How Much Deposit Can a Contractor Ask For in Missouri?
Missouri's home solicitation sales law gives buyers a three-day right to cancel and a refund of payments, and its merchandising practices act forbids deceptive dealing, but none of these provisions sets a percentage cap on a contractor's deposit.
Missouri does not publish a statewide deposit-cap statute for home improvement contractors, and licensing of contractors is generally handled at the local level. What Missouri law does regulate are the terms of certain in-home sales and deceptive business practices. If your contractor solicited the job at your home, the Revised Statutes of Missouri give you a cancellation window and a right to have your money returned, and the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act reaches fraud and misrepresentation connected with the sale of services.
Rules that bear on your deposit
Missouri defines a home solicitation sale as a consumer credit sale of goods or services, other than real property, solicited personally at the buyer's residence. 1
For a home solicitation sale, the seller must present a written agreement and obtain the buyer's signature dated to the day the buyer actually signs. 2
After a cancellation, the seller must return any payments the buyer made, along with any note or evidence of indebtedness, within ten days. 3
If the seller performed any services before the cancellation, the seller is entitled to no compensation for that work. 4
Sources
Missouri defines a home solicitation sale as a consumer credit sale of goods or services, excepting the sale of real property or an interest in it.
In a home solicitation sale the seller must present a written agreement and obtain the buyer's signature dated to the day the buyer actually signs.
Within ten days after a home solicitation sale is cancelled the seller must tender to the buyer any payments made and any note or evidence of indebtedness.
If the seller performed any services under a home solicitation sale before its cancellation, the seller is entitled to no compensation.
Frequently asked questions
- Does Missouri cap how much deposit a contractor can ask for?
- The Missouri statutes cited on this page do not set a percentage cap on a contractor's deposit. What it does provide is a three-day cancellation right for sales solicited at your home, a duty for the seller to return your payments within ten days of a valid cancellation, and a merchandising practices act that penalizes fraud and misrepresentation connected with a sale.
- Can I get my deposit back if a contractor signed me up at my home?
- If the transaction was a home solicitation sale, you may cancel within three business days by mailing notice to the seller, and the seller must then tender back any payments you made within ten days, per RSMo 407.710 and 407.715.
Last reviewed August 4, 2026
This page is general information about state law, not legal advice. Laws change, and how they apply depends on the facts of your situation.