Property Management, Leasing, and Landlord-Tenant Matters
The governing framework
Montana's Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (MCA Title 70, chapter 24) sets the default rules for rental agreements, habitability, repairs, access, security deposits, and termination. Written and oral leases are both possible, but leases longer than one year must be in writing to satisfy the statute of frauds. A property management agreement should define scope, authority, fees, trust handling, and whether the manager may enter leases on the owner's behalf.
Money and deposits
Security deposits are trust funds. Montana requires the landlord to return the deposit, or a written itemized statement of deductions, within the statutory period after termination and delivery of possession, sent to the tenant's last known address. Track move-in condition reports, receipts, and any prepaid rent carefully; commingling is a licensing violation as well as a civil problem.
Ending a tenancy
Termination requires proper written notice measured by the rental period, and eviction must proceed through the courts - typically a forcible entry and detainer action in Justice Court. Self-help evictions such as changing locks or removing belongings expose the landlord to liability. Retaliation against a tenant who complains about habitability is prohibited.
Traps
Fair housing applies to rentals exactly as it does to sales, including reasonable accommodation requests and rules that effectively exclude children. Habitability cannot be waived by lease language. A licensee acting as property manager owes the same fiduciary duties as any agent.
Worked example: tenant paid a $1,500 deposit, vacated, and left $300 of documented damage plus a $150 unpaid water bill. The itemized statement must show $450 in deductions, and the landlord returns $1,050 within the statutory window.
Rule of thumb: document condition at move-in, document deductions at move-out, and never let the landlord play landlord-and-bailiff.