I’m a Missouri tenant and I don’t want to move out of my home. How can I avoid eviction? What are my Missouri tenant eviction rights?

If you are a Missouri tenant who has received an unlawful detainer notice or a suit for rent and possession, you should try to negotiate with your landlord. Sometimes you can pay what you owe or remedy a breach of the lease and be allowed to stay in the property. If, however, you do not have the money to pay rent or if your landlord is not willing to negotiate, you will have to answer the summons and present your side of the argument to the Circuit judge. The date of your hearing will be on the summons you receive. Be sure to go to the hearing, or a default judgment will be entered against you. When you go, bring any evidence that you paid rent or did not breach the lease, or evidence that your landlord did not repair things she said she would. This evidence can be a defense for some actions.

Before the hearing, you may wish to seek the advice of an experienced Missouri evictions lawyer, either to give you sound legal advice going in, help you defend against the eviction, or to advise you as to any rights you may have with respect to the circumstances surrounding the notice given and the unlawful detainer or rent and possession action.