How much notice does a landlord have to give before filing an eviction for unpaid rent in Montana?

3 days. One written notice does the whole job: it demands the rent and states that the landlord will terminate if the rent is not paid within the period. The tenant defeats the termination by paying in time, and Montana requires no separate notice to quit to expire before the landlord files.

How much notice is required to evict for a lease violation in Montana?

14 days. That period is the termination date - the earliest date the tenancy ends and the landlord may file - and it is the cure deadline as well, because a tenant who fixes a remediable breach before the date named in the notice stops the termination (70-24-422(1)(a)).

How long does an eviction take in Montana?

Roughly 2 to 3 weeks on the fastest common track — nonpayment, with the notice delivered in hand. The outer bound of that statutory fast track is about 5 to 6 weeks (3 calendar days + about 20 business days + 5 calendar days).

How long does a tenant have to appeal an eviction judgment in Montana?

No eviction-specific deadline — the standard civil appeal window applies (see notes).

Can a landlord change the locks or shut off utilities instead of going to court in Montana?

No — Montana bars self-help eviction by statute; a landlord must go through the court process. Montana bars a landlord from retaking possession by action or otherwise, and the bar names utility shutoffs: cutting off heat, running water, hot water, electricity, gas, or other essential services is closed off along with the lockout (70-24-428).

What is the eviction process and timeline in Montana?

Verified July 25, 2026 Correction August 5, 2026 All Montana topics →

To evict a residential tenant in Montana the landlord serves a written termination notice under MCA 70-24-422 - 3 days for unpaid rent, 14 days for a general lease violation, and 3 days for an unauthorized pet, unauthorized occupants, verbal abuse, damage to the premises or dangerous or illegal activity - and if the tenant does not pay, cure or leave, files an action for possession in justice, city or district court.

Cited to MCA 70-24-422 (1), (1)(a)-(1)(f), (2), (3), (4), (7) and 27 more Montana statutes · Verified July 25, 2026

Montana is not a single-number notice state: 70-24-422 sets a different period for each ground, plus 5 days for a repeat of substantially the same violation within 6 months, and a landlord may instead end a month-to-month tenancy without cause on 30 days' notice under 70-24-441(2). Because the cure deadline and the termination date are the same date under 70-24-422(1)(a), the number on the notice is the number that governs - a tenant who fixes the problem before the date on the notice defeats the termination. Notice periods are calendar days, but the court deadlines are business days: the tenant answers within 5 business days of service (70-24-429(4)), the court must hear the case within 10 business days of the answer date and within 5 business days if the ground is dangerous or illegal activity (70-24-427(2)(a)), it must rule within 5 days of the hearing, and on a landlord judgment a writ of possession and a writ of assistance issue immediately, with the sheriff executing within 5 business days (70-24-427(4)). Mailing the notice by certificate of mailing or certified mail adds 3 days before it counts as served (70-24-108(1)(d)). Locking a tenant out or shutting off utilities is barred by 70-24-428 and exposes the landlord to the greater of 3 months' rent or treble damages under 70-24-411.

