Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Missouri

Unfair apartment rental agreement

I signed a rental agreement with an apartment complex in Kansas City, MO for a term of 6 months. The rental period was from 06/21/2008 - 12/31/2008. I informed them from day one that under no circumstances would I stay past 6 months. Since I was only signing a 6 month lease they charged me an extra $50 a month on top of my monthly rent. They did not go over the lease agreement with me because they were ''too busy.'' I fulfilled my rental agreement in full, never paid late, and left the apartment in excellent condidtion. They are now saying that I owe them an extra months rent because I didn't give them a full 60 notice before I moved out. They say I only gave them a 45 day notice and that I am obligated to pay them an additional $579.00 for the month of January 2009. Is this legal?


Asked on 1/29/09, 9:14 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Anthony DeWitt Bartimus, Frickleton Robertson & Gorny, PC

Re: Unfair apartment rental agreement

They can make that claim, but you can pretty easily defeat it by showing that they rented the property after you left it. Swing by the place and find out when the new tenant occupied the property. Their damages (if any) are measured by the amount of time the property was not rented. Unless they have a liquidated damages clause (which I doubt) they can't recover from you if they re-rented the property right away.

This is true, by the way, only if the lease called for you to give them a 60 day notice. You can claim you gave the 60 day notice (actually, a 180 day notice) at the time of the rental because you told them you were not going to renew. They'd have a hard time prevailing. But if you get sued, make sure you show up and contest it.

Good luck.

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Answered on 1/29/09, 11:04 am


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