How many hours' notice must a landlord give before entering in Montana?

24 hours. The notice does not have to be in writing, and the duty falls away in an emergency or where giving notice is impracticable. Entry must be at reasonable times, and the landlord may not abuse the access right or use it to harass the tenant.

What reasons allow a landlord to enter a rental in Montana?

Inspecting the premises, making necessary or agreed repairs, decorations, alterations, or improvements, supplying necessary or agreed services, and exhibiting the unit to prospective or actual purchasers, mortgagees, tenants, workers, or contractors. For those entries the tenant may not unreasonably withhold consent (70-24-312(1)).

Can a landlord enter without notice in an emergency in Montana?

Yes — Montana recognizes an emergency exception to the entry-notice requirement.

Are there time-of-day limits on when a landlord can enter in Montana?

Montana sets no clock hours for entry. The only limit is that entry be at 'reasonable times.'

How much notice must a landlord give before entering in Montana?

Verified October 1, 2026 All Montana topics →

Montana landlords must give tenants at least 24 hours' notice before entering a rental unit, and may enter only at reasonable times for listed purposes — inspections, repairs and improvements, services, and showings — with notice excused in an emergency or when giving notice is impracticable.

Cited to Mont. Code Ann. § 70-24-312 (1)-(5) and 3 more cited sources · Verified October 1, 2026

Beyond those purposes the landlord's only other rights of access are under a court order, to make repairs the tenant failed to make after written notice, during a tenant absence of more than 7 days, or after abandonment or surrender. The notice does not have to be in writing: Montana's notice statute accepts hand delivery, mail (certified mail counts as served 3 days after mailing), e-mail if the lease provides an address, and — since a 2021 amendment most guides still miss — simply posting the intent to enter conspicuously on the unit's main entry door. The statute bars using the access right to harass the tenant; a tenant faced with unlawful entry or harassing repeated demands may get an injunction or terminate the lease and recover actual damages, while tenants themselves may not change or add locks without the landlord's written permission and must supply a key. There are no clock-hour limits beyond 'reasonable times.'

Montana entry notice at a glance

Advance notice required	24 hours
Notice standard	The notice does not have to be in writing, and the duty falls away in an emergency or where giving notice is impracticable. Entry must be at reasonable times, and the landlord may not abuse the access right or use it to harass the tenant. Mont. Code Ann. 70-24-312(3)(a): except in an emergency 'or unless it is impracticable to do so,' the landlord shall give at least 24 hours' notice of the intent to enter and may enter only at reasonable times. Notice runs through 70-24-108 (actual knowledge; hand delivery; mail with certificate of mailing or certified mail, deemed served 3 days after mailing; e-mail to an address provided in the rental agreement, complete on read receipt or a non-automatic reply), and under 312(3)(b) conspicuously posting the intent to enter on the unit's main entry door also constitutes notice (added effective 2021-05-14).
Permitted reasons	Inspecting the premises, making necessary or agreed repairs, decorations, alterations, or improvements, supplying necessary or agreed services, and exhibiting the unit to prospective or actual purchasers, mortgagees, tenants, workers, or contractors. For those entries the tenant may not unreasonably withhold consent (70-24-312(1)). Subsection (4) makes other access exclusive: court order; entry to make repairs the tenant owed under 70-24-425; entry during a tenant absence exceeding 7 days under 70-24-426(2); or premises the tenant has abandoned or surrendered.
Emergency exception	Yes
Time-of-day restrictions	Montana sets no clock hours for entry. The only limit is that entry be at 'reasonable times.' 'Case of emergency' is statutorily defined (70-24-103(4)) as an extraordinary occurrence beyond the tenant's control requiring immediate action, including essential-service interruptions and life-threatening events.

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, Montana Landlord Entry Notice Laws (verified October 1, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/entry-notice/montana/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified). Everything above is cited in the citations section below.

