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Read. Follow. Verify.Missouri HB 1954 holds landlords liable for damages and health costs when failing to fix severe health hazards within 30 days
Last action · May 15, 2026: Referred: Emerging Issues(H)Sponsors: LaKeySha Bosley and 1 other
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What This Bill Would Do
Landlords are required to begin fixing conditions that materially affect a tenant's health and safety within 30 days of receiving written notice, or face liability for damages including associated health care costs. Affected tenants include residential renters dealing with unaddressed hazards like mold, sewage backups, rotting floors, roof leaks, or pests through no fault of their own. After completing repairs, landlords must have the premises inspected by a licensed inspector to verify the issues are corrected.
Residential tenants gain the legal right to sue landlords for financial compensation and medical expenses when hazardous living conditions go unremedied past a 30-day statutory window, altering financial and legal accountability for rental housing maintenance.
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
tenant
Tenants gain the right to seek damages and healthcare costs from landlords who fail to remediate hazardous living conditions within thirty days of written notice.
landlord
Landlords face statutory financial liability for tenant damages and healthcare costs if they do not begin fixing health and safety hazards within 30 days of written notice, and must pay for a licensed inspection upon completing repairs.
Key Facts
- Landlords are liable for damages to a tenant if the premises contain conditions materially affecting health and safety through no fault of the tenant, and the landlord fails to begin remediation within thirty days of written notice.
- Conditions materially affecting health and safety explicitly include hazardous mold, rotting or deteriorating floors, sewage backup, roof leaks, or pest infestations.
- Damages recoverable by tenants include any health care costs associated with the landlord's failure to remedy the hazardous condition.
- Pests are defined to include insects such as houseflies, bees, cockroaches, moths, silverfish, beetles, bedbugs, ants, termites, hornets, mosquitoes, and wasps.
Show all 6 facts
- Arthropods classified as pests include spiders, mites, ticks, centipedes, and wood lice, while rodents include mice and Norway rats.
- After completing required remediation, landlords must have the premises inspected by a licensed inspector to determine if the condition has been corrected.
Frequently Asked Questions
What triggers a landlord's legal liability for health and safety hazards under HB 1954?
What specific conditions are considered hazards under this measure?
What happens after a landlord finishes repairing a hazardous condition?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Procedural history
4 actions- May 15, 2026HouseCommitteeReferred: Emerging Issues(H)
- Jan 8, 2026HouseFloorRead Second Time (H)
- Jan 7, 2026HouseIntroducedRead First Time (H)
- Dec 1, 2025HouseIntroducedPrefiled (H)
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Connected Entities
Sources
house.mo.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance65How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy50Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz35Current news / social attention level
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