Montana Mobile Home Park Laws
Montana's Residential Mobile Home Lot Rental Act, Title 70, chapter 33 of the Montana Code Annotated, governs the tenancy of a resident who owns the home and rents the lot beneath it, and it reaches a single rented parcel as well as a community.
Cited to Mont. Code Ann. Title 70, ch. 33 and 9 more sources · Verified August 18, 2026
Its center of gravity is termination: one section lists thirteen grounds for ending a lot tenancy and gives almost every one its own notice period, running from 24 hours for a rule violation that threatens health and safety, through seven days for unpaid rent and 14 days for an ordinary rule violation, to 180 days for a change in the use of the land and at least 90 days for any other legitimate business reason. Because that last ground is open-ended, the act works as a notice ladder rather than a just-cause rule. On money it is nearly silent: there is no cap on lot rent, no notice period before an increase and no way to challenge one, and state law also bars local governments from controlling rent, so no city or county limit can fill the gap. A resident who owns the home has the exclusive right to sell it in place without interference or conditions from the landlord, though the buyer must arrange a new tenancy for the lot. Closing a community takes six months' written notice and no relocation payment, and residents have no right to be told the community is for sale and no right to buy it.
| Governing act | Montana Residential Mobile Home Lot Rental Act — Mont. Code Ann. Title 70, ch. 33 |
|---|---|
| Federal lender protections already required by state law | 1 of 8 (see the table) |
Each row below is a state rule (with its citation) or an honest "no state rule" with what governs instead — lease terms and the general landlord-tenant law still apply where the park act is silent. This page covers a resident who owns the home and rents the lot; a home rented from the park is an ordinary Montana tenancy.
On this page: Scope · Lot rent, fees and utilities · Lease, rules and disclosure · Termination and eviction · Closure and change of use · Sale of the park · The resident's home · Federal lender protections · Common questions · Citations
A. Scope — who and what the act covers
| Rule | Montana law | Source |
|---|---|---|
| State agency with a role in park tenancies | No state rule No state agency administers or enforces the lot rental act. The act places every remedy in the courts: rights and obligations are enforceable by action, the prevailing party in an action on a rental agreement or arising under the act may be awarded reasonable attorney fees and costs, and possession actions run through the justice, city or district courts. Two agencies touch mobile home communities for other purposes. The Department of Public Health and Human Services licenses trailer courts and may adopt rules for their construction and operation to protect public health and safety. The Department of Labor and Industry administers the state's factory-built building standards. Neither has a role in the lot tenancy itself. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-401 (2); Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-434; Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-427 (1), (2); Mont. Code Ann. § 50-52-102 |
| Resident may sue under the act | Yes A resident may sue under the act. A right or obligation declared by the act is enforceable by action unless the provision declaring it specifies a different and limited effect, and in an action on a rental agreement or arising under the act reasonable attorney fees, costs and necessary disbursements may be awarded to the prevailing party notwithstanding an agreement to the contrary. The act also gives residents specific money remedies, including up to three months' rent or treble damages, whichever is greater, for an unlawful ouster or a purposeful cutting of essential services, and up to three months' rent where a landlord purposefully uses an agreement containing a prohibited provision. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-401 (2); Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-434; Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-409; Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-402 (2) |
| Minimum park size for the act to apply (lots) | 1 lot There is no minimum community size: the act reaches a single rented lot. It applies to a landlord-tenant relationship in which the landlord rents a lot to the tenant for placement of the tenant's mobile home, and it says expressly that it applies to land rental in a mobile home park as well as to the rental of individual parcels of land not in a mobile home park. Where the act does use the term mobile home park it borrows the health code's definition of a trailer court, a parcel of land with two or more spaces available to the public for occupancy by trailers or mobile homes as residences. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-104 (1); Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-103 definition of "mobile home park"; Mont. Code Ann. § 50-52-101 definition of "trailer court" |
| Other size thresholds that switch rules on |
| Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-315; Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-314 (2); Mont. Code Ann. § 50-52-101 definition of "trailer court" |
| Park-owned rental homes | Ordinary landlord-tenant law applies Renting the home as well as the lot falls outside this act. The applicability section says that the combined rental of the lot and the mobile home, when the landlord owns both, is covered by the Montana Residential Landlord and Tenant Act of 1977, Title 70, chapter 24, and it separately excludes any rental premises governed by that act. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-104 (2)(e), (3) |
| RVs and park-model homes | No state rule The act never mentions recreational vehicles or park model homes. Coverage turns instead on whether the unit is a mobile home, a term the act takes from the tax code, where it means a trailer, housetrailer or trailer coach exceeding 8 feet in width or 45 feet in length and designed to be moved, or a smaller one used as a principal residence, and includes a manufactured home built to the federal construction and safety standards. Because that definition is written by size and use rather than by vehicle type, whether a given recreational vehicle or park model is covered depends on its dimensions and on whether it is the occupant's principal residence. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-103 definition of "mobile home"; Mont. Code Ann. § 15-1-101 definitions of "mobile home" and "manufactured home"; Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-104 (1) |
| Local rent regulation of park lots | Preempted — local governments may not regulate lot rents Montana bars local rent regulation twice over. The lot rental act states as one of its own purposes the creation of an exclusive regulatory standard throughout the state and its political subdivisions regarding the rental of land to owners of mobile homes and manufactured homes, wording added in 2023. Separately, a local government unit with self-government powers is denied any power to control the amount of rent charged for private residential or commercial property, with an exception only for property in which the local government has a property interest or an interest through a housing authority. Local governments with general powers hold only the powers the legislature has delegated, and none has been delegated here. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-102 (2)(c); Mont. Code Ann. § 7-1-111 (26) |