Montana eviction process at a glance

Nonpayment notice (pay-or-quit)	3 days
Nonpayment notice rules (day counting, cure rights, service)	One written notice does the whole job: it demands the rent and states that the landlord will terminate if the rent is not paid within the period. The tenant defeats the termination by paying in time, and Montana requires no separate notice to quit to expire before the landlord files. 3 calendar days. MCA 70-24-422(2): if rent is unpaid when due and the tenant fails to pay within 3 days after written notice by the landlord of the nonpayment and of the landlord's intention to terminate if the rent is not paid within that period, the landlord may terminate the rental agreement. The demand for rent and the statement of intent to terminate are combined in the same writing; on expiry the landlord files an action for possession under 70-24-427(1). There is no statutory post-judgment redemption for a chapter 24 tenancy - the 5-day pay-and-be-restored right in 70-27-205(3) belongs to the forcible entry/unlawful detainer chapter, which 70-27-101(1) makes inapplicable to arrangements governed by chapter 24. DAY UNIT: calendar days (the statute says '3 days' with no qualifier), computed under MCA 1-1-306 by excluding the first day and including the last, with the last day also excluded if it is a holiday; under MCA 1-1-307 an act appointed for a day falling on a holiday or a Saturday may be performed on the next business day. Montana makes each Sunday a legal holiday (1-1-216(1)(a)) but not Saturday (1-1-216(2)(c): 'All other days are business days'). SERVICE: 70-24-108 governs - actual knowledge; hand delivery; certificate of mailing or certified mail to the address the person designated or, absent one, the last-known address; or email to an address given in the rental agreement, which is complete only on a read receipt or a non-automated reply (70-24-108(1)(c)). Mailing carries a hard overlay: 70-24-108(1)(d) provides that if notice is made with a certificate of mailing or by certified mail, 'service of the notice is considered to have been made on the date 3 days after the date of mailing', so a mailed 3-day notice runs 6 days from the date of mailing.
Lease-violation notice period	14 days
Lease-violation notice rules (cure vs. termination)	That period is the termination date - the earliest date the tenancy ends and the landlord may file - and it is the cure deadline as well, because a tenant who fixes a remediable breach before the date named in the notice stops the termination (70-24-422(1)(a)). 14 calendar days. MCA 70-24-422(1) requires a written notice specifying the acts and omissions and stating 'that the tenant shall vacate the premises on a date specified in the notice not less than the minimum number of days after receipt of the notice provided for in this section', and 70-24-422(1)(d) supplies the minimum: 'If the noncompliance is not listed in subsection (1)(b), (1)(c), or (1)(f), the notice period is 14 days.' TWO-NUMBER CHECK: Montana is URLTA-derived but does NOT use the two-number cure-then-terminate shape its URLTA-family neighbours carry - Oregon's ORS 90.392 sets a termination date not less than 30 days after delivery with a cure deadline at least 14 days after delivery, and Virginia's § 55.1-1245(A) terminates not less than 30 days after receipt if the breach is not remedied in 21 days. Montana carries ONE number per ground, because the cure deadline and the termination date are the same date: 70-24-422(1)(a) provides that if the noncompliance is remediable by repairs, payment of damages or written approval of the landlord and 'the tenant remedies the noncompliance before the date specified in the notice, the rental agreement does not terminate.' So 14 is simultaneously the cure window and the termination date, and 14 is the correct figure on either reading - there is no second, longer number to report. FULL LADDER in 70-24-422 (never present Montana as a single-number state): unauthorized pet, 3 days, curable (1)(b); unauthorized persons residing in the unit, 3 days, curable (1)(c); verbal abuse of the landlord by a tenant, 3 days, curable (1)(f); any other noncompliance with the rental agreement or with 70-24-321, 14 days (1)(d); repeat of substantially the same act or omission within 6 months, at least 5 days and no cure right (1)(e); damage to the premises under 70-24-321(2), 3 days (70-24-422(3)); conduct creating a reasonable potential of damage or injury to neighbours under 70-24-321(3), 3 days (70-24-422(4)). Under 70-24-422(7) the landlord is not bound by this section if it elects the no-cause 30-day termination in 70-24-441(2) instead (7 days for week-to-week, 70-24-441(1)). All are calendar days under 1-1-306 and 1-1-307, and the 70-24-108(1)(d) 3-day mailing overlay applies to each. DO NOT import MCA 70-27-108(3), which sets a 3-day notice to perform lease covenants: that is the forcible entry/unlawful detainer chapter and 70-27-101(1) excludes chapter 24 arrangements from it. Reading chapter 27 instead of chapter 24 would give 3 days where the law says 14.
