Tenant Rights — Montana
Each section below summarizes a tenant-protective state legal regime applicable in Montana. Citations link to the underlying statute or regulation in the corpus where available, or to the official primary source otherwise.
- state Montana — viewing
- federal United States
A tenant in Montana is simultaneously protected by every layer above. Local rules add enforcement bodies and (where present) higher floors; state law supplies the substantive cause of action; federal law overlays anti-discrimination, accessibility, VAWA, and SCRA protections that may not be waived by lease.
Habitability
What conditions trigger a habitability claim, how to put the landlord on notice, and the remedies available.
- Reasonable Repair Time Days
- 14
- Rent Withholding Allowed
- Yes
- Repair And Deduct Allowed
- Yes
- Repair And Deduct Cap Dollars
- 100
- Breach of landlord obligation actual damages plus attorneys fees [Mont. Code Ann. § 70-24-406]
- Unlawful self help eviction triple damages or three months rent plus attorneys fees [Mont. Code Ann. § 70-24-411]
- Condition described. A habitability claim must describe the specific condition.
- Landlord notified. Under MT § 70-24-406, the tenant must give written notice of the breach before remedies become available.
- Reasonable time elapsed. Montana URLTA treats 14 days from written notice as the floor for the landlord's response window.
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Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)
Federal law independently bars a landlord from providing inferior maintenance, repairs, or services on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or disability.
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Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. § 794; 24 C.F.R. Part 8
Section 504 imposes independent habitability and accessibility duties on any landlord receiving HUD assistance, including Section 8 project-based and public housing.
Applies when is federally assisted housing.
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HUD Housing Quality Standards, 24 C.F.R. § 5.703
HQS is the federal habitability floor for Section 8 voucher and public-housing units regardless of any state law.
Applies when is section 8 voucher or public housing.
Lockout / Illegal Eviction
Self-help eviction is unlawful — the landlord must use court process to recover possession.
- Damages Floor Text
- recovery of possession, actual damages, and reasonable attorney's fees; if tenant elects to terminate, recovery of all prepaid rent and security deposit
- Attorneys Fees Recoverable
- Yes
- Costs Recoverable
- Yes
- Physical lockout or change of locks restoration of possession plus actual damages plus fees [Mont. Code Ann. § 70-24-411]
- Removal of tenant belongings without court order restoration of possession plus actual damages plus fees [Mont. Code Ann. § 70-24-411]
- Utility or essential service shutoff actual damages plus fees [Mont. Code Ann. § 70-24-410 (essential services interruption)]
- Lockout type documented. We need a documented act of self-help eviction or essential-service interruption: change of locks, removal of belongings, utility shutoff, or refusal of access without judicial process.
- Mont. Code Ann. § 70-24-410 (essential services interruption)
- Mont. Code Ann. § 7-1-114 (preemption notice — local lockout ordinances barred) (not yet ingested)
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Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3617
Self-help eviction or lock-changing tied to a tenant's protected class or fair-housing activity is independently actionable under federal law.
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VAWA, 34 U.S.C. § 12491
VAWA prohibits eviction (including constructive eviction by lockout) of survivors in HUD-covered housing on the basis of incidents of abuse against them.
Applies when is covered housing and survivor.
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SCRA, 50 U.S.C. § 3953
Active-duty servicemembers may not be evicted from rental housing without a court order during their service.
Applies when is servicemember.
Drafter notes
Verified against Mont. Code Ann. § 70-24-411 corpus 2026-04-29. Self-help eviction is unlawful in all 50 states; this ruleset captures the primary statutory remedy for MT.
State Preemption
Notice that state law preempts local landlord-tenant ordinances in this jurisdiction.
- Rent Control Preempted
- Yes
- Rent Stabilization Preempted
- Yes
- Effective Date
- 2023-05-19
- Mont. Code Ann. § 7-1-114 (HB 483, 2023 — codified preemption text) (not yet ingested)
- https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2023/billhtml/HB0483.htm (not yet ingested)
Drafter notes
Used by adversarial check #4 (exclusion/carveout soundness) to flag any rent-control claim arising under a Montana municipality.
