How much can a Montana landlord charge for a security deposit?

There is no statutory maximum. Nothing in Mont. Code Ann. Title 70, chapter 25 caps a residential security deposit. What the chapter does instead is define a deposit broadly: under Mont. Code Ann. 70-25-101(4) any deposit a lease requires is presumed to be a security deposit, and a fee or charge for cleaning and damages, no matter how designated, is presumed to be a security deposit as well. A non-refundable cleaning fee is therefore governed by chapter 25 exactly as a deposit is.

How long does a Montana landlord have to return a security deposit?

It depends on whether anything is owed. Under Mont. Code Ann. 70-25-202(1)(a) the landlord has thirty days after termination of the tenancy, or thirty days after a surrender and acceptance of the premises, whichever comes first, to give the departing tenant a written list of any rent due and any damage and cleaning charges, together with any refund. But under 70-25-202(1)(b), if there are no damages, no cleaning required and no unpaid rent, and the tenant can demonstrate that no utilities are unpaid, the landlord must return the deposit within ten days.

What happens if a Montana landlord never sends the deposit itemization?

The landlord forfeits the right to keep any of it. Mont. Code Ann. 70-25-203 provides that a landlord who fails to provide the departing tenant with the written list of damage and cleaning charges required by 70-25-202 forfeits all rights to withhold any portion of the security deposit for those damages or cleaning charges. It is a total forfeiture of the right to withhold, not a fine and not a multiple of the deposit.

Does Montana require a move-in condition statement?

Yes, wherever a security deposit is taken. Mont. Code Ann. 70-25-206 requires the landlord to furnish each tenant, in conjunction with execution of the lease, a separate written statement of the present condition of the premises, signed by the landlord or the landlord's agent. A landlord who fails to furnish it is barred from recovering any sum for damage to or cleaning of the premises unless the landlord establishes by clear and convincing evidence that the damage occurred during that tenancy and was caused by the tenant or the tenant's family, licensees or invitees.

How much notice must a Montana landlord give before entering?

At least twenty-four hours, under Mont. Code Ann. 70-24-312(3)(a), and entry only at reasonable times, except in an emergency or where it is impracticable to give notice. The statute also provides that the tenant has notice if the landlord conspicuously posts the intent to enter on the main entry door of the dwelling unit. Beyond that the landlord has no right of access except by court order, under 70-24-425 or 70-24-426(2), or where the tenant has abandoned or surrendered the premises.

What notice comes before an eviction in Montana?

It depends on the breach, and Mont. Code Ann. 70-24-422 sets eight different periods. Nonpayment of rent is three days. An unauthorized pet is three days. Unauthorized persons residing in the unit is three days. Verbal abuse of the landlord is three days. Damage under 70-24-321(2) is three days. Hazardous activity under 70-24-321(3) is three days. Every other noncompliance is fourteen days. And where substantially the same breach recurs within six months, the period drops to five days.

How much notice ends a Montana month-to-month tenancy?

Thirty days' written notice, given at any time during the tenancy, at least thirty days before the date designated in the notice, under Mont. Code Ann. 70-24-441(2). A week-to-week tenancy takes at least seven days' written notice. The tenancy ends on the designated date without regard to the expiration of the period for which rent was paid, and rent is uniformly apportionable day to day.

What can a Montana tenant be charged for breaking a lease early?

Up to one month's rent, and no more. Mont. Code Ann. 70-24-201(2)(f) provides that if either party terminates without cause before the lease term expires, the aggrieved party is entitled to monetary damages up to one month's rent or an amount agreed in the rental agreement, which may not exceed one month's rent. The landlord must still make reasonable efforts to re-rent under 70-24-426(3), and 70-24-422(6) bars treble damages for a tenant's early termination.

Which disclosures does Montana require in a residential lease?

Owner and manager identification under Mont. Code Ann. 70-24-301; a separate signed written statement of the condition of the premises wherever a deposit is taken, under 70-25-206; the abandoned-property terms in plain language under 70-24-430(9); a written contamination notice under 75-10-1305 where the owner knows the property was used as a clandestine methamphetamine or fentanyl lab and it has not been remediated; and mold disclosure under 70-16-703(2) where the landlord knows mold is present or knows the building has been tested. Federal law adds lead-based paint for pre-1978 housing.

Does Montana require a methamphetamine disclosure in a lease?

Yes, on a knowledge trigger. Mont. Code Ann. 75-10-1305 requires an owner of inhabitable property known by the owner to have been used as a clandestine methamphetamine or fentanyl drug lab, or contaminated from consumption, to notify any subsequent occupant in writing before agreement to the lease, unless the property has been remediated to the standards in 75-10-1303 by a certified contractor. Chapter 367, Laws of 2025 extended the section to fentanyl, so a template that says methamphetamine only is already out of date.

Can a Montana lease make the tenant pay the landlord's attorney fees?

Not one-sidedly. Mont. Code Ann. 70-24-442 provides that in an action on a rental agreement or arising under chapter 24, reasonable attorney fees, costs and necessary disbursements may be awarded to the prevailing party notwithstanding an agreement to the contrary, and defines the prevailing party as the party in whose favor final judgment is rendered. A landlord-only fee clause is therefore overridden by the statute. Separately, Mont. Code Ann. 70-24-202(3) voids a clause indemnifying a party for the attorney fees connected with that party's own purposeful misconduct or negligence.