Unconditional-quit grounds	Montana has no zero-day unconditional quit for a residential tenancy - every ground requires written notice - but several grounds carry no statutory cure right. Repeat violation: 70-24-422(1)(e), 'If substantially the same act or omission that constituted a prior noncompliance of which notice was given recurs within 6 months, the landlord may terminate the rental agreement upon at least 5 days' written notice specifying the noncompliance and the date of the termination of the rental agreement' - 5 days, no cure. Damage to the premises: 70-24-422(3), 3 days' written notice where the tenant 'destroys, defaces, damages, impairs, or removes any part of the premises in violation of 70-24-321(2)'. Dangerous or illegal activity: 70-24-422(4), 3 days' written notice where the tenant 'creates a reasonable potential that the premises may be damaged or destroyed or that neighboring tenants may be injured in violation of 70-24-321(3)'; 70-24-321(3) lists criminal production or manufacture of dangerous drugs (45-9-110), operation of an unlawful clandestine laboratory (45-9-132), gang-related activity (Title 45, ch. 8, part 4), unlawful possession of a firearm, explosive, or hazardous or toxic substance, and any activity otherwise prohibited by law. The 70-24-321(3) ground is the only one that also accelerates the court timetable - 70-24-427(2)(a) cuts the hearing deadline from 10 business days to 5. The 3-day grounds in 70-24-422(1)(b), (1)(c) and (1)(f) (pet, unauthorized occupants, verbal abuse) are curable under 70-24-422(1)(a). Distinct from eviction: MCA 70-24-113 lets an owner or agent ask law enforcement to remove immediately an 'unauthorized person or trespasser' who cannot produce a written rental agreement or written/verified verbal authorization to occupy, and to stand by while locks are changed - a squatter remedy, not a way to remove a tenant (amended by Ch. 179, L. 2025).
Court and action	Justice courts, city courts and district courts have concurrent jurisdiction. MCA 3-10-302: 'The justices' courts have concurrent jurisdiction with the district courts within their respective counties in actions of forcible entry, unlawful detainer, and rent deposits and in actions brought under Title 70, chapters 24, 25, and 33.' City courts share it through 3-11-102(1), which gives the city court concurrent jurisdiction with the justice's court over proceedings provided for under Title 3, chapter 10, part 3. The statutory name of the residential action is an ACTION FOR POSSESSION, not unlawful detainer: 70-24-427(1) ('If the rental agreement is terminated, the landlord has a claim for possession, rent, and actual damages for any breach of the rental agreement') and 70-24-429(1). MCA 70-27-101(1) is the boundary - chapter 27 (Forcible Entry and Detainer; Unlawful Detainer), 'except as it relates to forcible detainer as defined in 70-27-103(2) only and as it relates to forcible entry, does not apply to arrangements governed by chapter 24 of this title' - so chapter 27's notice periods, its 10-day summons and its 10-day justice-court trial rule (70-27-202) do not govern an in-scope residential eviction. Procedure comes from the Montana Justice and City Court Rules of Civil Procedure, Title 25, chapter 23: 70-24-429(4) provides that in an action for possession or unlawful holdover 'the provisions of the Montana Justice and City Court Rules of Civil Procedure, Title 25, chapter 23, apply, except that the time for filing an answer under Rule 4C(2)(b) is 5 business days after service of summons and complaint, exclusive of the date of service.' Rule 4C(2)(b) (MCA 25-23-104) otherwise directs an answer 'within 20 days after service of summons and complaint, exclusive of the day of service, or such other period as may be specified by law' - 70-24-429(4) is that other period, so the residential answer window is 5 business days, not 20 days and not chapter 27's 10 days. Rule 6A (MCA 25-23-106) supplies time computation for those rules. The prevailing party may be awarded reasonable attorney fees and costs under 70-24-442.
Filing to hearing	A real statewide statutory window exists - but it is expressed in BUSINESS days and it runs from the tenant's appearance or the answer date stated in the summons, NOT from filing and NOT from service. MCA 70-24-427(2)(a): an action filed under 70-24-427(1) 'must be heard within 10 business days after the tenant's appearance or the answer date stated in the summons, except that if the rental agreement is terminated because of noncompliance under 70-24-321(3), the action must be heard within 5 business days after the tenant's appearance or the answer date stated in the summons.' The answer date is itself fixed by 70-24-429(4) at 5 business days after service of the summons and complaint, exclusive of the date of service. So measured from service the chain is: 5 business days to answer, then up to 10 business days to the hearing (5 on a 70-24-321(3) ground). The same 10/5-business-day structure repeats on appeal, measured from transmittal - the hearing 'must be held within 10 business days after the case is transmitted to the district court', or 5 business days on a 70-24-321(3) ground. A claim for damages is severed and heard within 45 days after possession and rent are adjudicated (70-24-427(2)(b)). The parties may stipulate to a continuance beyond these limits without an undertaking (70-24-427(3)). No statute sets a deadline for serving the summons, so the window is bounded at the back end only. These are ceilings on the court, not waiting periods the landlord must observe.
