- Landlord Cases
- Tenant Cases
- Service of Process
- Continuances
- Dismissals
- Pre-Trial Procedures
- Trial Procedures
- Judgments
- Enforcement of Monetary Judgments
- Eviction Procedures
- Case.Net Security Level
Landlord Cases
In general, tenants may face one of four different types of lawsuits that can be filed by landlords or property managers. Sometimes more than one type of case will be included in the same lawsuit. The types of cases are described in detail on separate pages, and brief descriptions follow:
Rent-and-Possession – This type of eviction case can be filed if the landlord contends the tenant has fallen behind in payment of rent. In these cases, the tenant has the right to “pay and stay” as follows:
Before a judgment is entered, the tenant is entitled to stay if the tenant pays all rent owed at the time of payment plus court costs.
After a judgment is entered, the tenant is entitled to stay upon payment of the full amount of the judgment, which can include amounts in addition to rent and court costs.
Unlawful Detainer – An unlawful detainer eviction case can be filed against a tenant if the tenant’s lease has been terminated for one reason or another and the tenant has remained in the rental unit after the termination date. In this type of case, there is no right to “pay and stay.”
Expedited Eviction – This type of eviction case can be filed for illegal drug activity at a rental unit, or if there is imminent danger of personal injury to other persons or severe property damage. Again, there is no right to “pay and stay.”
Contract Case – If a tenant has vacated a rental unit and the landlord believes the tenant still owes money – for example, unpaid rent or damage to the premises – the landlord can pursue a contract action against the tenant.
Tenant Cases
Tenants can also file lawsuits against landlords.
Counterclaims – Sometimes a tenant will have one or more legal claims against the landlord that can be pursued as a counterclaim in the same case when the tenant is sued.
Independent Cases – Tenants can file their own separate lawsuits against a landlord.
Both counterclaims and independent cases are discussed on the Counterclaims page.
Service of Process
Before a court has jurisdiction over a tenant in a lawsuit filed by a landlord, the tenant must “served” with a court summons and a copy of the lawsuit petition. There are two types of “service”:
Personal service – A sheriff’s deputy or special process server must deliver a copy of the summons and petition to the tenant or to another person who resides in the rental unit who is at least 18 years old. If personal service is obtained, a landlord can request a judgment for both eviction and money owed.
Service by posting and mailing – A tenant can also be served by the sheriff’s deputy or special process server posting the summons and petition on the door of the premises and mailing copies to the tenant. When service is obtained this way, the landlord can only get a judgment for eviction but not money owed.
Exception – If a tenant served by posting/mailing appears in court, the landlord also can get a judgment for money owed.
If service of process is not done properly, the court will not have jurisdiction to hear the case. However, it may be necessary for a tenant to object to improper service before the court will decline jurisdiction. The assistance of an attorney is likely necessary in this situation.
Continuances
A continuance is a postponement of action in a court case. Either side can move for a continuance, and the judge will decide whether there is good reason to grant the continuance.
However, both the landlord and tenant have a statutory right upon request to receive at least a one-week continuance upon request made before or at the first court appearance.
One factor the judge will consider when deciding whether to grant a continuance in an eviction case is whether “possession is at issue” – meaning the landlord wants possession of the rental unit and the tenant still occupies the unit. If possession is at issue, the statutes direct the judge to set the case for trial on the earliest available trial date.
Sometimes the parties will ask to continue a case because they are engaging in settlement negotiations or the tenant is making progress catching up delinquent rent payments. Other reasons for a continuance could be that a witness will not be available on the scheduled trial date, or the landlord or tenant has not finished gathering all evidence necessary for trial.
Dismissals
A landlord-tenant case can be voluntarily dismissed by the landlord without a judgment being entered. Most frequently, this occurs because the landlord and tenant have entered into a settlement, or the tenant has caught up on rent payments or is making good progress catching up.
However, a judge can also dismiss a case because there is a legal flaw in the landlord’s lawsuit. This outcome usually requires the flaw to be brought to the judge’s attention by the tenant in a motion to dismiss, but sometimes the flaw is so obvious that the judge will dismiss the case without such a motion.
Pre-Trial Procedures
The summons served on a tenant will specify a date and time when the tenant must appear in court to respond to the lawsuit – the courts call this the “return date.” There are three possible outcomes on a return date:
- If the tenant does not appear, the court will enter what is called a “default judgment” against the tenant.
- If the tenant appears and agrees with the claims made in the landlord’s petition, the court will enter a consent judgment against the tenant.
- If the tenant appears and disputes the landlord’s claims, the court will set the case for trial at a later date. In Boone County, typically the trials are set two to three weeks after the initial court appearance, but sometimes as early as one week after the initial appearance.
Important – If the tenant wants to raise defenses against the landlord’s claims and/or assert a counterclaim against the landlord, the statutes require that the defenses and/or counterclaim must be put in writing, filed with the court, and served on the landlord’s attorney or the landlord if the landlord is not represented by an attorney.
