Quick Reference: Montana Security Deposit Rules at a Glance

A Montana tenant moves out of a unit with $900 of carpet damage. The manager photographs everything, gets a contractor's invoice, prepares a careful itemized list, and mails it with the balance on day 22. Textbook.

Then the tenant's lawyer asks one question: where is the written statement of condition from the start of the tenancy?

There isn't one. The lease was signed, the keys were handed over, and nobody produced the separate document Section 70-25-206 requires. Under subsection (3) the landlord is now barred from recovering any sum for damage or cleaning, unless the landlord can establish by clear and convincing evidence that the damage occurred during this tenancy and was caused by this tenant.

Clear and convincing. Not a preponderance. On a carpet that was already three years old when the tenant moved in.

That is what makes Montana different. Most states put the pressure on the move-out deadline. Montana puts it on a document created before the tenant ever pays rent, and the penalty for skipping it is not a fine or a multiplier. It is the loss of the claim itself.

The Document That Has to Exist Before the Tenancy Starts

Section 70-25-206(1) applies to any person engaged in the rental of residential property who requires a security deposit. If you take a deposit, this is your obligation.

That person must furnish to each tenant, in conjunction with execution of a lease or creation of a tenancy, a separate written statement as to the present condition of the premises intended to be let.

Read "separate" literally. A condition section inside the lease is not obviously a separate written statement. The safe reading is a standalone signed document.

Subsection (2) sets the minimum contents. The statement must contain at least:

• A clear and concise statement of the present condition of the premises known to the landlord or the landlord's agent, or which should have been known upon reasonable inspection

• If the premises have never previously been let, a statement saying so

• The signature of the landlord or the landlord's agent

Two of those are easy to get wrong.

The knowledge standard is not limited to what you actually knew. It reaches what should have been known upon reasonable inspection, which means a walkthrough that misses an obvious defect does not protect you by producing an incomplete statement.

And the statute requires the landlord's signature, not the tenant's. Many move-in condition forms are built the other way round, capturing the tenant's acknowledgment and leaving the landlord's side blank.

There is also a second document, on request. Under subsection (1), at the written request of the tenant, the landlord must provide a copy of the written list of damage and cleaning charges, if any, given to the tenant of the immediately preceding leasehold agreement for that unit.

That is an unusual disclosure. A prospective tenant can ask what the last tenant was charged for, and you have to produce it. It is also a second condition on the subsection (3) penalty, discussed next.

The Penalty Is the Claim Itself

Subsection (3) is the provision that makes this article worth reading.

A landlord who fails to furnish the separate written statement at the outset, and, on written request, the preceding tenant's damage and cleaning list, is barred from recovering any sum for damage to or cleaning of the leasehold premises.

The only escape is to establish by clear and convincing evidence that the damage occurred during the tenancy in question and was caused by the tenant, or the tenant's family, licensees or invitees.

Three things follow for a manager.

• The bar is on recovery, not just on deduction. The wording is "barred from recovering any sum," which reaches beyond withholding from the deposit.

• Clear and convincing is a demanding standard. It sits above the ordinary civil standard. Proving that a scuff, a stain or a worn fixture arose during one particular tenancy to that standard, without a baseline document, is difficult by design.

• Both documents matter. The bar is triggered by failing to furnish the condition statement and the prior list where requested. If a tenant makes that written request and you cannot produce the previous tenant's list, that is a live exposure even where your condition statement was perfect.

Cleaning Charges Have Their Own Procedure

Montana does not let a landlord simply deduct for cleaning. Section 70-25-201 requires a notice and a cure window first.

What may be deducted at all. Under subsection (1), the landlord may deduct a sum equal to the damage alleged to have been caused by the tenant, together with unpaid rent, late charges, utilities, penalties due under lease provisions, and other money owing at the time of deduction, including rent owed under Section 70-24-441(3), plus a sum for actual cleaning expenses, including a reasonable charge for the landlord's labor.

