Section 535.300 uses the term “dwelling unit” four times to describe the property for which a security deposit is paid and held. Section 535.300; Prop. Exch. & Sales, Inc. v. King, 863 S.W.2d 12, 15 (Mo.App.1993). While this term is not defined in section 535.300, the definition for “dwelling unit” in section 441.500.6 has been held to be instructive. Prop. Exch. & Sales, Inc., 863 S.W.2d at 15. That section defines a “dwelling unit” as the “premises or part thereof occupied, used, or held out for use and occupancy as a place of abode for human beings, whether occupied or vacant.” Section 441.500.6, RSMo Cum. Supp. 2014.10 The use of this term in section 535.300 indicates that the legislature did not intend for it to apply to non-dwelling units, such as those involved in commercial tenancies. PDQ Tower Servs., *8Inc. v. Adams, 213 S.W.3d 697, 699 (Mo.App.2007). “ ‘The statute’s broad remedial purpose is to lay the groundwork for landlord-tenant relations and to provide a more equal footing for both. The nature of the landlord-tenant relationship requires such accountability.’ ” Id. (quoting Battis, 832 S.W.2d at 940). “This type of approach where the legislature protects the tenant from the landlord’s interests while preserving the landlord’s interests is usually limited to residential tenants.” PDQ Tower Servs., Inc., 213 S.W.3d at 699-700. Based upon these observations and that “[c]ommercial tenants usually are on equal footing with landlords,” the western district of our court held that section 535.300 was intended by the legislature to apply only to residential tenancies and not to commercial tenancies. Id. This limited application of section 535.300 also indicates an intent by the legislature to control a consumer relationship in a manner such that the requirements of the statute designed to protect a tenant’s interests cannot be contractually defeated by a landlord who may be in a superior bargaining position and with whom the tenant is not on equal footing. The legislature correspondingly protected the landlord’s interests in this type of consumer transaction, however, by exclusively limiting a tenant’s recovery for any violation to not more than twice the security deposit amount. See Prop. Exch. & Sales, Inc., 863 S.W.2d at 14-15 (stating section 535.300 is the exclusive remedy for tenants to recover security deposits); see also Battis, 832 S.W.2d at 940-41 (stating section 535.300 limits recovery to not more than twice the security deposit amount).