Summers v. Crestview Apartments, 2010 MT 164 (2010)

Citation: Summers v. Crestview Apartments, 2010 MT 164 (2010)
Parent Document: Summers v. Crestview Apartments, 2010 MT 164 (2010)
Jurisdiction: Montana (state)
Effective Date: 2010-07-27
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/889353/summers-v-crestview-apartments/ ↗

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¶32 The lease agreement here repeats at least four times that the tenant agrees to pay the landlord’s attorney fees if the tenant breaches the lease. The “ATTORNEY FEES” section of the lease agreement explicitly states: “All legal fees and collection costs incurred by Landlord due to Tenant’s failure to remedy a breach shall be the responsibility of Tenant.” Crestview claims despite the prohibition of § 70-24-202, MCA, that this attorney fee term is permitted by a provision in the Security Deposits Act and principles of contract interpretation. However, the Landlord and Tenant Act specifically provides that “reasonable attorney fees ... may be awarded to the prevailing party notwithstanding an agreement to the contrary.” Section 70-24-442(1), MCA (emphasis added). The attorney fee terms in the lease agreement here directly violate this statutory provision by binding the tenant to an absolute attorney fee obligation and attempting to avoid a discretionary award of attorney fees to the prevailing party as provided in the Act. The plain terms of § 70-24-442(1), MCA, prohibit this practice.

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