- Initial Statement of Beneficial Ownership (3)

FORM 3	UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 INITIAL STATEMENT OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES	OMB APPROVAL OMB Number: 3235-0104 Expires: February 28, 2011 Estimated average burden hours per response... 0.5
	Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940

1. Name and Address of Reporting Person * BANK OF AMERICA CORP /DE/	2. Date of Event Requiring Statement (MM/DD/YYYY) 1/30/2009	3. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol VAN KAMPEN MUNICIPAL OPPORTUNITY TRUST [VMO]
(Last)        (First)        (Middle) BANK OF AMERICA CORPORATE CENTER, 100 N TRYON STREET	4. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer (Check all applicable) _____ Director                            ___ X ___ 10% Owner _____ Officer (give title below)          _____ Other (specify below)
(Street) CHARLOTTE, NC 28255        (City)              (State)              (Zip)	5. If Amendment, Date Original Filed (MM/DD/YYYY)	6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check Applicable Line) ___ Form filed by One Reporting Person _ X _ Form filed by More than One Reporting Person

Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned
1.Title of Security (Instr. 4)	2. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned (Instr. 4)	3. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5)	4. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)
Auction Rate Preferred	2570   (1)	I	By Subsidiary

Table II - Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned ( e.g. , puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)
1. Title of Derivate Security (Instr. 4)	2. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date (MM/DD/YYYY)		3. Title and Amount of Securities Underlying Derivative Security (Instr. 4)		4. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security	5. Ownership Form of Derivative Security: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5)	6. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)
	Date Exercisable	Expiration Date	Title	Amount or Number of Shares

Explanation of Responses:
( 1)	The Auction Rate Preferred Shares ("Shares") reported in Table 1 represent 1,113 Shares beneficially owned by Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. ("MLPFS") and 1,457 Shares beneficially owned by Bank of America, N.A. ("BANA"). MLPFS and BANA are each indirect, wholly owned subsidiaries of Bank of America Corporation ("Bank of America").

Remarks: The Shares reported herein represent Bank of America's combined holdings in multiple series of auction rate preferred securities of the issuer, which are treated herein as one class of securities in accordance with the Auction Rate Securities-Global Exemptive Relief no-action letter issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on September 22, 2008. Bank of America undertakes to provide upon request by the SEC, the issuer or a security holder of the issuer, complete information regarding the number of equity securities of the issuer purchased or sold at each different price and date of all transactions in such securities that occurred after Bank of America became a 10% owner but prior to the date of this filing.

Reporting Owners
Reporting Owner Name / Address	Relationships
	Director	10% Owner	Officer	Other
BANK OF AMERICA CORP /DE/ BANK OF AMERICA CORPORATE CENTER 100 N TRYON STREET CHARLOTTE, NC 28255		X
BANK OF AMERICA NA 100 N TRYON STREET CHARLOTTE, NC 28255		X
MERRILL LYNCH, PIERCE, FENNER & SMITH INC. 4 WORLD FINANCIAL CENTER NORTH TOWER NEW YORK, NY 10080		X

Signatures
/s/ Debra I. Cho, Senior Vice President, Bank of America Corporation		2/10/2009
** Signature of Reporting Person		Date
/s/ Debra I. Cho, Senior Vice President, Bank of America, N.A.		2/10/2009
** Signature of Reporting Person		Date
/s/ Pia Thompson, Assistant Secretary, Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc.		2/10/2009
** Signature of Reporting Person		Date

Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly.
*	If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 5(b)(v).
**	Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
Note:	File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed. If space is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure.
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