B. Lot rent, fees and utilities
| Rule | Montana law | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Notice before a lot-rent increase | No state rule Montana sets no notice period before a lot-rent increase. The section that governs rent under the act, most recently amended in 2025, fixes how and where rent is paid, makes the tenancy month to month unless the agreement says otherwise, and bars a fee based on the payment type, but says nothing about raising the rent. The act plainly contemplates increases elsewhere, because the retaliation section withholds its presumption where the resident complained after notice of a proposed rent increase, yet no provision states how much notice that is. What governs instead is the rental agreement. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-201 (1), (2), (3); Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-431 (3) |
| How often rent may be raised | No state rule Nothing limits how often lot rent may be raised. The rent section of the act sets default terms for the amount, the place and the timing of payment and leaves the rest to the agreement, and no other section of the act addresses the frequency of increases. What governs instead is the rental agreement, together with the term of the tenancy, which is month to month unless the agreement provides otherwise. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-201 (2)(a), (2)(e), (3) |
| Statewide limit on lot-rent increases | No state rule Montana sets no ceiling on lot-rent increases. The act contains no rent limit, no formula and no index, and state law also denies self-governing local governments any power to control the amount of rent charged for private residential property, so no city or county ceiling can fill the space. A 2021 bill that would have created a determination of an excessive rent increase under this act died in committee, and no similar measure has become law since. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-201 (2)(a); Mont. Code Ann. § 7-1-111 (26); Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-102 (2)(c) |
| How a resident can challenge an increase | No state rule There is no route to challenge a lot-rent increase as such. The act creates no arbitration, mediation, petition or agency complaint procedure for rent, and no standard of reasonableness against which an increase could be measured. Two general provisions remain available in court: a court may refuse to enforce a rental agreement or a provision of one that it finds unconscionable, and a rent increase made after a resident complains about health and safety, complains in writing about the landlord's maintenance duties, or joins a resident association is barred as retaliation, with a rebuttable presumption where the complaint came within the previous six months. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-403 (1); Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-431 (1), (3) |
| Entrance fee prohibited | No state rule The act does not bar an entrance fee. The section listing what a rental agreement may not contain reaches only three things: a waiver of rights or remedies under the act, a confession of judgment, and the exculpation or limitation of liability for the other party's purposeful misconduct or negligence. The only fee rule anywhere in the act bars an additional fee based on the way the resident pays the rent. What governs an entrance fee is therefore the rental agreement, subject to the court's power to refuse to enforce an unconscionable provision. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-202 (1); Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-201 (4); Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-403 (1) |
| Exit or removal fee prohibited | No state rule The act does not bar an exit or removal fee. The list of prohibited rental agreement provisions does not reach fees at all, and no section of the act limits what a landlord may charge when a resident leaves or moves a home out. The nearest rule runs the other way: where either party ends the agreement without cause before the end of the lease term, the aggrieved party is entitled to money damages of up to one month's rent, or the amount agreed in the rental agreement if that is less. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-202 (1); Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-201 (2)(f) |
| Undisclosed fees uncollectible | No state rule The act does not make an undisclosed charge uncollectible. It does define rent as all payments to be made to a landlord, including rent, late fees or other charges as agreed on in the rental agreement, apart from money paid as a security deposit, so a charge that was never agreed in the agreement is not rent and cannot support the seven-day notice for nonpayment. The act stops there and does not say that such a charge may not be collected at all. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-103 definition of "rent"; Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-433 (1)(a) |
| Utility billing rules | No state rule Montana regulates whether services are supplied, not how they are billed. The landlord must maintain the electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating and ventilating systems it supplies in good working order and must supply running water at all times, unless the law does not require it or the supply is controlled exclusively by the resident. Where the landlord purposefully or negligently fails to supply running water, electricity, gas or another essential service, the resident may buy the service and deduct the actual cost from rent, sue for the reduced value of the lot, or take substitute housing and stop paying rent for that period; cutting off those services deliberately is treated as an unlawful ouster. Nothing in the act limits a markup, requires a cost basis, or sets out how a utility charge must be passed on. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-303 (1); Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-406 (1); Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-409 |
| Submetering required or regulated | No state rule The act says nothing about metering. The section on the landlord's duties addresses whether water and the utility systems are supplied and kept in working order, and the essential services remedy addresses a failure to supply them, but neither requires individual meters nor sets rules for a submetering system. Metering is left to the rental agreement and to the utility's own arrangements. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-303 (1); Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-406 (1) |