But cleaning requires notice first. Cleaning charges may not be deducted until written notice has been given to the tenant. The notice must include:

• the cleaning not accomplished by the tenant, and

• the additional amount and type or types of cleaning that need to be done by the tenant to bring the premises back to its condition at the time of renting

Note the word "amount." As amended in 2025, the notice specifies not only what cleaning is outstanding but the amount involved, so a bare list of tasks may not satisfy the section.

Then the tenant gets 24 hours. Under subsection (3)(b), after delivery of the notice pursuant to Section 70-24-108 or Section 70-33-106, the tenant has 24 hours to complete the required cleaning, unless the rental agreement has already been terminated under Section 70-24-427 or 70-33-427 and the landlord has a pending claim filed in court.

Note that the delivery method is not left open. The notice has to go out under the service provision of whichever chapter governs the tenancy.

And certified mail adds three days. If the notice is mailed by certified mail, service is considered to have been made 3 days after the date of mailing. On a 24-hour cure window, that is the difference between a notice that works and one that has barely started.

A tenant who leaves without notice waives the usual requirement. A tenant who fails to notify the landlord of the intent to vacate, or who vacates without notice, relieves the landlord of the requirement of giving the cleaning notice and allows the landlord to deduct cleaning charges from the deposit.

Alternatively, the landlord may leave a copy of the notice in a conspicuous location in the rental unit and notify the tenant by e-mail, phone or text, in which case the notice is considered delivered. Those communication methods were added by the 2025 amendments and are worth building into your turnover process, because they are faster than certified mail and avoid the three-day service rule below.

And the list of permitted deductions is closed. Under subsection (4), a person may not deduct or withhold from the security deposit any amount for purposes other than those set forth in this section. Anything outside subsection (1) is not a permitted deduction, however it is labelled in the lease.

Two further limits.

• Under subsection (2), at the request of either party, the premises may be inspected within one week prior to termination of the tenancy. Either party can trigger it, and a manager who declines a tenant's request is giving up the chance to identify and communicate cleaning items while the tenant can still fix them.

• Under subsection (3)(a), cleaning charges may not be imposed for normal maintenance performed on a cyclical basis by the landlord, as noted by the landlord at the time the tenant occupies the space, unless the landlord is forced to perform this maintenance because of negligence of the tenant.
  
  

  That exception matters. If you carpet-clean every unit on turnover as routine maintenance, noting it at the outset prevents you from charging a tenant for the routine cycle. But where the tenant's negligence forced the work, the bar does not apply.

The 30-Day and 10-Day Clocks

Section 70-25-202 sets two deadlines, and which one applies depends entirely on whether you are claiming anything.

With deductions: 30 days. Under subsection (1)(a), each landlord, within 30 days subsequent to the termination of a tenancy or within 30 days subsequent to a surrender and acceptance of the leasehold premises, whichever occurs first, must provide the departing tenant with a written list of any rent due and any damage and cleaning charges the landlord alleges are the tenant's responsibility.

Two qualifiers inside that sentence do real work.

The clock runs from whichever occurs first, not last. A tenant who surrenders early starts the clock at surrender and acceptance, not at the formal end of the term.

And the list must be "brought after the provisions of 70-25-201 have been followed." The cleaning notice procedure is a precondition to the list, not a parallel step. A cleaning charge that appears on a 30-day list without a prior notice and 24-hour window has skipped a stage.

Delivery has two parts, and the 2025 amendments changed how the money moves. Delivery of the list must be accompanied by payment of the difference, if any, between the deposit and the permitted charges.

The refund itself may now be made by different forms of payment including electronic fund transfers, cash, check, or other forms of refund, or by mailing the security deposit to the new address provided by the tenant or, if none was provided, to the tenant's last-known address. Mailing is one permitted route, not the only one.

The written list is treated separately: delivery of the written list must be noticed pursuant to Section 70-24-108 or Section 70-33-106, depending on which chapter governs the tenancy.

The same delivery options apply to the 10-day refund discussed next.

With no deductions: 10 days. Under subsection (1)(b)(i), if after inspection there are no damages, no cleaning required and no rent unpaid, and the tenant can demonstrate that no utilities are unpaid, the landlord must return the deposit within 10 days. Subsection (1)(b)(ii) applies the same delivery options to that refund.

