Owner financing in Missouri: a guide for the seller who carries the note
If you sold Missouri property and carried the note, it is most likely secured by a deed of trust. Missouri lets you foreclose by trustee's sale, sets the notice for it, and puts a deadline with a daily penalty on releasing the deed of trust once the note is paid.
Foreclosure by trustee's sale
A Missouri deed of trust with a power of sale can be foreclosed by the trustee outside court, or the holder can sue instead (RSMo §§ 443.290, 443.410). The sale must be held in the county where the land is, on at least 20 days' notice (RSMo § 443.310), and notice must be mailed by certified or registered mail at least 20 days before the sale to the borrower and others entitled to it (RSMo § 443.325).
If the note holder buys the property at the sale, the borrower can have a year to redeem it, provided the borrower gave written notice of intent to redeem at the sale or within the 10 days before it (RSMo § 443.410).
Releasing the deed of trust at payoff
When the note is paid in full, Missouri requires the holder to deliver a release for recording within 45 days of a certified-mail demand that includes proof of payoff, with a penalty for missing it that runs per day (RSMo § 443.130). The release depends on a payoff figure you can stand behind, so the payment record has to be right to the last payment.
Licensing
Missouri's loan originator licensing law exempts an individual financing the sale of a dwelling that was the individual's residence, and a loan to an immediate family member (RSMo § 443.706). It has no exemption based on a count of loans, so a seller financing property they never lived in should get advice before relying on an exemption.
Federal rules count seller-financed sales separately; see RMLO licensing thresholds and the de minimis exemption.
The record every Missouri seller needs
Whatever the structure, the rules above all lean on the same thing: a complete record of every payment, the date it arrived, and how it was split between late fees, interest, principal and escrow. OwnerNote keeps that record. You log each payment as it arrives, and it applies every one the same way, keeps the balance current, produces payoff quotes good through any date, totals the year's interest, and prints statements for any period.
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