Filing defenses and/or counterclaims with the court is accomplished by giving a copy to the court clerk. Service of defenses and counterclaims on the landlord’s attorney or the landlord can be accomplished by in-person delivery, postal mail, email or fax.
If defenses and/or a counterclaim are not filed and served, the court will exclude a tenant’s evidence relating to those issues if the landlord or its attorney objects.
The statutes say that defenses and counterclaims must be filed at or before the initial court appearance unless the court gives permission to file them later. If a tenant is going to court and won’t have a chance to formulate written defenses and/or a counterclaim before going, the tenant should be sure to ask the judge for permission to file them later. The judge will likely grant permission and set a deadline for filing.
It is not necessary for a tenant to specifically deny particular statements in the landlord’s lawsuit petition because the statutes assume all such statements are denied by the tenant. Thus, the judge will permit a tenant to present evidence contradicting the landlord’s petition statements without the need to file denials.
Tenants can track the progress of a lawsuit filed against them on Missouri Case.Net. The easiest way to find a particular case on Case.Net is to use the “Case Number” search.
Trial Procedures
If a case is set for trial, the tenant will need to be present along with any witnesses the tenant believes have knowledge that will support the defense or counterclaim. If a witness is unwilling to come, the tenant can ask the court clerk for a subpoena and then have the subpoena served by the sheriff’s department.
Tenants who represent themselves without an attorney are held to the same rules of procedure and evidence that apply to attorneys.
Applicable procedural rules are contained in Chapter 517 of the Missouri statutes and Rules 41-103 of the Missouri Supreme Court Civil Procedure Rules.
Missouri is one of only three states that do not have statutory or court-issued codes of evidence. Instead, Missouri evidence rules are derived from appellate court rulings and a scattering of statutes. The least expensive paperback book that we have found that covers Missouri evidence rules can be purchased here.
If a tenant has information including email messages, text messages, photographs or videos on a smartphone, tablet or computer that the tenant wants the judge to consider, the tenant will need to make a request to the judge in advance of the trial for permission to bring the device into the courthouse.
Trials take place in this order:
- Both sides have the option of making an opening statement in which they can outline what they expect the evidence to show. Opening statements are often waived.
- Next, both sides have an opportunity to present evidence. Evidence consists of testimony of witnesses and exhibits identified and verified by witnesses.
- When one side is presenting evidence, the other side can make objections. If the judge agrees with the objection, the evidence objected to will be rejected. If the judge overrules the objection, the evidence can be presented. A party is entitled to interrupt the other party to make an objection.
- The party that filed the case (the plaintiff) gets to present its evidence first.
- Then the defendant can present its evidence.
- After both sides have presented their evidence, the plaintiff can offer evidence to rebut the defendant’s evidence, and then the defendant can offer evidence to rebut the plaintiff’s rebuttal evidence.
- When both sides have finished their evidence, they have the option to argue for the results they want based on the evidence. Argument is often waived.
Usually in landlord-tenant cases, the judge will make a ruling at the end of the case, but sometimes the judge will take the case “under advisement” and issue a ruling at a later date after a thorough review of the evidence.
Judgments
At the conclusion of a trial (or later if the judge takes the case under advisement), the judge will enter a “judgment” that states the judge’s decision on the issues in the case.
In an eviction case:
- If the judgment in an eviction case is in favor of the landlord, the judgment will state that the landlord is entitled to possession of the rental unit. See Eviction Procedures below for information about how the landlord can enforce a judgment for possession of the rental unit.
- If the landlord was also found entitled to recover money from the tenant, the judgment will state the amount(s) owed.
- In a contract case, if the judgment is in favor of the landlord, the judgment will state the amount(s) owed by the tenant.
If tenant has filed a counterclaim or independent case against a landlord, a judgment in favor of the tenant will state the amount owed by the landlord.
If a case involves both a landlord’s claim and a tenant’s counterclaim and the judge finds in favor of both sides, the judgment will award a net amount to the party with the larger monetary award. For example, if the landlord is awarded $1,000 and the tenant $500, there would be a net judgment in favor of the landlord for $500.
Enforcement of Monetary Judgments
Judgments are not self-enforcing. A landlord must seek additional help from the court to collect a judgment for money owed by a tenant. Under Missouri law, there are several judgment collection options:
- Garnishment – The most common judgment collection technique is garnishment. The landlord can ask the court to issue a garnishment to the tenant’s employer or bank to garnish the tenant’s wages or bank account. The garnishment has to be served on the employer or bank by the sheriff. The maximum that can be garnished from wages is 25% of the tenant’s net income after tax deductions, or 10% if the tenant is a “head of household.” To qualify as a head of household, the tenant must live with at least one other person whom the tenant supports financially. To claim the 10% garnishment level, the tenant must file an exemption request with the court.
