Tenant contends the evidence at trial was undisputed that Landlord did not have the certificate permitting occupancy and was still charging rent. He claims in his brief that this was illegal under Ordinance 67914. Even assuming Tenant met his burden of proving that Landlord was attempting to collect rent when he did not have a certificate permitting occupancy, Tenant did not meet his burden of proving that this was illegal because, in addition to not being pled, Ordinance 67914 was not in evidence in the trial court. The only way for a court to determine the content of a municipal ordinance is for the ordinance itself to be placed in evidence or for the parties to have stipulated as to its elements. Rice v. James , 844 S.W.2d 64, 66 (Mo. App. E.D. 1992). The only place there is even reference to the ordinance in this trial record is in a letter attached to Tenant's responsive pleading, in which the City notified Landlord the property had been condemned for "failure to secure Certificate of Inspection" and cited Ordinance 67914. But that letter did not contain the text of the ordinance cited therein and, more importantly, was not offered into evidence at trial. "The mere filing of a document does not put it before the court as evidence," and the document cannot be considered by the court in making its judgment unless and until it is offered and admitted into evidence. Student Loan Marketing Association v. Holloway , 25 S.W.3d 699, 702 (Mo. App. W.D. 2000). Tenant has failed to plead and prove his affirmative defense of illegality of paying rent on this property under the parties' agreement and, therefore, the trial court did not err in enforcing that agreement. Point III is denied.