Note the fourth condition. The 10-day route requires the tenant to demonstrate that utilities are paid. Where that is outstanding, the case is not a clean 10-day return.

A safe harbor for the missing forwarding address. Under subsection (1)(c), it is not a wrongful withholding of security deposit funds if the landlord mails the funds to the last-known address of a departed tenant and the tenant does not receive them because no new address was given, but the landlord remains liable to the tenant for the amount due.

Both halves of that sentence matter. Mailing to the last-known address protects you from a wrongful withholding finding under Section 70-25-204. It does not extinguish the debt.

And the whole section can switch off. Under subsection (2), Section 70-25-202 does not apply where a rental agreement is terminated pursuant to Section 70-24-427 or Section 70-33-427 and the landlord has a pending claim filed in court. Where a tenancy ended through that route and litigation is live, the 30-day and 10-day deadlines are not the governing framework.

Missing the List Forfeits the Deduction

Section 70-25-203 is one sentence, and it is unforgiving.

Any landlord who fails to provide the departing tenant with a written list of damage and cleaning charges as required by Section 70-25-202 forfeits all rights to withhold any portion of the security deposit for the damages or cleaning charges.

There is no bad faith requirement, no proportionality, and no partial credit. Montana therefore has two independent forfeiture provisions: one for missing the move-in statement under Section 70-25-206(3), and one for missing the move-out list under Section 70-25-203. A manager can comply perfectly with one and lose the claim under the other.

What a Wrongful Withholding Actually Costs

Several published Montana guides describe the penalty as double damages. That was true once. It is not the current statute.

Section 70-25-204(1) provides that a person who wrongfully withholds a residential security deposit or any portion of it is liable in damages to the tenant for an amount equal to the sum determined to have been wrongfully withheld or deducted. Attorney fees may be awarded to the prevailing party at the discretion of the court.

The double-damages language sat in the original 1974 provision and was amended out by Chapter 505, Laws of 1991 and Chapter 342, Laws of 1993. Guides quoting "double" are quoting a version that has not been law for over thirty years.

The sentence that matters more. The same subsection provides: the burden of proof of damages caused by the tenant to the leasehold premises is on the landlord.

That is why the move-in statement is not paperwork. The landlord carries the burden, and Section 70-25-206(3) can raise the standard from preponderance to clear and convincing where the statement was never furnished.

When the tenant can sue. Under subsection (2), an action may not be maintained before the earliest of: the tenant's receipt of a written denial of the sum alleged to be wrongfully detained; the expiration of a 30-day period after termination; the expiration of a 30-day period after surrender and acceptance; or the expiration of a 10-day period after the landlord has indicated there were no damages, no cleaning required, no rent unpaid and no unpaid utilities.

Note the first limb. Issuing a written denial can start the tenant's clock immediately rather than waiting out the 30 days.

But a missing forwarding address does not rescue a non-compliant landlord. Section 70-25-205 is one sentence: failure by the departing tenant to provide the landlord with a new address in writing upon termination of the tenancy or upon surrender and acceptance, whichever occurs first, does not bar the tenant from recovering the amount owing to the tenant by the landlord.

Read alongside Section 70-25-202(1)(c), the position is coherent. Mailing to the last-known address is not a wrongful withholding, so you are protected from the Section 70-25-204 measure. But the tenant is not barred from recovering, and you remain liable for the amount due. A missing forwarding address is not a reason to close the file or stop the clock.

What Montana Does Not Require

Three absences are worth stating, because managers arriving from other states assume otherwise.

• No cap on the deposit. Chapter 25 sets no statutory maximum. Montana leaves the amount to the agreement.

• No interest. Montana does not require landlords to pay interest on residential security deposits, and does not require an interest-bearing account.

• No prescribed holding account. Chapter 25 does not impose the escrow or non-commingling rules found in states like Maine or Iowa.

What Montana requires instead is documentation, at both ends, with forfeiture attached to each.

Common Montana Security Deposit Mistakes

1. Not producing a separate move-in condition statement
Section 70-25-206(1) requires it in conjunction with execution of the lease, and subsection (3) bars recovery without it absent clear and convincing evidence.