Notes and caveats

24 hours is an express statutory figure — 70-24-312(3)(a) requires 'at least 24 hours' notice' — not a presumption of reasonableness as in some states. The official MCA page and the HB 541 enrolled text carry the figure in identical terms.
The notice does not have to be in writing — Two routes both suffice: the 70-24-108 methods (actual knowledge; hand delivery; mail with certificate of mailing or certified mail, deemed served 3 days after mailing; e-mail to an address given in the rental agreement) and, under 70-24-312(3)(b), conspicuously posting the intent to enter on the unit's main entry door — a rule added by HB 541, Ch. 536, L. 2021, effective on approval May 14, 2021, that most charts still miss.
An unanswered e-mail is not notice — E-mail notice is complete only on a read receipt or a non-automatic reply.
The escape valve includes 'impracticable' — The notice duty is excused not just in an emergency but whenever giving notice is impracticable (70-24-312(3)(a)).
Emergency entry needs no consent, and 'emergency' is defined — 70-24-312(2) permits emergency entry without consent, and 'case of emergency' is a defined term at 70-24-103(4), stated in identical terms on the MCA page and in the HB 810 (2025) enrolled text.
Remedies run both ways — and where the lock rule lives — A tenant facing unlawful entry uses 70-24-410 (injunction, or termination plus actual damages); a landlord facing a tenant's refusal of access uses 70-24-424. The tenant lock provision is 70-24-312(5).
No waiver — A lease clause waiving these rights is unenforceable (70-24-202(1)), and knowingly using such a provision exposes the landlord to damages of up to 3 months' rent (70-24-403).
Mobile-home lots have their own 24-hour rule — The parallel provision for lot rentals is 70-33-312.

Common questions: Montana entry notice

Each answer is the verified value from the table above, restated as a direct answer. Free to quote with a link to this page.

How many hours' notice must a landlord give before entering in Montana?: 24 hours. The notice does not have to be in writing, and the duty falls away in an emergency or where giving notice is impracticable. Entry must be at reasonable times, and the landlord may not abuse the access right or use it to harass the tenant.
What reasons allow a landlord to enter a rental in Montana?: Inspecting the premises, making necessary or agreed repairs, decorations, alterations, or improvements, supplying necessary or agreed services, and exhibiting the unit to prospective or actual purchasers, mortgagees, tenants, workers, or contractors. For those entries the tenant may not unreasonably withhold consent (70-24-312(1)).
Can a landlord enter without notice in an emergency in Montana?: Yes — Montana recognizes an emergency exception to the entry-notice requirement.
Are there time-of-day limits on when a landlord can enter in Montana?: Montana sets no clock hours for entry. The only limit is that entry be at 'reasonable times.'

Citations

Mont. Code Ann. § 70-24-312 · (1)-(5) (verified 2026) Official source
Mont. Code Ann. § 70-24-108 · (1) (verified 2026) Official source
Mont. Code Ann. § 70-24-410 (verified 2026) Official source
HB 541, 2021 Mont. Laws ch. 536 (added the posting-notice rule; chapter number from the official House bill-to-chapter table) · sec. 5 (verified 2026) Official source

How this record was verified: Direct read of statute text on the official Montana Code Annotated site (mca.legmt.gov, MCA 2025 edition): all nine sections of Title 70 ch. 25 and sections 70-24-103, -108, -201, -202, -312, -403, -404, -410, -422, -441 plus 7-1-111 and 1-2-201, each section behind a figure here read twice independently with all figures matching verbatim (30-day/10-day deposit return, 24-hour cleaning cure window, certified-mail 3-day service rule, 24 hours' entry notice, 30-day/7-day periodic termination notice, rent-control preemption text). Every amendment claim additionally pinned character-for-character from official enrolled bills downloaded via the Legislature's document API (docs.legmt.gov): HB 444 (2025, Ch. 656) and HB 488 (2023, Ch. 383) for 70-25-201/-202, HB 810 (2025, Ch. 768) for 70-24-103/-201, HB 541 (2021, Ch. 536) for 70-24-312/70-24-201/70-25-201, SB 105 (2023, Ch. 319) and HB 283 (2023, Ch. 572) for 7-1-111; chapter numbers pinned from the official bill-to-chapter tables (archive.legmt.gov MCA Supplements). Bill status/signing dates read from the official api.legmt.gov bill-status history for 2025 bills (HB 444 signed 2025-05-12; HB 810 signed 2025-06-09) and from the Legislature's archive for the 2021 and 2023 bills. Negative checks (no deposit cap, no interest or separate-account rule, no late-fee cap or grace period) run twice against the complete section indexes of ch. 24 parts 1-4 and ch. 25 parts 1-2. 2025 session sweep: HB 444 and HB 810 enacted and effective (incorporated); HB 304, HB 277, HB 305 and HB 306 did not pass; 69th Legislature adjourned, next regular session January 2027; no on-topic special-session activity. On October 1, 2026 every section the security deposit, rent increase, late fee, entry and eviction answers rest on was read again on mca.legmt.gov (Montana Code Annotated 2025, which carries the 2025 session; no session was held in 2026): Title 70, chapters 24, 25, 27 and 33, section 70-26-109 on changing the terms of a month-to-month lease, section 7-1-111, Title 25, chapters 23 and 33 on justice court appeals, and Article XI, section 4 of the Montana Constitution, with the 2025 chapter laws on the Legislature's archive and the codes of Billings, Missoula, Bozeman, Great Falls, Butte-Silver Bow and Livingston for rent regulation.