| Lot security deposit rules | No limit on the amount, but the landlord must give an itemized list of damages and refund the balance within 30 days after the tenancy ends, or within 10 days where nothing is owed. Montana's general security deposit chapter governs lot tenancies. The lot rental act says its provisions and Title 70, chapter 25 must be read together, and that chapter applies by its own terms to all rentals of dwellings subject to Title 70, chapter 24 or Title 70, chapter 33. The landlord may deduct only for damage caused by the resident, unpaid rent, late charges, utilities, penalties due under the lease and actual cleaning expenses, and may not withhold for anything else. Cleaning charges may not be imposed for the landlord's own cyclical maintenance and may not be deducted until the resident has been given written notice listing what needs cleaning and 24 hours to do it. A landlord that takes a deposit must also give the resident a separate written statement of the condition of the premises at the start of the tenancy, and one that does not may not recover damage or cleaning charges except on clear and convincing evidence. A resident may sue for a wrongfully withheld amount, with attorney fees in the court's discretion. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-109; Mont. Code Ann. § 70-25-102; Mont. Code Ann. § 70-25-201 (1), (3), (4); Mont. Code Ann. § 70-25-202 (1)(a), (1)(b); Mont. Code Ann. § 70-25-206 (1), (3); Mont. Code Ann. § 70-25-204 |
C. Lease, rules and disclosure
| Rule | Montana law | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Written lease | Not required A lot tenancy in Montana need not be in writing. The act defines a rental agreement as all agreements, written or oral, together with valid rules adopted by the landlord, embodying the terms and conditions concerning the use and occupancy of the premises. Where one side signs and delivers an agreement and the other does not sign it, accepting rent or accepting occupancy and paying rent gives the agreement the same effect as if it had been signed, and an agreement that takes effect that way and states a term longer than one year is effective for one year only. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-103 definition of "rental agreement"; Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-203 (1), (2), (3) |
| Minimum lease term that must be offered | No state rule No minimum lease term must be offered. Unless the rental agreement provides otherwise the tenancy is from month to month, and nothing in the act requires the landlord to offer a longer term or to renew for one. The only place a one-year figure appears is the rule that an agreement taking effect because one side accepted rent or occupancy without signing is effective for one year at most even if it states a longer term. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-201 (2)(e); Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-203 (3) |
| Notice to end a tenancy without cause | 90 days Ending a lot tenancy for a reason other than the resident's conduct takes at least 90 days' written notice. The act's list of grounds closes with any legitimate business reason not covered elsewhere in the list, available only if the termination does not violate the act or any other state statute and the landlord has given the home owner, and any tenant of the home owner, a minimum of 90 days' written notice. Changing the use of the land is the one other no-fault route and carries its own longer period. One passage sits awkwardly beside this: the holdover remedies section measures damages where a month-to-month agreement is ended without cause on a lawful 30-day notice, yet no section of the act provides for such a notice. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-433 (1)(m); Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-429 (3) |
| Notice before park rules change | 30 days A new rule that substantially changes the agreement takes 30 days' written notice. The act states the period for month-to-month tenancies, which is the default form of a lot tenancy in Montana, and sets no separate period for longer terms. Every rule must be in writing and given to each resident on the premises and to each new resident on arrival. A rule is valid only if it promotes the convenience, safety or welfare of the occupants or preserves the property from abuse, is reasonably related to its purpose, applies uniformly, is explicit enough that a resident can tell what it requires, and is not a way around the landlord's own obligations; a rule that does not apply uniformly to all residents of a similar class is presumed unfair. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-311 (1), (2), (3); Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-313 (1) |
| Disclosure document | Written rules and terms must be given Montana requires written rules and a written disclosure of who is responsible, but no prescribed handbook. At or before the start of the tenancy the landlord must disclose in writing the name and address of the person managing the premises and of the owner or an agent for service of process, and must keep that current. Every community rule must be in writing and given to each resident and to each new resident on arrival. A landlord that takes a security deposit must also give the resident a separate written statement of the condition of the premises. There is no state-prescribed form and no required summary of residents' rights. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-301 (1), (2); Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-311 (2); Mont. Code Ann. § 70-25-206 (1), (2) |
| Residents' right to meet and organize | Yes Residents may organize and meet, and the landlord must stay out. A resident association may elect officers when a majority of its members are present, and while any resident may attend, the landlord and the landlord's employees may not be members and may not attend unless the association invites them. The landlord may not obstruct or prevent an invited person from taking part, and may not prevent a resident association or a meeting of residents from addressing mobile home living or prospective developments affecting the community, including a possible sale or change of use. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-314 (1), (2); Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-431 (1)(c) |
| Owner entry onto the lot or into the home | The landlord must give at least 24 hours' notice and may enter the lot only at reasonable times, except in an emergency or where notice is impracticable. The right of entry runs to the lot, not to the home. A resident may not unreasonably withhold consent for the landlord to enter to inspect, make necessary or agreed repairs, supply necessary or agreed services, or show the lot to prospective or actual purchasers, mortgagees, residents, workers or contractors. The landlord may not abuse the right or use it to harass, and the notice may be posted conspicuously on the main entry door. Entry without consent is allowed in a case of emergency. Apart from a court order, the two specific sections on repairs and on abandonment, and the resident's abandonment or surrender, the landlord has no other right of access. Where a resident refuses lawful access the landlord may serve a 24-hour notice to correct or seek an injunction, and may terminate on three days' notice if the refusal is not corrected. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-312 (1), (2), (3), (4); Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-424 (1); Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-103 definitions of "lot" and "premises" |