2. Relying on a condition section inside the lease
The statute says a separate written statement.

3. Getting the tenant's signature but not the landlord's
Section 70-25-206(2)(c) requires the signature of the landlord or the landlord's agent.

4. Ignoring a written request for the prior tenant's charge list
That request is a second trigger for the subsection (3) bar.

5. Deducting cleaning without the notice and 24 hours
Section 70-25-201 makes the notice and cure window a precondition to the deduction.

6. Sending the cleaning notice by certified mail and counting from the postmark
Service is considered made 3 days after mailing, which consumes the 24-hour window several times over.

7. Charging for routine turnover cleaning
Section 70-25-201(3)(a) bars charges for normal cyclical maintenance noted at the time the tenant occupies the space, unless the landlord was forced to perform it because of the tenant's negligence.

8. Deducting for something outside Section 70-25-201(1)
Subsection (4) prohibits deducting or withholding for any purpose other than those set out in the section.

9. Running the 30 days from the end of the term
Section 70-25-202(1)(a) runs from termination or surrender and acceptance, whichever occurs first.

10. Sending the list without the balance
Delivery of the list must be accompanied by payment of the difference. The refund may go by electronic fund transfer, cash, check or other form, or by mail, and the written list must be noticed under Section 70-24-108 or Section 70-33-106.

11. Assuming the 10-day route applies whenever you make no deductions
It also requires the tenant to demonstrate that no utilities are unpaid.

12. Quoting double damages
Section 70-25-204(1) provides damages equal to the sum wrongfully withheld. The double language was amended out in the 1990s.

13. Holding the file open because the tenant gave no forwarding address
Section 70-25-205 provides that the omission does not bar the tenant from recovering the amount owed. Mail to the last-known address, which under Section 70-25-202(1)(c) is not a wrongful withholding, and keep to the deadlines.

Why the Move-In File Decides the Move-Out

Every other state guide in this series ends by talking about the move-out process. Montana genuinely does not work that way.

The burden of proving damage sits on the landlord under Section 70-25-204(1). Section 70-25-206(3) can raise that burden to clear and convincing evidence. And the strongest baseline evidence is the separate written condition statement required when the lease is executed or the tenancy is created.

Three records carry the weight, and all three exist before anyone is in dispute.

• The signed condition statement. Separate from the lease, furnished in conjunction with execution of the lease or creation of the tenancy, describing present condition including what reasonable inspection should have revealed, signed by the landlord or agent. A complete move-in and move-out record is what makes the comparison at the end of a tenancy an evidential exercise rather than an argument.

• The prior tenant's charge list. Because a tenant can request it in writing and the failure to produce it triggers the same bar, last tenancy's move-out list is this tenancy's compliance document. That only works if move-out lists are retained per unit rather than per tenant file.

• The cleaning notice trail. The date the notice was given, what it specified, and when the 24 hours expired. Where notice went by certified mail, the three-day rule means the mailing date and the service date are different dates and both need recording.

RIOO keeps the condition statement and lease documents in Contracts & Renewals, the move-in and move-out condition record in Move Ins & Move Outs, the cleaning and repair work behind any charge in Service Request & Task Management, and the deposit and deduction ledger in Collecting Rent & Payments. The point is not storage. It is that the unit's history, not just the tenant's, stays retrievable.

Conclusion

Montana's deposit rules look permissive at first glance. No cap, no interest, no escrow account, no prescribed holding rules.

That impression is misleading. Montana simply relocates the compliance burden. Instead of regulating the money, it regulates the documentation, and it attaches forfeiture at two separate points: no move-in condition statement means no recovery for damage or cleaning absent clear and convincing evidence, and no move-out list means forfeiting the right to withhold anything for damages or cleaning.

Between those two, the cleaning procedure adds a third trap that has nothing to do with either deadline. Written notice specifying what needs cleaning, 24 hours for the tenant to do it, and three extra days if you sent the notice by certified mail.

For teams managing Montana portfolios in Billings, Missoula, Bozeman, Great Falls or anywhere in the state, the operating discipline is unusual but simple. Produce a separate signed condition statement at every lease signing. Keep the previous tenant's move-out list filed against the unit. Give the cleaning notice before you charge for cleaning, using the conspicuous-posting plus email, phone or text route where the tenant left without notice. Run the 30 days from the earlier of termination and surrender. And make the required list and refund within the statutory deadline, using a permitted delivery method.