Repair-and-Deduct
Self-help remedy: repair a defect at the landlord's expense and deduct the cost from rent (within statutory caps).
- Notice Cure Days
- 14
- Deduction Cap Text
- the lesser of $100 or one-half of one month's rent per repair, with a total annual cap of $200
- Cap Dollar
- 100
- Cap Months Rent
- 0.5
- Annual Cap Dollar
- 200
- Landlord failure to remedy after notice tenant may repair and deduct within cap [Mont. Code Ann. § 70-24-406]
- Defect documented. We need a documented habitability defect that the landlord has been notified of in writing.
- Written notice provided. Mont. Code Ann. § 70-24-406 requires written notice to the landlord and a 14-day cure period before tenant repair-and-deduct.
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Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. § 794
Section 504 obliges federally-assisted landlords to make and pay for reasonable accessibility modifications.
Applies when is federally assisted housing.
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HUD Housing Quality Standards, 24 C.F.R. § 5.703
HQS is the federal repair and maintenance baseline for HUD-assisted units.
Applies when is section 8 voucher or public housing.
Drafter notes
Verified against Mont. Code Ann. § 70-24-406 corpus 2026-04-29. Repair-and-deduct gives the tenant a self-help remedy for a landlord's failure to maintain. The MT cap on individual deductions is an important constraint; tenants who deduct beyond it lose the protection.
Retaliation
Protection against landlord retaliation for reporting violations, joining a tenants' union, or asserting your rights.
- Presumption Window Months
- 6
- Damages Floor Text
- amount equal to not more than three months' periodic rent or treble damages, whichever is greater, plus costs and reasonable attorney's fees
- Max Damages Months Rent
- 3
- Attorneys Fees Recoverable
- Yes
- Costs Recoverable
- Yes
- Increase in rent or decrease in services within 6 months presumption of retaliation plus 3 months rent or treble damages [Mont. Code Ann. § 70-24-431(2)]
- Action for possession within 6 months presumption of retaliation plus 3 months rent or treble damages [Mont. Code Ann. § 70-24-431(2)]
- Protected activity documented. Mont. Code Ann. § 70-24-431 requires a protected activity — complaining to a government agency, complaining to the landlord about a habitability condition, or organizing or joining a tenants' union.
- Adverse action within window. Mont. Code Ann. § 70-24-431 creates a presumption only when the landlord acts within six months of the protected activity.
- Mont. Code Ann. § 7-1-114 (preemption — local retaliation ordinances barred) (not yet ingested)
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Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3617
§ 3617 independently prohibits coercion, intimidation, threats, or interference with any tenant who has exercised or assisted others in exercising fair-housing rights — including reporting code violations or organizing.
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VAWA, 34 U.S.C. § 12491(b)(3)
VAWA bars retaliatory eviction or rent action against survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking in HUD-covered housing.
Applies when is covered housing and survivor.
Drafter notes
Verified against Mont. Code Ann. § 70-24-431 corpus 2026-04-29. Montana retaliation has the strongest URLTA-state remedy: 3 months' periodic rent OR treble damages, whichever is greater, plus costs and fees.
Security Deposit
How quickly the landlord must return the deposit, what they may deduct, and the multiplier on damages if they violate the rule.
- Return Window Days With Itemization
- 30
- Return Window Days No Deductions
- 10
- Itemization Required
- Yes
- Bank Account Required
- No
- Interest Required
- No
- Bad faith failure to return actual damages plus costs and attorneys fees [Mont. Code Ann. § 70-25-206]
- Tenancy ended. MT § 70-25-202 governs return after termination.
- Return window expired. MT § 70-25-202 gives the landlord 30 days when itemizing deductions, 10 days when no deductions are claimed. Your window has not expired.
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Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3604
A landlord may not condition the size, retention, or accounting of a security deposit on a tenant's protected class.