| Retaliation prohibited | Yes A landlord may not raise the rent, cut services, or bring or threaten a possession action in retaliation. The protected acts are a complaint to a government agency about a violation affecting health and safety, a written complaint to the landlord about the landlord's maintenance duties, and organizing or joining a residents' union, a mobile home park resident association or a similar organization. Evidence of a complaint within the six months before the alleged retaliation creates a rebuttable presumption that the landlord acted in retaliation, but no presumption arises where the resident complained after notice of a proposed rent increase or reduction in services. The bar does not stop a possession action where the code violation was caused mainly by the resident's own lack of reasonable care, where the resident is in default in rent, or where fixing the violation would require work that would effectively deprive the resident of the use of the lot. A resident who is retaliated against may recover up to three months' rent or treble damages, whichever is greater, and has a defense to the possession action. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-431 (1), (2), (3), (4); Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-409 |
D. Termination and eviction
| Rule | Montana law | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Just cause required to end a tenancy | No A landlord must give a reason, but the list of reasons ends with an open one. Termination runs through a single section that sets out thirteen grounds, each with its own notice period, and twelve of them turn on the resident's conduct or on a change in the use of the land. The thirteenth allows termination for any legitimate business reason not covered elsewhere in the list, provided the termination does not violate the act or any other state statute and the landlord gives at least 90 days' written notice. Because that ground is open-ended and the act does not define a legitimate business reason, the section does not work as a just-cause limit; it works as a notice ladder. Two further grounds sit outside that section, each on three days' notice: destroying or damaging the premises, and conduct creating a reasonable potential that the premises will be damaged or that neighboring residents will be injured. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-433 (1), (1)(m); Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-422 (1), (2); Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-428 |
| Grounds for termination |
| Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-433 (1)(a)–(m), (3), (4); Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-422 (1); Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-321 (1), (3) |
| Notice for nonpayment of lot rent | 7 days Seven days' written notice for nonpayment of rent, late charges or common area maintenance fees. The notice must specify the noncompliance and state the date the agreement will end, which may not be less than seven days after the resident receives it. The resident keeps a right to cure: if the amount is paid before the date stated in the notice, the agreement does not terminate on that ground. Where notice is served by certificate of mailing or certified mail, service counts as made three days after the date of mailing. There is no grace period before a late fee may be charged; late fees are part of rent as agreed in the rental agreement. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-433 (1)(a), (3); Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-106 (1)(c); Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-103 definition of "rent" |
| Notice for a rule or lease violation | 14 days Fourteen days' written notice for a rule violation that does not create an immediate threat to health and safety. Where the violation does create an immediate threat, the period drops to 24 hours. A second immediate-threat violation within six months carries 14 days whether or not notice was given for the first, and two or more violations of the same rule within six months carry 30 days where notice was given for the earlier one. For the ordinary 14-day ground the resident may keep the tenancy by adequately remedying the violation before the date stated in the notice. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-433 (1)(b), (1)(c), (1)(e), (1)(f), (3) |
| Repeat-violation rule | Repetition is itself a ground: three or more late payments in 12 months carry 30 days' notice, two or more violations of the same rule in 6 months carry 30 days, two or more violations of the duty to maintain the lot in 6 months carry 14 days, and a second immediate-threat violation in 6 months carries 14 days. The repeat grounds are the only ones that reach conduct the resident has already put right, and they carry no cure right — the opportunity to remedy runs only to the first three grounds in the list. The 30-day late-payment ground applies where notice was given for the earlier late payments, and when counting notices within the 12-month period only one notice for each violation per month may be included. The 30-day same-rule ground likewise requires that notice was given for the earlier violation. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-433 (1)(d), (1)(e), (1)(f), (1)(g), (3), (4) |
| Time to sell or remove the home after termination | No state rule Montana gives no period to sell or remove the home after a tenancy ends. The termination section states a notice period for each ground and stops there; it says nothing about what happens to the home once the agreement has ended, and there is no right to keep the home on the lot while looking for a buyer. What governs instead is the abandoned mobile home procedure. A landlord may remove or store a home once the tenancy has ended and at least five days have passed since the events on which it based a reasonable belief of abandonment, must store it with reasonable care, must tell local law enforcement, must try to identify security interests, and must send the owner certified notice that the home will be disposed of not less than 15 days after mailing. If the owner answers within that period but does not retrieve the home within 20 days after delivery of the answer, the home is conclusively presumed abandoned. Sale proceeds go to the owner after the landlord's lien for removal, storage, notice, sale costs and delinquent rent, and anything unclaimed for three years goes to the county. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-433 (1); Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-432 (1), (3), (4), (7) |
