Montana security deposit law

Montana does not cap the amount of a security deposit. A security deposit is money or its equivalent given to secure the rent or payment for damage and cleaning, and any fee or charge for cleaning and damages is presumed to be a security deposit, whatever you call it.

MCA 70-25-101 to 70-25-206

• If the lease or a side agreement requires the tenant to give you a deposit and keep it in place for part or all of the term, the deposit is presumed to be a security deposit. MCA 70-25-101(4)
• A lease term that conflicts with the security deposit chapter is invalid, and a tenant cannot waive the chapter. MCA 70-25-103
• The chapter covers rentals of dwellings under the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act and mobile home lots under Title 70, chapter 33. MCA 70-25-102

Within 30 days after the tenancy ends, or after the tenant surrenders the home and you accept it, whichever comes first, give the tenant a written list of any rent due and any damage and cleaning charges, together with a refund of the balance. If there is no damage, no cleaning is needed, no rent is unpaid and the tenant can show no utilities are unpaid, return the whole deposit within 10 days.

MCA 70-25-202

• You may deduct only damage the tenant caused, unpaid rent, late charges, utilities, penalties due under the lease, other money owed to you at the time, and actual cleaning expenses, including a reasonable charge for your own labor. MCA 70-25-201(1) MCA 70-25-201(4)
• Before deducting for cleaning, give the tenant written notice of the cleaning not done and what is needed; the tenant then has 24 hours to do it. Notice by certified mail counts as served 3 days after mailing. No notice is needed if the tenant moved out without telling you, and the 24 hours do not apply when the lease was already terminated through a possession case and your claim is pending in court. MCA 70-25-201(3)
• You may not charge cleaning for normal cyclical maintenance you noted at move-in, unless the tenant's negligence forced you to do it. MCA 70-25-201(3)(a)
• Either side may ask for an inspection within 1 week before the tenancy ends. MCA 70-25-201(2)
• Pay the refund by electronic transfer, cash, check or another form, or mail it to the tenant's new address, or to the last-known address if no new one was given. The list must be delivered by one of the notice methods in the Act. MCA 70-25-202(1)(a)(ii) MCA 70-24-108
• A landlord who does not give the written list forfeits the right to keep any part of the deposit for damage or cleaning. MCA 70-25-203
• If you wrongfully keep any part of a deposit, you owe the tenant the amount wrongly withheld, the court may award attorney fees to the winner, and you carry the burden of proving damage. The tenant may not sue until you send a written denial or the 30-day (or 10-day) period has run. MCA 70-25-204
• A tenant who gives no new address still recovers what is owed. Mailing the refund to the last-known address is not wrongful withholding if it never arrives, but you remain liable for the amount. MCA 70-25-205 MCA 70-25-202(1)(c)
• These deadlines do not apply when the lease was terminated through a possession case and you have a claim pending in court. MCA 70-25-202(2) See Eviction process on the Montana page

Montana's security deposit chapter does not require you to keep deposits in a separate or trust account and does not require you to pay the tenant interest on them.

MCA 70-25-101 to 70-25-206

• The chapter controls what you may deduct and when the balance is due, not where the money is kept. MCA 70-25-201 MCA 70-25-202 See Returning the deposit on the Montana page

If you require a security deposit, you must give each tenant, when the lease is signed or the tenancy is created, a separate written statement of the home's present condition, signed by you or your agent.

MCA 70-25-206

• The statement must clearly describe the condition you know of, or should have known of after a reasonable inspection, and must say so if the home has never been rented before. MCA 70-25-206(2)
• If the tenant asks in writing, give them a copy of the list of damage and cleaning charges you gave the previous tenant. MCA 70-25-206(1)
• Without the statement, or the previous tenant's list when requested, you cannot recover anything for damage or cleaning unless you prove by clear and convincing evidence that the damage happened during this tenancy and was caused by the tenant or the tenant's family, licensees or invitees. MCA 70-25-206(3)