Can a Montana lease require the tenant to give an email address?

No. Mont. Code Ann. 70-24-202(4) makes it a prohibited provision for a rental agreement to require a party to provide an electronic mail address as a condition of entering into the agreement. A party may volunteer one only if the agreement contains a provision allowing a party to elect to receive notice by electronic mail. Under 70-24-403, purposeful use of a rental agreement containing a known prohibited provision exposes the drafter to actual damages plus up to three months' periodic rent.

What happens when a Montana fixed-term lease expires?

It usually renews. Mont. Code Ann. 70-24-205 provides that if the landlord and tenant fail to establish a default extension period for the lease in the rental agreement, and neither party gives the other a thirty-day written notice to terminate before the rental agreement's original termination date, the tenancy continues on a month-to-month basis. A landlord who assumed the lease would simply end on its expiry date now has a periodic tenancy that takes another thirty days to unwind. Either set a default extension period in the lease or diarise the notice date.

Is the Montana mold disclosure statement mandatory?

The long prescribed statement is not; the knowledge-based disclosure is. Mont. Code Ann. 70-16-703(1) says a mold disclosure statement may be provided, and a landlord who provides it, provides for disclosure of prior testing and mitigation, and discloses any knowledge of mold gains immunity from an action based on the presence of or propensity for mold under subsection (3). Subsection (2) is the mandatory part: whenever a landlord or agent has knowledge that a building has mold present, that presence must be disclosed prior to or upon entry into the lease, and whenever the landlord knows the building has been tested the landlord must say so and provide the results and any evidence of mitigation.

Can a Montana landlord charge a fee for paying rent by card?

No, beyond passing through an actual bank cost. Mont. Code Ann. 70-24-201(4), added by Chapter 768, Laws of 2025, provides that a landlord may not charge an additional fee based on rent payment type except to recoup an electronic bank fee incurred for electronic payment. The same act confirmed at 70-24-201(2)(b) that rent is payable at the landlord's address or using electronic funds transfer to an account the landlord designates. A dishonoured payment is handled separately under Mont. Code Ann. 27-1-717(2), which allows a service charge of not more than thirty dollars after a written demand.

Does a Montana lease need to be witnessed or notarized?

No. Nothing in the Montana Residential Landlord and Tenant Act requires subscribing witnesses or notarization for a residential rental agreement. An agreement for the leasing of real property for a longer period than one year must be in writing and subscribed by the party to be charged under Mont. Code Ann. 28-2-903(1)(d). And under Mont. Code Ann. 70-24-204, a written agreement that only one party signed can still take full effect through acceptance of rent, or of possession plus payment of rent, without reservation — but an agreement given effect that way is effective for only one year even if it states a longer term.

Who is responsible for heat, snow removal and detectors in a Montana rental?

Mont. Code Ann. 70-24-303(1)(f) requires the landlord to supply running water and reasonable hot water at all times and reasonable heat between October 1 and May 1, except where the building is not required by law to be equipped for that purpose or the heat or hot water is generated by an installation within the tenant's exclusive control. Subsection (1)(g) requires the landlord to install an approved carbon monoxide detector and an approved smoke detector and to verify at the commencement of the agreement that both work; the tenant then maintains them during the rental period, and the landlord is not liable for damages caused by their failure. Snow and ice removal is not allocated by statute, so the lease must say who does it — the form above has a field for exactly that.

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Free Montana Residential Lease Agreement

Montana residential lease agreement walk-through

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A configurable Montana residential lease agreement that generates a signable multi-page PDF. Built to the Montana Residential Landlord and Tenant Act of 1977 — no deposit cap, a ten-day return deadline most landlords have never heard of, and the signed condition statement that decides whether you can charge for damage at all.

Montana Mont. Code Ann. ch. 70-24 No Deposit Cap Free PDF 2026 Edition

Updated Q3 2026 By Tenant Screening Background Check Editorial Team Scope Montana ~13 min read

A Montana residential lease agreement is the written contract governed by the Montana Residential Landlord and Tenant Act of 1977, codified at Mont. Code Ann. Title 70, chapter 24 — with security deposits carved out into a completely separate chapter, 70-25, that predates the Act by three years. That split is the single most useful thing to know about Montana. It is why Montana has no deposit cap yet the strictest deposit procedure in the Mountain West; why the landlord must hand over a signed written statement of condition at move-in or lose the right to charge for damage; why there are two return deadlines rather than one, at ten days and thirty days; and why cleaning charges cannot be deducted until the tenant has been given written notice and twenty-four hours to put it right. Add an eight-branch eviction notice ladder, a one-month ceiling on early-termination damages, and three amendments passed by the 2025 legislature, and a generic multi-state template is wrong in Montana in about a dozen places at once. The generator below builds a lease that reflects each rule as the statute actually reads, verified section by section against the Montana Code Annotated on 6 August 2026.