| Abandoned-home procedure | Yes The act sets out a full procedure for an abandoned home and a separate one for abandoned belongings. For the home, the landlord may remove and store it once the tenancy has ended and five days have passed since the events indicating abandonment, must notify local law enforcement and any security interest holder, and must give the owner 15 days' certified notice before disposal, with sale under the secured transactions rules or the sheriff's sale procedure. For personal property, the period is 48 hours where the tenancy ended other than by court order, with an inventory, safekeeping, written notice and a 15-day certified notice before removal; where the tenancy ended by court order the property is considered abandoned and may be disposed of immediately. Abandonment also releases the landlord to re-rent, and the agreement ends when a new tenancy starts or, where the landlord makes no reasonable effort to re-rent, on the date it learned of the abandonment. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-432 (1), (3), (5), (6); Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-430 (1), (2), (3), (5); Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-426 (2) |
| Mediation or dispute-resolution requirement | No state rule Montana requires no mediation or other dispute resolution step. The remedies part of the act routes every dispute to the courts and says only that a claim or right arising under the act or on a rental agreement may be settled by agreement if it is disputed in good faith. There is no state program, no arbitration requirement and no pre-suit step. What the act does instead is compress the court timetable: a hearing on possession must be held within 10 business days after the resident's appearance or answer date, or 5 business days for conduct risking damage or injury, the court must rule within 5 days of the hearing, and any claim for damages is heard within 45 days after possession and rent have been decided. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-401 (4); Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-427 (2), (4) |
E. Closure and change of use
| Rule | Montana law | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Notice before closure or change of use | 6 months Closing a community or changing the use of the land takes six months' written notice. The termination section states the period as 180 days, and the change-of-use subsection it points to states the same period as six months' written notice of termination of tenancy. The notice must go to the home owner and to any tenant of the home owner. The requirement covers a change of use of all or part of the premises, so a partial closure is treated the same way as a full one. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-433 (1)(l), (2)(b) |
| Variants (by trigger or park size) |
| Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-433 (2)(a), (2)(b), (2)(c) |
| Relocation payment required | No state rule No relocation payment is required when a community closes. The change-of-use provisions require notice and nothing more: the landlord owes the residents time, not money, and the act creates no state relocation fund, no per-home assessment and no reimbursement for moving or demolishing a home. What a resident gets instead is the six-month notice period, the earlier 15-day warning where local permits are needed, and the right to sell the home in place during that time. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-433 (1)(l), (2); Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-305 (3) |
| Relocation amounts | No state rule There are no relocation amounts, because there is no relocation payment. The act sets no figure, no schedule and no index for moving a home out of a closing community, and no state fund exists to pay one. Moving costs fall on the home owner. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-433 (2) |
| Who pays relocation | None required Nobody pays relocation in Montana. The act requires no payment from the community owner and sets up no state fund, so a resident whose community closes bears the cost of moving or disposing of the home. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-433 (1)(l), (2) |
| Notice to a government body on closure | No state rule The act requires no closure notice to any state or local body. Its notices all run to the residents: 15 days' written notice that the landlord will appear before a unit of local government to request permits, then six months' written notice of termination. The local government learns of the change of use only through the permit application itself, which local land-use law rather than this act requires, and where no permits are needed no public body is told at all. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-433 (2)(a), (2)(b) |
F. Sale of the park
| Rule | Montana law | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Residents must be told the park is for sale | No state rule Residents have no right to be told the community is for sale. The act contains no sale notice, no marketing trigger and no window before a sale may close. The only sale-related duty runs the other way and comes after the fact: a landlord that conveys the property in good faith is relieved of liability for events after the conveyance only once it has given the resident written notice of it, and it stays liable for the security deposit and prepaid rent. Residents keep the right to meet about a prospective sale, because the landlord may not prevent a resident association or a residents' meeting from addressing prospective developments affecting the community, including a possible sale or change of use. A 2023 bill that would have required notice before a sale, with a chance for residents to match the price, did not become law. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-304 (1); Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-314 (2)(b) |
| What triggers the notice | No state rule Nothing triggers a sale notice, because the act requires none. No listing, advertisement, offer or closing sets a duty running. The one written notice tied to a sale is the notice of the completed conveyance that a departing landlord gives to be released from later liability. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-304 (1) |
| Residents' purchase right | None required Montana gives residents no right to buy the community. There is no right of first refusal, no opportunity to negotiate and no purchase window on a closure. Residents may still organize and make an offer, and the landlord may not stop them meeting about a prospective sale, but nothing requires the owner to notify them, share information, wait, or consider what they propose. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-304; Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-314 (2)(b) |
| Time for residents to respond | No state rule No response period exists, because there is no purchase right to respond to. The act sets no time for residents to organize, to ask for financial information, or to make an offer on a community that is for sale. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-304 |
| Resident-association threshold | No state rule No membership threshold qualifies a residents' organization for anything. The act protects resident associations and their meetings without saying how many residents one must have, and since there is no purchase right there is nothing for a threshold to unlock. The only proportion in the section is internal: an association may elect officers when a majority of its members are present. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-314 (1) |
