## Facts

- Landlords rented an apartment to a tenant under a one-year lease (June 1, 1993–May 31, 1994) for monthly rent due on the first of each month, with a clause converting the tenancy to month-to-month if no new lease was signed.
- After the lease expired, the tenant remained in possession, creating a month-to-month tenancy; the landlords later increased rent and late fees.
- The landlords decided to end the tenancy and prepared a written termination letter dated August 28, 1996, directing the tenant to vacate on September 30, 1996.
- The tenant did not receive the letter until September 6, 1996, when he delivered his September rent payment.
- The tenant did not vacate on September 30; the landlords later demanded that he vacate immediately and then filed an unlawful detainer action on November 6, 1996.
- The tenant moved out on December 11, 1996, and did not pay rent for October, November, or the portion of December he occupied the unit.
- The trial court entered judgment for the landlords for $5,121.00; the tenant appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether a month-to-month tenancy is terminated by a written notice that sets a move-out date less than one full rental month after the tenant receives the notice, as required by Missouri’s one-month written-notice statute.
2. Whether unlawful detainer relief is available when the tenancy was not lawfully terminated, and whether the pleadings nonetheless support recovery of unpaid rent and property damages under ordinary civil claims.

## Decision

- The appellate court reversed the trial court’s judgment for unlawful detainer.
- The court held that the termination notice was ineffective because it did not provide one full rental month between service and the stated termination date.
- The court held that an ineffective notice does not later become effective to terminate the tenancy at a future date.
- The case was remanded to allow the landlords to amend their pleadings to pursue unpaid rent and other damages (including alleged waste) through appropriate non-summary causes of action.

## Legal Principles

- A month-to-month tenancy in Missouri may be terminated only by providing one month’s written notice, measured from the tenant’s receipt (service) of the notice.
- For a tenancy with monthly rental periods, “one month’s notice” requires a full rental period’s notice before the termination date.
- A termination notice that sets a date less than one month after service is ineffective and does not terminate the tenancy on the stated date or any later date.
- Unlawful detainer is a statutory remedy available only after lawful termination of the tenant’s right to possession; without proper termination notice, unlawful detainer does not lie.
- Even when unlawful detainer is unavailable, a landlord may pursue ordinary civil remedies for unpaid rent and property damage if properly pleaded.

## Conclusion

Because the tenant received the termination notice less than one full rental month before the stated move-out date, the month-to-month tenancy was never lawfully terminated, defeating unlawful detainer; the landlords could still seek unpaid rent and damages on remand through amended pleadings asserting appropriate claims.


Davidson v. Kenney, 971 S.W.2d 896 (Mo. Ct. App. W.D. 1998)