Montana Lease Rules at a Glance

Security Deposit Cap

None

Deposit Return

10 or 30 Days

Entry Notice

24 Hours

Month-to-Month Notice

30 Days

The document that decides your damage claim: Mont. Code Ann. 70-25-206 requires a landlord who takes a security deposit to furnish the tenant, in conjunction with execution of the lease, a separate signed written statement of the present condition of the premises. A landlord who does not is barred from recovering any sum for damage or cleaning unless the landlord proves by clear and convincing evidence that the damage occurred during that tenancy and was caused by the tenant. It is a condition precedent, not a best practice.

Four Montana Rules That Catch Landlords Out

First, the ten-day deadline. Everyone knows about the thirty days in Mont. Code Ann. 70-25-202(1)(a). Almost nobody applies subsection (1)(b), which requires the deposit back in ten days where there are no damages, no cleaning required, no unpaid rent, and the tenant can demonstrate no unpaid utilities. A clean tenancy repaid on day twenty-five is already late. Second, the forfeiture. Mont. Code Ann. 70-25-203 does not fine a landlord who never sends the written list — it makes the landlord forfeit all rights to withhold anything for damages or cleaning. Third, the cleaning notice. Under 70-25-201(3) cleaning charges may not be deducted at all until the tenant has been given written notice of exactly what was left undone, and the tenant then gets twenty-four hours to complete it. Fourth, the condition statement above. Three of the four are in chapter 25, which is not part of the Act most templates were drafted against — which is precisely why they miss them.

How to Fill Out This Montana Lease Agreement

The Seven-Step Montana Sequence

1. Name the parties, the owner and the manager

Montana asks for two identifications. Mont. Code Ann. 70-24-301 requires the written name and address of the person authorized to manage the premises and of the owner, or a person authorized to act for the owner, for service of process and for receiving notices and demands. Skip it and you become the statutory agent for every landlord in the chain under 70-24-301(3).

2. Describe the premises and choose the term

Enter the full address, county and property type, then choose a fixed term or a periodic tenancy. An agreement for the leasing of real property for longer than one year must be in writing and subscribed by the party to be charged under Mont. Code Ann. 28-2-903(1)(d).

3. Decide what happens when the term runs out

This is the Montana step most templates have no field for. Under Mont. Code Ann. 70-24-205, if the parties fail to establish a default extension period and neither gives the other thirty days’ written notice before the original termination date, the tenancy continues month to month automatically. Silence renews the tenancy.

4. Set rent, the due day and any late fee

Montana sets no statutory grace period and no late-fee cap. But since Chapter 768, Laws of 2025, Mont. Code Ann. 70-24-201(4) prohibits an additional fee based on rent payment type, except to recoup an electronic bank fee actually incurred — so card and portal convenience fees are out.

5. Set the deposit and commit to the condition statement

There is no cap to respect, so the form does not ask you to justify the amount. It asks you the question that actually matters: whether you are delivering the separate signed condition statement Mont. Code Ann. 70-25-206 requires. Answer honestly — the generated lease states the consequence either way.

6. Check the disclosures Montana requires

Owner and manager identification, the condition statement, the abandoned-property terms under 70-24-430(9), and the two knowledge-triggered disclosures: contamination under 75-10-1305 and mold under 70-16-703(2). Federal lead paint applies to pre-1978 housing. Nothing else is mandatory.

7. Generate, sign and diarise both deposit deadlines

Download the multi-page PDF and sign. Nothing in the Act requires witnesses or a notary. Then put two dates in your calendar the day the tenant hands back the keys — ten days and thirty days — because which one applies depends on facts you will not know until you have inspected.

Build Your Montana Residential Lease Agreement

Complete the fields below to generate a Montana residential lease agreement as a signable multi-page PDF. Every field you fill is written into the document, including the utility allocations, the end-of-term election and each disclosure you check, and the generated lease cites the controlling Montana section at each point. Before you hand keys to anyone, run proper tenant screening — the lease governs the relationship, screening decides whether you want it. Pair the signed lease with a Montana move-in / move-out checklist, which is the practical way to build the condition statement Mont. Code Ann. 70-25-206 demands.

Montana Residential Lease Agreement Builder

1. Parties

Landlord (owner) full legal name

Landlord phone

Owner address for service of process and notices (Mont. Code Ann. 70-24-301)

Person authorized to MANAGE the premises

Manager address

Tenant 1 full legal name

Tenant 2 full legal name (if any)

Additional tenants (comma-separated)

Authorized occupants who are not tenants (minors, etc.)

Mont. Code Ann. 70-24-202(4) forbids a lease that requires a party to give an electronic mail address as a condition of entering into the agreement. Both address fields below are optional, and they are written into the lease only if you tick the notice-by-email election in section 8.

Landlord email for notices (optional)

Tenant email for notices (optional)

2. Premises

Rental property address (street, unit, city, ZIP)

County

Property type

Year built (pre-1978 triggers federal lead disclosure)

Bedrooms / bathrooms

3. Term

Lease type

Term length in months (if other)

Lease start date

Lease end date (if fixed)

What happens at the end of a fixed term (Mont. Code Ann. 70-24-205)