| Transfers exempt from the sale rules | No state rule There are no exempt transfers, because no transfer carries a duty to exempt. The act imposes no notice or purchase obligation on any sale of a community, so it has no list of family transfers, entity reorganizations, foreclosures or tax-deferred exchanges to carve out. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-304 |
| Residents may assign the right to a nonprofit or municipality | No state rule Residents have no purchase right to assign. Because the act creates no right to buy the community, it says nothing about passing one to a nonprofit, a housing authority, a community land trust or a local government, and it keeps no registry of organizations that could take one up. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-304 |
| Penalty for violating the sale rules | No state rule There are no penalties for breaking the sale rules, because the act has no sale rules. The act's general penalties remain: a party that purposefully uses a rental agreement containing a provision it knows the act prohibits owes actual damages plus up to three months' rent, a landlord that unlawfully removes or excludes a resident or purposefully cuts essential services owes up to three months' rent or treble damages, whichever is greater, and reasonable attorney fees and costs may be awarded to the prevailing party in any action arising under the act. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-402 (2); Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-409; Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-434 |
G. The resident's home
| Rule | Montana law | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Right to sell the home in place | Yes Montana states the right in unusually strong terms: a mobile home owner who owns the home but rents the lot has the exclusive right to sell the home without interference or conditions by the landlord. Nothing in the act lets a landlord require the home to be moved out because it has been sold. What the right does not carry with it is the lot: the purchaser must make suitable arrangements with the landlord to become a tenant, and buying the home does not automatically entitle the purchaser to rent the lot. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-305 (2), (3) |
| Park may not take a commission on the sale | No state rule The act does not address a commission on the sale of a home. It gives the home owner the exclusive right to sell without interference or conditions by the landlord, which is the provision a resident would rely on, but it never mentions a commission, a transfer fee or a share of the sale price, and the prohibited-provisions section reaches only waivers, confessions of judgment and exculpation clauses. Whether a charge of that kind is enforceable is left to the rental agreement and to the court's power to refuse to enforce an unconscionable provision. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-305 (3); Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-202 (1); Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-403 (1) |
| Park may screen the buyer | Yes The landlord may screen the buyer as a new resident. The sale or rental of a home on a lot does not entitle the purchaser to keep renting the lot unless the purchaser enters into a rental agreement with the owner of the lot, and the act repeats that buying the home does not automatically entitle the purchaser to rent it. The purchaser must make suitable arrangements with the landlord to become a tenant. A resident may not hand the lot over instead: a resident who vacates during the term may not transfer possession or sublet without the landlord's written consent. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-305 (1), (2), (3) |
| Buyer-approval standard and deadline | No state rule The act sets no standard and no deadline for approving a buyer. It requires only that the purchaser make suitable arrangements with the landlord to become a tenant, and it does not say that consent may not be unreasonably withheld, does not require a written decision, and gives the landlord no time limit to answer. Two general duties still apply: every duty under the act carries an obligation of good faith in its performance and enforcement, and rules affecting the landlord-tenant relationship that are not part of the act must be applied and enforced uniformly and fairly. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-305 (3); Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-107; Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-401 (3) |
| Home may not be rejected for age, size or style alone | No state rule The act does not stop a landlord from turning a home away for its age, size or style. No provision limits what a community may require of a home coming in, and none prevents a landlord from requiring an older home to be removed. The general limits on community rules still apply: a rule must promote the convenience, safety or welfare of the occupants or preserve the property from abuse, must be reasonably related to that purpose and must apply uniformly, and a rule that does not apply uniformly to all residents of a similar class is presumed unfair. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-311 (1); Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-313 (1) |
| Park may require repairs before sale | No state rule The act neither authorizes nor forbids a pre-sale repair requirement. It does not mention repairs before a sale at all. The provision closest to the question is the one giving the home owner the exclusive right to sell without interference or conditions by the landlord, which a resident would point to; the landlord's counter is that it may still set the terms on which the purchaser becomes a tenant of the lot. Community rules, whatever they cover, must be reasonable and applied uniformly. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-305 (2), (3); Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-313 (1) |
| Right to post a For Sale sign | No state rule No provision protects a for-sale sign. The act says nothing about signs anywhere, so a community rule may restrict them. The nearest protection is the exclusive right to sell the home without interference or conditions by the landlord, and the requirement that any rule be reasonable, reasonably related to the convenience, safety or welfare of the occupants or the preservation of the property, and applied uniformly to all residents of a similar class. | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-305 (3); Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-313 (1); Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-311 (1) |
H. The eight federal lender protections — which ones Montana law already requires
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac require eight tenant site lease protections in every manufactured housing community loan they buy. Where state law already requires a protection of every park, a resident has it whether or not the park has agency financing. Montana law requires 1 of 8. All 50 states are compared in our research study, including the 2018 federal survey baseline.