Writ of possession and lockout	Two writs, issued immediately, with no statutory stay. MCA 70-24-427(4): 'In a landlord's action for possession filed pursuant to subsection (1), the court shall rule on the action within 5 days after the hearing. If a landlord's claim for possession is granted, the court shall issue a writ of possession and a writ of assistance immediately.' The sheriff executes the writ of assistance, and 70-24-427(4)(a)-(b) sets the execution window at 'within 5 business days of the sheriff receiving the writ of assistance, excluding of the date of receipt by the sheriff' or 'at a time no more than 5 business days after the sheriff receives the writ of assistance or as otherwise agreed to by the landlord and the sheriff.' Note what does NOT apply to a chapter 24 tenancy, because 70-27-101(1) excludes chapter 24 from chapter 27: the 5-day post-judgment right to pay the rent and damages into court and be restored to the tenancy (70-27-205(3)) and the hardship petition for relief against forfeiture within 30 days of judgment (70-27-210). Personal property the tenant leaves behind is handled under 70-24-430, not by the writ.
Appeal window	No eviction-specific deadline — the standard civil appeal window applies (see notes)
Best-case uncontested timeline (derived from statutory minimums — contested cases run longer)	Roughly 2 to 3 weeks on the fastest common track — nonpayment, with the notice delivered in hand. The outer bound of that statutory fast track is about 5 to 6 weeks (3 calendar days + about 20 business days + 5 calendar days). The floor is short because only the 3-day notice and the 5-business-day answer period are true waiting periods and the rest are ceilings on the court. Adding the statutory minimums in order: 3 calendar days' notice under 70-24-422(2), then the landlord files and serves; the tenant has 5 business days from service to answer under 70-24-429(4); the court must hear the case within 10 business days after that answer date under 70-24-427(2)(a) and must rule within 5 days of the hearing under 70-24-427(4); the writs of possession and assistance issue immediately on a landlord judgment; and the sheriff executes the writ of assistance within 5 business days of receipt under 70-24-427(4)(a). Add 3 days to the front if the notice is mailed rather than hand-delivered (70-24-108(1)(d)). A 14-day lease-violation notice replaces the 3-day one for a general breach, pushing the floor out by 11 days. Contested cases, stipulated continuances under 70-24-427(3), jury demands and appeals run longer; these figures are a derivation from the cited statutory periods, not an observed average.
Self-help eviction (lockout, utility shutoff) barred	Yes
Self-help scope and tenant remedies	Montana bars a landlord from retaking possession by action or otherwise, and the bar names utility shutoffs: cutting off heat, running water, hot water, electricity, gas, or other essential services is closed off along with the lockout (70-24-428). MCA 70-24-428 is the statutory bar: 'Except in the case of abandonment, surrender, or as permitted in this chapter, a landlord may not recover or take possession of the dwelling unit by action or otherwise, including purposeful diminution of services to the tenant by interrupting or causing the interruption of heat, running water, hot water, electricity, gas, or other essential services.' The phrase 'by action or otherwise' reaches a peaceable retaking as well as a forcible one, and the clause expressly names utility shutoff, so both the lockout and the shutoff routes are closed. Tenant remedy is MCA 70-24-411: where a landlord 'unlawfully removes or excludes the tenant from the premises or purposefully diminishes services to the tenant by interrupting or causing the interruption of heat, running water, hot water, electricity, gas, or other essential services, the tenant may recover possession or terminate the rental agreement and, in either case, recover an amount not more than 3 months' periodic rent or treble damages, whichever is greater'; on termination the landlord must return all security recoverable under Title 70, chapter 25, and all prepaid rent. The same 70-24-411 remedy is the sanction for retaliatory rent increases, service cuts or possession actions under 70-24-431(2), and 70-24-442 allows the prevailing party attorney fees. The narrow carve-out is 70-24-113, which permits law-enforcement removal of a person who is not a tenant and cannot produce authorization to occupy, and permits the owner to have law enforcement stand by while locks are changed as to that person.