- Seizure and Sale of Personal Property – The landlord can ask the court to issue an order to the sheriff to seize specified items of the tenant’s personal property and then sell those items at public auction, with the proceeds from the auction being applied toward the judgment. This technique is seldom used.
- Sale of Real Estate – If the tenant owns real estate, the landlord can ask the court to issue an order to the sheriff to “levy” on the real estate and sell it at auction, with the proceeds from the auction being applied toward the judgment. This technique also is seldom used.
Eviction Procedures
If the landlord obtained a judgment for possession, the court will send a notice to the tenant advising of the judgment and the need to vacate the premises.
Often tenants will move voluntarily after an eviction judgment is entered, but if not, the landlord can ask the court to issue a Writ of Execution for Possession, which is an order to the sheriff to put the landlord in possession of the rental unit. How soon the landlord can request an execution for possession depends the judge’s ruling.
The statutes provide that a tenant has until the 10th day after entry of a judgment for possession to file a motion to set aside the judgment or a request for a new trial, and therefore a request for issuance of a writ of execution for possession will not be processed by the court until the 11th day after judgment entry. (If the 10th day falls on a weekend or holiday, the next business day counts as the 10th day.)
However, sometimes the judge will grant more than 10 days for a tenant to vacate before the eviction can be enforced. If so, this will be stated in the judgment.
There are some logistical issues that typically delay an eviction beyond 11 days. When a landlord requests a writ of execution for possession, depending on workload, it may take the court clerk’s office one or more days to issue the writ. After the writ is issued, the landlord or its attorney must deliver or mail the writ to the sheriff’s department. The department then assigns a deputy to do the eviction, and it is up to the landlord to coordinate with the deputy and set a date for the eviction. These logistical issues mean that evictions typically take place no sooner than two weeks – and sometimes longer – after an eviction judgment is issued. The delay will be even longer if the judge granted more than 10 days for the tenant to vacate.
In Boone County, the deputy assigned to an eviction usually posts a notice on the door of the rental unit stating that the eviction will take place the next day at a specified time.
At the time of the eviction, the deputy’s function is to make the tenant and other occupants vacate the rental unit and then stand by and keep the peace while personal property is removed from the unit. It is the landlord’s responsibility to provide the labor to move the tenant’s personal property out to the curb. By statute, so long as the landlord has this eviction process supervised by the deputy, the landlord will not be liable to the tenant for loss of or damage to the tenant’s personal property removed from the rental unit unless the landlord’s workers cause the damage negligently or intentionally.
Note – During this process, if the landlord keeps any of the tenant’s property for the landlord’s use or resale, or leaves the tenant’s property in the rental unit and refuses to let the tenant retrieve the property, the tenant will have a claim against the landlord for what the law calls “conversion.” For more information, see the “Conversion” of tenant’s property topic under Common tenant cases on the Counterclaims page.
A tenant facing such an eviction should be prepared to safeguard and transport personal property removed from the rental unit to a secure location. Otherwise, it is common for scavengers to take all personal property items left at the curb that are reusable or have resale value. Also, if any of the tenant’s personal property remains at the curb for a number of days after the eviction, the landlord can make arrangements to have it removed by municipal or private trash disposal.
Important – If the landlord attempts to enforce a judgment for possession without involving the sheriff’s department, the landlord will be liable for wrongful eviction. See the Wrongful eviction topic under Comment tenant cases on the Counterclaims page.
Case.Net Security Level
Court cases are considered public records, and therefore a great deal of information about most court cases is available to the general public through the Missouri Case.Net website. Cases are assigned a “security level” that determines who can view them. Cases assigned security levels 1 and 2 can be viewed by the general public. Cases assigned security level 3 and above cannot be viewed by the general public.
Landlord-tenant cases are assigned a security level less than level 3. This creates a problem for tenants who have had an eviction or other lawsuit filed against them because landlords commonly search Case.Net when considering rental applications and often reject prospective tenants who have been sued by previous landlords.
It is possible for a tenant to file a motion to ask the judge to increase the security level of a case to level 3 so it cannot be viewed by the general public. Here is a sample motion:
Defendant [name] moves the court to increase the security level of this case on Missouri Case.Net to prevent public viewing of the case. In support of this motion, Defendant states:
1. On [date], Plaintiff filed a voluntary dismissal without prejudice of this case. [Modify this paragraph if necessary to fit the circumstances of the case.]
2. Landlords may be unwilling to rent to Defendant if they are able to access this case on Case.Net, leading to the possibility of Defendant being homeless.
3. The court may seal and make confidential records by order for “good cause shown.” Missouri Supreme Court Operating Rules 8.02(a)(18) and 4.24.1(s).
4. Pursuant to Missouri Court Automated Committee Approved System Security Guidelines, the designation of a case at “Information Sensitivity Level 3” prevents the public dissemination of a case.
Wherefore, Defendant respectfully prays that this motion be sustained and that the Court, for good cause shown, increase the security level of this case to Level 3 to prevent public viewing of the case on Missouri Case.Net.
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