| Protection | Montana law | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| One-year renewable lease term unless there is good cause for non-renewal | Not required | Neither limb is met. Unless the rental agreement provides otherwise the tenancy is from month to month, and no provision requires a term of a year or more to be offered; and while a termination must rest on one of the thirteen grounds in Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-433(1), the last of those is any legitimate business reason not covered elsewhere on 90 days' written notice, so tenure is not confined to listed causes. (Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-201; Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-433) |
| 30-day written notice of rent increases | Not required | Montana sets no notice period at all before a lot-rent increase. Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-201, the section governing rent under the act and amended as recently as 2025, does not mention increases; the only reference to one in the whole act is in the retaliation presumption at § 70-33-431(3), which sets no period. (Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-201; Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-431) |
| 5-day grace period for rent payments and the right to cure defaults on rent payments | Partly | The cure limb is met and the grace limb is missing. Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-433(1)(a) requires seven days' written notice for nonpayment and § 70-33-433(3) preserves the tenancy if the resident adequately remedies the nonpayment before the date stated in the notice, but no provision gives a period after the due date in which a late fee may not be charged — late fees are part of rent as agreed in the rental agreement under § 70-33-103. (Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-433; Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-103) |
| Right to sell the manufactured home without having to first relocate it out of the community | Required | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-305(3) gives a mobile home owner who owns the home but rents the lot the exclusive right to sell the home without interference or conditions by the landlord, and nothing in the act permits a landlord to require the home to be moved out because it has been sold. (Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-305) |
| Right to sell the manufactured home in place within 30 days after eviction by the community owner | Not required | There is no window to sell the home in place after an eviction. Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-433 states a notice period for each ground and says nothing about the home once the agreement has ended, and § 70-33-432 lets the landlord remove and store the home five days after the events indicating abandonment, with disposal on 15 days' certified notice. (Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-433; Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-432) |
| Right to sublease or assign the pad site lease for the unexpired term to the new buyer of the home without unreasonable restraint | Partly | The buyer must apply as a new resident on the community's own criteria, with no unreasonableness standard. Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-305(2) says the sale of a home on a lot does not entitle the purchaser to keep renting the lot unless the purchaser enters into a rental agreement with the lot owner, and § 70-33-305(3) requires the purchaser to make suitable arrangements with the landlord to become a tenant; there is no right to take over the unexpired term and no bar on unreasonable refusal. (Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-305) |
| Right to post "For Sale" signs that comply with the community's rules | Not required | No statute or regulation protects a for-sale sign. The act never mentions signs; the only constraint on a community rule restricting them is the general requirement in Mont. Code Ann. §§ 70-33-311 and 70-33-313 that a rule be reasonable, reasonably related to its purpose and applied uniformly. (Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-313; Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-311) |
| Right to receive at least 60 days' notice of a planned sale or closure of the community | Partly | The closure limb is met and the sale limb is missing. Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-433(1)(l) and (2)(b) require 180 days, stated as six months' written notice, before a change of use, which exceeds 60 days; but no provision requires any notice of a planned sale of the community. (Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-433; Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-304) |
Notes and caveats
- The act reaches a single lot, not just parks — Montana applies the act to any landlord-tenant relationship in which the landlord rents a lot for the placement of the tenant's mobile home, and says expressly that it covers individual parcels of land outside a mobile home park. Only two duties depend on the land being a park, defined as a trailer court with two or more spaces: keeping common roads safe and passable, including reasonable snow plowing, and not obstructing resident association meetings.
- What is excluded — The act does not cover occupancy under a contract to buy the lot, premises used mainly for commercial or agricultural purposes, occupancy by an employee whose right to be there depends on the job, occupancy outside a municipality under an agreement that bundles hunting, fishing or agricultural privileges with the lot, or anything governed by the Montana Residential Landlord and Tenant Act of 1977. Where the landlord owns both the lot and the home and rents them together, that 1977 act applies instead.