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, Montana Eviction Process Laws (verified July 25, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/eviction-process/montana/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified). Every figure above is cited to the Montana statute in the citations section below.

Notes and caveats

Chapter 24 governs — chapter 27 is the big trap — Montana has two eviction chapters and only one governs a residential tenancy. 70-27-101(1) provides that chapter 27, 'except as it relates to forcible detainer as defined in 70-27-103(2) only and as it relates to forcible entry, does not apply to arrangements governed by chapter 24 of this title.' Chapter 27 sets a 3-day notice for nonpayment (70-27-108(2)) and a 3-day notice for breach of lease covenants (70-27-108(3)); the second collides head-on with chapter 24's 14 days, so a summary built from chapter 27 publishes 3 days where the governing law says 14.
When chapter 27 does apply — It still governs residential tenancies excluded from chapter 24 by 70-24-104. Its 10-day summons and answer (70-27-114(1)(b), 70-27-117) and its 10-day justice-court trial rule (70-27-202) belong to that track only — they are not the residential numbers.
Two day units, by force of statute — Every notice period in 70-24-422 and 70-24-441 is in unqualified calendar days (1-1-306: exclude the first day, include the last, and exclude the last day too if it is a holiday; 1-1-307: an act appointed for a day falling on a holiday or a Saturday may be done the next business day). Every court deadline that matters — the 5-day answer (70-24-429(4)), the 10-day and 5-day hearing deadlines (70-24-427(2)(a)) and the 5-day sheriff execution window (70-24-427(4)(a)) — is in business days.
In Montana a Saturday may count as a business day — 1-1-216(1)(a) makes each Sunday a legal holiday and 1-1-216(2)(c) provides that 'All other days are business days.' Saturday is not listed as a holiday, so on the face of 1-1-216 a Saturday counts. That sits awkwardly with Justice Court Rule 6A (25-23-106), which excludes a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday when it falls on the LAST day of a period computed under those rules. Which one controls the 'business days' counts in 70-24-427 and 70-24-429(4) is not resolved here; the conservative reading for a landlord is to treat Saturdays as counting.
The mailing overlay adds 3 days to every notice period — 70-24-108(1)(d) treats a notice sent by certificate of mailing or certified mail as served 3 days after the date of mailing. It compounds with every period in 70-24-422 and is the single most common way a Montana eviction gets filed too early.
An unanswered e-mail is not service — E-mail notice under 70-24-108(1)(c) is complete only on a read receipt or a non-automated reply, so a landlord cannot rely on an e-mail nobody answered.
The per-ground notice ladder is real and must not be flattened — 70-24-422 states each figure expressly: unauthorized pet, (1)(b), 'the notice period is 3 days'; unauthorized persons, (1)(c), 'the notice period is 3 days'; (1)(d), 'If the noncompliance is not listed in subsection (1)(b), (1)(c), or (1)(f), the notice period is 14 days'; repeat of substantially the same act within 6 months, (1)(e), 'upon at least 5 days' written notice'; verbal abuse, (1)(f), '3 days' written notice'; nonpayment, (2), tenant 'fails to pay rent within 3 days after written notice'; damage, (3), and dangerous conduct, (4), both 3 days. 3 and 14 are the headline figures; the remaining branches are per-ground.
One number per ground — not the two-number URLTA shape — 70-24-422 does not carry the two-number URLTA shape — Oregon's 'terminate in 30 if not cured in 14' (ORS 90.392) and Virginia's 'terminate in 30 if not remedied in 21' (Va. Code § 55.1-1245(A)). 70-24-422(1)(a) merges the cure deadline into the termination date — 'if the noncompliance is remediable ... and the tenant remedies the noncompliance before the date specified in the notice, the rental agreement does not terminate' — so each ground carries exactly one figure, and 14 is simultaneously the cure window and the termination date for a general remediable breach.
Montana is a one-notice state — No separate notice to quit has to expire after the termination notice on any chapter 24 ground: the single 70-24-422 notice both specifies the breach and fixes the termination and vacate date, and 70-24-429(1) authorizes the action for possession once the tenant holds over after termination. That sets Montana apart from Iowa, Connecticut and Kansas.
The timeline mixes a floor and a ceiling — Only the 3-day notice and the 5-business-day answer period are true waiting periods the landlord must observe. The 10-business-day hearing deadline (70-24-427(2)(a)), the 5-day ruling deadline and the 5-business-day sheriff execution window (70-24-427(4)(a)) are ceilings imposed on the court and the sheriff, not minimums. This page therefore gives a realistic floor of roughly 2 to 3 weeks and the outer bound of the statutory fast track at about 5 to 6 weeks, with the arithmetic shown, rather than a single number that would read as a promise.
