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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¶38 Damages may also be available to Summers, which would further counter the chilling effect that prohibited lease provisions have on tenants exercising their statutory rights. The Landlord and Tenant Act, § 70-24-403(2), MCA (2005), provides “[i]f a party purposefully uses a rental agreement containing provisions known by him to be prohibited, the other party may recover, in addition to his actual damages, an amount up to 3 months’ periodic rent.” Crestview’s provision requiring tenants to pay its attorney fees in any legal dispute is clearly prohibited by the Landlord and Tenant Act, and Crestview should have known that from simply reading the Act. Moreover, Crestview’s use of the lease to collect future rent from Summers’ deposit is clearly prohibited by law. Consequently, we remand this matter to the District Court to determine the amount of Summers’ damages under § 70-24-403(2), MCA, for Crestview’s use of a prohibited attorney fees provision, the deduction of future rent from the security deposit, and the unconscionable accelerated rent provision.

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