- The notice ladder is the state's distinguishing feature — Almost every ground for termination carries a different period: 24 hours for a rule violation creating an immediate threat to health and safety, seven days for unpaid rent or disorderly conduct, 14 days for an ordinary rule violation, a repeat health and safety violation, a conviction affecting other residents or other serious noncompliance, 30 days for three late payments in 12 months or two violations of the same rule in six months, 180 days for a change of use, and at least 90 days for any other legitimate business reason. Two more grounds sit in a separate section on three days' notice, for damaging the premises and for conduct risking damage or injury.
- The right to cure is narrow — The opportunity to put a violation right before the tenancy ends applies only to the first three grounds in the list — unpaid rent, an ordinary rule violation, and a rule violation creating an immediate threat to health and safety. The repeat-violation grounds carry no cure right, which is why a resident who has already fixed the underlying problem can still be terminated on the third late payment or the second violation of the same rule.
- Nothing governs the rent itself — There is no ceiling on lot rent, no limit on how often it may be raised, no required notice before an increase and no procedure for challenging one. State law separately denies self-governing local governments any power to control the amount of rent charged for private residential property, and the act declares itself an exclusive regulatory standard throughout the state and its political subdivisions, so a local ordinance cannot supply a rule either. A 2021 bill that would have created a determination of an excessive rent increase died in committee.
- Selling the home and keeping the lot are two different things — The home owner has the exclusive right to sell the home without interference or conditions by the landlord, which is a strong protection by national standards. It does not carry the lot with it: the buyer must enter a rental agreement with the lot owner and make suitable arrangements to become a tenant, and the act sets no standard, no deadline and no bar on unreasonable refusal for that decision.
- Closure buys time, not money — A change in the use of all or part of the land takes six months' written notice, and where local permits are needed the landlord must also give 15 days' notice before appearing to request them, then start the six months once they are approved. During the notice period the landlord must tell prospective residents that a change of use has been requested or approved. There is no relocation payment, no state relocation fund and no notice to any government body.
- There is no state agency and no sale protection — No Montana agency administers or enforces the act; disputes go to the courts, where the prevailing party may be awarded attorney fees and costs, and the act compresses the timetable for possession hearings. Residents also have no right to be told the community is for sale, no right of first refusal and no purchase window, though the landlord may not prevent them meeting to discuss a prospective sale. A 2023 bill that would have required notice before a sale, with a chance to match the price, did not become law.
Common questions: Montana mobile home park law
Each answer is the verified value from the tables above, restated as a direct answer. Free to quote with a link to this page.
- How much notice must a Montana park give before raising lot rent?
- Montana sets no state rule on this. Montana sets no notice period before a lot-rent increase.
- Is there a limit on how much lot rent can go up in Montana?
- Montana sets no state rule on this. Montana sets no ceiling on lot-rent increases.
- Can a Montana park owner end a lot tenancy without cause?
- Yes — Montana law does not require a cause. A landlord must give a reason, but the list of reasons ends with an open one.
- How much notice must a Montana park give before closing or changing use?
- 6 months. Closing a community or changing the use of the land takes six months' written notice.
- Does a Montana park have to pay residents' relocation costs when it closes?
- Montana sets no state rule on this. No relocation payment is required when a community closes.
- Do Montana residents get a chance to buy the park when it is sold?
- No — Montana law gives residents no right to buy the park. Montana gives residents no right to buy the community.
- Can a Montana resident sell the home in place without moving it out of the park?
- Yes — a Montana resident may sell the home in place. Montana states the right in unusually strong terms: a mobile home owner who owns the home but rents the lot has the exclusive right to sell the home without interference or conditions by the landlord.
Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, Montana Mobile Home Park Laws (verified August 18, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/mobile-home-parks/montana/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified).
Citations
- Mont. Code Ann. Title 70, ch. 33 (verified 2026) Official source
- Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-101 (verified 2026) Official source
- Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-433 (verified 2026) Official source
- Mont. Code Ann. Title 70, ch. 25 (verified 2026) Official source
- Mont. Code Ann. § 7-1-111 (26) (verified 2026) Official source
- Ch. 768, L. 2025 (HB 810) secs. 3, 4 (verified 2026) Official source
- Ch. 656, L. 2025 (HB 444) secs. 1, 2 (verified 2026) Official source
- Ch. 360, L. 2025 (SB 149) sec. 2 (verified 2026) Official source
- Ch. 537, L. 2025 (HB 809) sec. 2 (verified 2026) Official source
- 2025 table of code sections affected, Montana Legislative Services Division entries for 70-33-103, 70-33-110, 70-33-201 (verified 2026) Official source
Every row above links the section it rests on. This topic covers all 50 states; the topic hub compares them side by side.