Appeal window: left blank here, 30 days in the real world — Montana has no eviction-specific appeal window. 70-27-211 says only that 'An appeal may be taken by the plaintiff or defendant as in other cases,' 70-27-212 applies the general Title 25 provisions, and Justice Court Rule 24 (25-23-124) routes appeals into Title 25, chapter 33 — so the applicable window is the general civil one: 25-33-102 gives any party dissatisfied with a judgment in a city or justice's court 30 days after rendition of the judgment to appeal to district court. This answer is left blank rather than shown as 30, the same treatment given to OH, WA, IL, IN, SC, CO, OR, OK and IA, and — on this same 'as in other civil actions' formula — to Nebraska (76-1447) and New Mexico (47-8-47(A)). Montana is not the Kansas case, because no forcible-detainer-specific statute sets the window.
There is an eviction-specific deadline for the hearing on appeal — 70-24-427(2)(a) requires the appeal to be heard within 10 business days after the case is transmitted to district court, or 5 business days on a 70-24-321(3) ground. That is a post-appeal scheduling rule, not a window to file the appeal.
Local overlays are not possible in Montana — 7-1-111(13) denies a local government unit with self-government powers '(a) any power that applies to or affects landlords, as defined in 70-24-103 and 70-33-103, when that power is intended to license landlords or to regulate their activities with regard to tenants beyond what is provided in Title 70, chapters 24, 25, and 33; or (b) any power to deviate from or add to the exclusive application of the provisions of' the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, the security deposit law and the Mobile Home Lot Rental Act. Subsection (13)(b) was the vehicle for the 2023 rent-control ban (Ch. 319, L. 2023, SB 105, 'PROHIBITING RENT CONTROL OF PRIVATE PROPERTY; AND AMENDING SECTION 7-1-111, MCA'). No Montana city or county can impose longer notice periods or just-cause rules.
The no-local-overlay conclusion rests on two structures — 7-1-111 by its terms binds self-government units; general-government units are separately limited to expressly granted powers under Montana's constitutional scheme rather than by this express denial, so the conclusion rests on both together. No official registry of local ordinances was relied on, and none is published.
Out of scope: mobile-home lot tenancies — Lot rentals run under a separate scheme, the Montana Residential Mobile Home Lot Rental Act, Title 70 chapter 33, which has its own notice ladder. None of its figures are blended into these answers.
Who falls outside chapter 24 entirely — 70-24-104 excludes: institutional residence incidental to detention or to medical, geriatric, educational, counseling or religious service, including all Montana university system and other postsecondary housing; occupancy under a contract of sale by the purchaser; fraternal or social organization housing; transient hotel and motel occupancy; condominium owners and cooperative proprietary lessees; premises used primarily for commercial or agricultural purposes; employees whose right to occupy is conditional on employment about the premises; and occupancy outside a municipality under a rental agreement that includes hunting, fishing or agricultural privileges along with the dwelling unit. Those excluded tenancies fall back to chapter 27 and its different, shorter notice periods.
Montana legislates only in odd-numbered years — The Legislature meets only in odd-numbered years (Mont. Const. Art. V, sec. 6), so there is no 2026 regular session and the 2025 regular session (69th Legislature) is the most recent.
What the 2025 session touched — and did not — Per the official Montana Legislative Review 2025 Table of Code Sections Affected, the only Title 70 chapter 24 sections the 2025 Legislature touched were 70-24-103 and 70-24-201 (Ch. 768, HB 810 — rent payment forms and fees, immediate effective date), 70-24-113 (Ch. 179, SB 101 — unlawful squatting) and 70-24-114 (Ch. 360, SB 149 — emotional support animal documentation). No 2025 or 2026 amendment touched 70-24-422, 70-24-427, 70-24-428, 70-24-429, 70-24-441 or 70-24-108, and the 2025 session affected no section of Title 70 chapter 27, Title 25 chapter 23 or Title 25 chapter 33. The last substantive change to the eviction timetable was Ch. 715, L. 2023, which amended 70-24-427 and 70-24-429. No enacted-but-not-yet-effective amendment was found.
The MCA Help page understates its own edition — That page's 'Scope of Constitution and Law' paragraph is stale boilerplate claiming the version 'contains the enactments of the 2017 regular session.' Ignore it: the section pages and the table of contents all read 'Montana Code Annotated 2025,' and the 2025 histories prove currency — 70-24-114 carries 'amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 360, L. 2025.'
Currency of the per-ground notice ladder — As of July 25, 2026 the Legislature's own MCA site identifies its edition as 'Montana Code Annotated 2025,' and its text of 70-24-422 carries every figure in the per-ground ladder exactly as shown here.

