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Storm contractor rules in Missouri: the Attorney General price gouging rule and the home solicitation sales sections

Missouri's storm price rule is an Attorney General regulation under the Merchandising Practices Act, and its door-to-door rule is in sections 407.700 to 407.720 of the Revised Statutes. This page restates both as the Secretary of State and the Revisor of Statutes publish them, read on October 9, 2026.

Checked against the sources at the bottom of this page on October 9, 2026. Rules, fees and pay change: the source has the last word.

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. The wider picture is on the storm contractor rules page. All rows are regulation or statute text. The copy of the regulation read carries the dates June 30, 2011 and May 31, 2016 on its pages, and the rows restate that copy. No source read names tree work or says anything about contractor licensing, so licensing is not covered here.

The sources in one table

SourceWhat it says
15 CSR 60-8.030, the ruleIt is an unfair practice to charge an excessive price for any necessity within a disaster area, to charge an excessive price for a necessity the seller has reason to know is likely to reach consumers in a disaster area, or to take advantage of hardship from extreme temporary conditions and charge a price substantially above the previous market price in the seller's trade area
15 CSR 60-8.010, necessityA necessity includes materials and services related to, but not limited to, food, water, medical treatment, sanitation, construction, repair and transportation
15 CSR 60-8.010, excessive priceA price not justified by the seller's actual cost of acquiring, producing, selling, transporting and delivering the product plus the usual and customary profit margin before the disaster. A price agreed between buyer and seller before the declaration of a disaster is not an excessive price under the rule
15 CSR 60-8.010, disaster areaAn area declared a disaster area by state or federal authorities. For this rule it expires on the date stated in the order, or 30 days after issue if none is stated, and a renewal follows the same pattern. "Natural disaster" means property damage from heavy rainfall, storm, tornado, flooding or earthquake
RSMo 407.700A home solicitation sale is a consumer credit sale of goods or services in which the seller personally solicits the sale at the buyer's residence and the buyer's offer or agreement is given there. It excludes sales of real property and sales made after prior negotiations at a fixed business location
RSMo 407.705The buyer may cancel until midnight of the third business day after signing an agreement that complies with sections 407.700 to 407.720. A written notice in any form that shows the intention not to be bound is enough. There is no right to cancel where the buyer asked for goods or services without delay because of an emergency, the seller in good faith made a substantial beginning of performance before the notice, and, for goods, they cannot be returned in as good condition
RSMo 407.710The seller must present a written agreement dated with the day the buyer actually signs, carrying a "NOTICE OF CANCELLATION" statement of the buyer's rights in 10-point boldface type, unless the buyer requests goods or services without delay in an emergency

Price rule

The price rule is a regulation made by the Attorney General under the Merchandising Practices Act, Chapter 407, and not a section of the statute book. It has no fixed percentage. The test in the definitions is the seller's own cost plus the seller's usual margin before the disaster. The necessity list names construction and repair, and says it is not limited to the items listed, so the text leaves open whether other services count. The rule is tied to a disaster area declared by state or federal authorities.

Door-to-door sales

The home solicitation sections apply to a consumer credit sale, as section 407.700 defines it. The emergency carve-out in section 407.705 has three conditions that all have to be present, as the text lists them with "and" between each. Section 407.710 separately lets the seller skip the written agreement and notice when the buyer requests goods or services without delay in an emergency. How these apply to a storm cleanup job is a question for the Missouri Attorney General's consumer protection office.

The scam warnings that attorneys general issue after storms are on the storm tree scams page. For how other states treat tree work, see contractor licences for tree work.

Sources