A Montana deposit case is usually lost at move-in, not at move-out. The file either has the document or it does not, and by the time the dispute arises there is no way to create one.

This blog is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Chapter 25 has been amended, including by Chapter 505, Laws of 1991, Chapter 342, Laws of 1993, and Chapter 656, Laws of 2025, which revised Sections 70-25-201 and 70-25-202. Individual circumstances differ. Confirm the current text with the Montana Code Annotated and consult a licensed Montana attorney on a specific deposit dispute.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. How much can a Montana landlord charge as a security deposit?
Montana Chapter 25 sets no statutory cap on the amount. The deposit is a matter for the rental agreement.

Q2. When must a Montana security deposit be returned?
Within 30 days of termination of the tenancy or surrender and acceptance of the premises, whichever occurs first, where deductions are claimed. Where there are no damages, no cleaning required, no unpaid rent, and the tenant can demonstrate no unpaid utilities, the deposit must be returned within 10 days. The refund may be made by electronic fund transfer, cash, check or another form, or by mailing it to the tenant's new or last-known address.

Q3. What is the Montana move-in condition statement?
Under Section 70-25-206, any landlord who requires a security deposit must furnish each tenant, in conjunction with execution of the lease, a separate written statement of the present condition of the premises. It must give a clear and concise statement of present condition, note if the premises have never been let, and carry the signature of the landlord or the landlord's agent.

Q4. What happens if a Montana landlord does not provide that statement?
Under Section 70-25-206(3), the landlord 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 the tenancy and was caused by the tenant or the tenant's family, licensees or invitees.

Q5. Can a Montana tenant ask what the previous tenant was charged?
Yes. Under Section 70-25-206(1), at the written request of the tenant the landlord must provide a copy of the written list of damage and cleaning charges given to the tenant of the immediately preceding leasehold agreement for that unit.

Q6. Can a Montana landlord deduct cleaning charges?
Only after written notice. Section 70-25-201(3) requires notice specifying the cleaning not accomplished and the additional amount and type of cleaning needed. After delivery pursuant to Section 70-24-108 or 70-33-106, the tenant has 24 hours to complete it. If the notice is sent by certified mail, service is considered made three days after mailing. Under subsection (4), no amount may be deducted for any purpose other than those set out in the section.

Q7. What happens if the tenant never gives a forwarding address?
Under Section 70-25-202(1)(c), mailing the funds to the tenant's last-known address is not a wrongful withholding even if the tenant does not receive them, but the landlord remains liable for the amount due. Section 70-25-205 confirms the omission does not bar the tenant from recovering the amount owing.

Q8. What if the tenant leaves without giving notice?
A tenant who fails to notify the landlord of the intent to vacate, or who vacates without notice, relieves the landlord of the requirement to give the cleaning notice and allows the landlord to deduct cleaning charges. Alternatively the landlord may leave a copy of the notice in a conspicuous location in the rental unit and notify the tenant by e-mail, phone or text, in which case notice is considered delivered.

Q9. Does a tenant lose the deposit by not giving a forwarding address?
No. Section 70-25-205 provides that failure to give the landlord a new address in writing does not bar the tenant from recovering the amount owed. The landlord may use the tenant's last-known address.

Q10. What happens if the landlord misses the 30-day list?
Under Section 70-25-203, the landlord forfeits all rights to withhold any portion of the deposit for damages or cleaning charges.

Q11. Does Montana impose double damages for wrongful withholding?
Not under the current statute. Section 70-25-204(1) provides damages equal to the sum determined to have been wrongfully withheld or deducted, with attorney fees at the court's discretion. The double-damages language was amended out in the 1990s.

Q12. Who has to prove the damage in a Montana deposit dispute?
The landlord. Section 70-25-204(1) places the burden of proof of damages caused by the tenant on the landlord.

Q13. Does Montana require interest on security deposits?
No. Montana does not require landlords to pay interest on residential security deposits.