Common questions: Montana eviction process

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 much notice does a landlord have to give before filing an eviction for unpaid rent in Montana?: 3 days. One written notice does the whole job: it demands the rent and states that the landlord will terminate if the rent is not paid within the period. The tenant defeats the termination by paying in time, and Montana requires no separate notice to quit to expire before the landlord files.
How much notice is required to evict for a lease violation in Montana?: 14 days. That period is the termination date - the earliest date the tenancy ends and the landlord may file - and it is the cure deadline as well, because a tenant who fixes a remediable breach before the date named in the notice stops the termination (70-24-422(1)(a)).
How long does an eviction take in Montana?: Roughly 2 to 3 weeks on the fastest common track — nonpayment, with the notice delivered in hand. The outer bound of that statutory fast track is about 5 to 6 weeks (3 calendar days + about 20 business days + 5 calendar days).
How long does a tenant have to appeal an eviction judgment in Montana?: No eviction-specific deadline — the standard civil appeal window applies (see notes).
Can a landlord change the locks or shut off utilities instead of going to court in Montana?: No — Montana bars self-help eviction by statute; a landlord must go through the court process. Montana bars a landlord from retaking possession by action or otherwise, and the bar names utility shutoffs: cutting off heat, running water, hot water, electricity, gas, or other essential services is closed off along with the lockout (70-24-428).

Changes since last full verification

The Verified date above (July 25, 2026) marks the last time every figure on this page was verified end-to-end against official state sources. The changes below were published since then, each verified against the official source it names (what these dates mean).

Correction, August 5, 2026 — Montana's comparison of its one-number lease-violation notice to other states misstated Virginia's rule: Virginia gives tenants 21 days to fix a lease violation (termination 30 days after notice), while the 14-day cure figure belongs to Oregon. The Montana page now attributes each state's numbers correctly; Virginia's own record was already right and its encoded figures are unchanged.

Statute citations

MCA 70-24-422 (1), (1)(a)-(1)(f), (2), (3), (4), (7) (verified 2026) Official source
MCA 70-24-427 (1), (2)(a), (2)(b), (3), (4), (4)(a)-(b) (verified 2026) Official source
MCA 70-24-429 (1), (4) (verified 2026) Official source
MCA 70-24-428 (verified 2026) Official source
MCA 70-24-411 (verified 2026) Official source
MCA 70-24-441 (1), (2) (verified 2026) Official source
MCA 70-24-108 (1)(c), (1)(d) (verified 2026) Official source
MCA 70-24-321 (2), (3) (verified 2026) Official source
MCA 70-24-104 (1)-(8) (verified 2026) Official source
MCA 70-24-113 (1), (4), (5) (verified 2026) Official source
MCA 70-24-431 (1), (2) (verified 2026) Official source
MCA 70-24-442 (1) (verified 2026) Official source
MCA 70-24-430 (verified 2026) Official source
MCA 70-27-101 (1), (2) (verified 2026) Official source
MCA 70-27-108 (2), (3) (verified 2026) Official source
MCA 70-27-205 (3) (verified 2026) Official source
MCA 70-27-210 (1) (verified 2026) Official source
MCA 70-27-211 (verified 2026) Official source
MCA 3-10-302 (verified 2026) Official source
MCA 3-11-102 (1) (verified 2026) Official source
MCA 25-23-104 Rule 4C(2)(b) (verified 2026) Official source
MCA 25-23-106 Rule 6A (verified 2026) Official source
MCA 25-33-102 (verified 2026) Official source
MCA 1-1-216 (1)(a), (2)(c) (verified 2026) Official source
MCA 1-1-306 (verified 2026) Official source
MCA 1-1-307 (verified 2026) Official source
MCA 7-1-111 (13)(a), (13)(b) (verified 2026) Official source
Montana Legislative Review 2025 (Table of Code Sections Affected; Table of Session Law to Code) (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 corroborated via Montana Free Press Capitol Tracker for 2021/2023 bills. Negative checks (no deposit cap, no interest or separate-account rule, no rent-increase notice statute, 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, HB 306 died in committee; 69th Legislature adjourned, next regular session January 2027; no on-topic special-session activity.