Governing statute
- RSMo § 441.060.4
- How the clock runs
- Either party ends a month-to-month tenancy with a written notice stating that the tenancy terminates on a periodic rent-paying date not less than one month after the other party receives the notice. Termination must land on a rent due date, so a notice given mid-cycle takes effect on the first rent date that is a full month or more out.
- Delivering the notice
- Notice must be in writing, and because the one-month clock runs from receipt rather than mailing, deliver it personally or by certified mail and keep proof of the date the landlord got it.
- Fixed-term leases
- Under RSMo § 441.070, no notice to quit is required when a lease term ends at a certain time — the lease simply expires (unless the lease itself demands notice). A tenant who holds over risks the landlord electing to hold them for a further term or treating them as month-to-month.
Worth knowing: Missouri's receipt-based clock is a trap: mailing on the 1st is not enough if the landlord receives it after the rent date. Year-to-year tenancies require written notice at least 60 days before the end of the year under RSMo § 441.050. Since 2019, RSMo § 441.920 bars landlords from denying tenancy to or evicting documented victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking and gives a victim who vacates an affirmative defense against further rent liability — though the landlord may charge a reasonable early-termination fee, and the statute grants no lock-change right. Missouri state law preempts local rent control (RSMo § 441.043), so no city imposes its own tenant-notice scheme.
Last reviewed August 2026 · General information, not legal advice · Read the statute · Also for Missouri: security deposit demand letter
Field notes
Three tips before you send
- Notice must be in writing, and because the one-month clock runs from receipt rather than mailing, deliver it personally or by certified mail and keep proof of the date the landlord got it.
- Either party ends a month-to-month tenancy with a written notice stating that the tenancy terminates on a periodic rent-paying date not less than one month after the other party receives the notice. Termination must land on a rent due date, so a notice given mid-cycle takes effect on the first rent date that is a full month or more out.
- Date math is unforgiving — the clock usually runs from the day your landlord receives the notice, not the day you write it. Build in a few days of cushion, and photograph the empty unit when you hand back the keys.
Other states
Notice to vacate letters for every state
Straight answers
Questions people ask
How much notice does a tenant have to give in Missouri?
Either party ends a month-to-month tenancy with a written notice stating that the tenancy terminates on a periodic rent-paying date not less than one month after the other party receives the notice. Termination must land on a rent due date, so a notice given mid-cycle takes effect on the first rent date that is a full month or more out. The governing statute is Missouri Revised Statutes § 441.060 (Tenancy at will, sufferance, month to month — termination).
What happens when a fixed-term lease ends in Missouri?
Under RSMo § 441.070, no notice to quit is required when a lease term ends at a certain time — the lease simply expires (unless the lease itself demands notice). A tenant who holds over risks the landlord electing to hold them for a further term or treating them as month-to-month. Check your lease for a renewal or notice clause — where the statute allows it, the lease controls.
Anything else Missouri renters should know before moving out?
Missouri's receipt-based clock is a trap: mailing on the 1st is not enough if the landlord receives it after the rent date. Year-to-year tenancies require written notice at least 60 days before the end of the year under RSMo § 441.050. Since 2019, RSMo § 441.920 bars landlords from denying tenancy to or evicting documented victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking and gives a victim who vacates an affirmative defense against further rent liability — though the landlord may charge a reasonable early-termination fee, and the statute grants no lock-change right. Missouri state law preempts local rent control (RSMo § 441.043), so no city imposes its own tenant-notice scheme.
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When to use this letter
Moving out should be the easy part — but in Missouri, when you give notice and how you deliver it decide whether you owe another month of rent. The rule that matters: for a month-to-month tenancy, Missouri law generally requires one month written notice from the tenant, under Missouri Revised Statutes § 441.060 (Tenancy at will, sufferance, month to month — termination). This generator writes a tenant's notice to vacate that cites RSMo § 441.060.4 by name, states your move-out date, and asks for the move-out inspection and your deposit instructions in the same letter — so nothing gets renegotiated later. No blank template to fight with: fill in your landlord, the address, and the date, then send it in a way you can prove, because notice clocks here run from delivery, not from the day you write it.