Montana Landlord-Tenant Laws

Verified October 1, 2026

Montana at a glance

Rule	Montana	Cited to
Max security deposit	No statutory cap	Mont. Code Ann. § 70-25-202 +7 more
Deposit return deadline	30 days	Mont. Code Ann. § 70-25-202 +7 more
Rent-increase notice (month-to-month)	15 days	Mont. Code Ann. § 70-26-109 (month-to-month letting: change of terms, rent and conditions on 15 days' notice; 1895, unrepealed) +5 more
Statewide rent control / rent cap	No	Mont. Code Ann. § 70-26-109 (month-to-month letting: change of terms, rent and conditions on 15 days' notice; 1895, unrepealed) +5 more
Late-fee cap	No statutory cap	Mont. Code Ann. § 70-24-103 +4 more
Entry notice	24 hours	Mont. Code Ann. § 70-24-312 +3 more
Eviction notice (nonpayment)	3 days	MCA 70-24-422 +27 more
Application fee cap	No dollar cap on the amount charged, but Montana limits what may be kept: a property manager of four or more dwelling units who charges an application fee must refund it if the applicant does not end up party to a rental agreement, and may retain only pre-disclosed out-of-pocket costs for services actually performed.	Mont. Code Ann. § 37-56-109 +31 more
Interest owed on deposits	No — no statute addresses it	Mont. Code Ann. § 70-25-201 (security deposit; deductions authorized) +2 more
Repair deadline after tenant notice	14 days	Mont. Code Ann. § 70-24-303 (landlord to maintain premises; agreement that tenant perform duties) +12 more
Repair and deduct	Yes — authorized by statute	Mont. Code Ann. § 70-24-303 (landlord to maintain premises; agreement that tenant perform duties) +12 more
Landlord notice to end a month-to-month tenancy	30 days (2 counting rules)	Mont. Code Ann. § 70-24-441 +15 more
Owner and agent identity disclosure	Required — in the lease or in a separate writing	Mont. Code Ann. §§ 70-24-103, 70-24-104, 70-24-108, 70-24-110, 70-24-114 +15 more
In-force state hazard disclosures beyond the federal lead-paint rule	2	Mont. Code Ann. §§ 70-24-103, 70-24-104, 70-24-108, 70-24-110, 70-24-114 +15 more
Pet deposit	No statute, no cap	MCA § 70-25-101 +12 more
Assistance animals: the state instrument	Documentation statute or rule	MCA § 70-25-101 +12 more

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, Montana Landlord-Tenant Laws (verified October 1, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/montana/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified). Every figure above is cited to the Montana statute it comes from on the linked topic page.

Local rent regulation in Montana

Montana law denies self-governing cities and counties any power to control the amount of rent charged for private residential or commercial property, except for property in which the local government itself holds an interest.

Cited to Mont. Code Ann. § 7-1-111 · Verified October 1, 2026 · Full Montana rent-increase rules →

Montana landlord-tenant laws by topic

Montana security deposits

Montana puts no cap on security deposits, but the landlord must return the deposit with a written list of any rent due, damage, and cleaning charges within 30 days after the tenancy ends or the premises are surrendered and accepted, whichever comes first — and within just 10 days if an inspection shows no damage, no cleaning needed, no unpaid rent, and the tenant can show no unpaid utilities.

Montana rent increase notice

A Montana landlord may change the rent on a month-to-month lease by written notice given at least 15 days before the end of the month, and the new rent takes effect at the end of that month if the tenant stays (Mont. Code Ann. 70-26-109, an 1895 statute that applies to residential and commercial leases).

Montana late fees

Montana sets no cap on residential late fees and mandates no grace period — rent is payable without demand or notice at the time the lease fixes (Mont. Code Ann. 70-24-201(3)), and the statutes acknowledge late fees only to define them as part of 'rent' when agreed on in the rental agreement.

Montana entry notice

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.

Montana eviction process

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.

Montana application & screening fees

Montana regulates the back end of the rental application fee rather than its size: a property manager of four or more dwelling units must refund the fee within a reasonable period of time if the applicant does not end up party to a rental agreement, and may keep only the out-of-pocket cost of services actually performed and disclosed in writing when the fee was collected.

Montana deposit interest

Montana requires no interest on a residential security deposit, and its deposit chapter does not mention interest, accounts, or banks at all.

Montana habitability & repairs

Montana requires a landlord to make repairs and do whatever is necessary to put and keep a rented home in a fit and habitable condition, to keep common areas clean and safe, to maintain the electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating and air-conditioning facilities the landlord supplies, and to supply running water, hot water, and reasonable heat between October 1 and May 1.

Montana lease termination

In Montana either side may end a month-to-month tenancy on at least 30 days' written notice, or a week-to-week tenancy on seven days, running to whatever date the notice names.

Montana lease disclosures

A Montana landlord who knows a building has mold must say so before or upon entering the lease, and must hand over any test results and evidence of treatment.

Montana pets & assistance animals

Montana has no pet-deposit statute, no cap on a residential security deposit of any kind, and no rule on pet rent or pet fees.

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.

Montana Fair Market Rents (FY 2027) — HUD's benchmark rents for every Montana metro area and county.

Editable Montana deposit kit · Editable Montana disclosure packet — editable documents built on the verified Montana rules on this page, in Word, fillable PDF and Excel.

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.