Montana rental housing laws
What Montana has enacted on rental housing, what each law requires, and what the bills still moving would do. Montana is one of 42 states that enacted a rental housing law in the 2025 and 2026 sessions.
- Bills in scope
- 59bills in scope
- Past committee
- 4past committee
- Most recent action
- 12 June 2025most recent action
Rental housing laws enacted in Montana
4 rental housing laws enacted in the Montana Legislature in the 2025 and 2026 sessions, newest first. Each links to the legislature's own page.
What it requires: Landlords may not charge additional fees based on rent payment type except to recoup an electronic bank fee incurred for electronic payment. Landlords and tenants may agree to acceptable forms of payment including cash, check, electronic, or other forms complying with applicable law.
What it requires: Landlords must provide departing tenants with written notice of damages and cleaning charges within 24 hours before deducting from security deposits, except when tenant fails to provide notice of intent to vacate. Landlords must return security deposits within 30 days by electronic fund transfer or mail, or within 10 days if no damages exist. Landlords may transmit notices and lists by email, hand delivery, or certified mail.
What it requires: Landlords may request supporting information from tenants with disabilities seeking emotional support animals, including information from a health care practitioner with personal knowledge of the tenant's disability that identifies the particular assistance or therapeutic emotional support provided by the specific animal, along with the practitioner's effective date, license number, and type of professional license. Landlords may require proof of compliance with state and local licensure and vaccination requirements. Landlords must issue a written determination after receiving supplemental information.
What it requires: A landlord or manager who collects an application fee must refund it within a reasonable period of time if the applicant does not become a party to a signed rental agreement. The landlord or manager may deduct only the out-of-pocket costs for services actually performed, provided written notice of cost allocations was given to the applicant.
Fees, screening and rent pricing
Rental housing in Montana, by topic
Short-term rentals
9 bills. Enacted in 7 states.
Eviction procedure
8 bills. Enacted in 28 states.
Fees, screening and rent pricing
7 bills, 1 enacted. Enacted in 15 states.
Security deposits
7 bills. Enacted in 12 states.
Rent caps and stabilization
4 bills. Enacted in 11 states.
Habitability and repairs
3 bills. Enacted in 17 states.
Rental housing bills in Montana
The bills not yet law, furthest along first, with what each would do.
4Enacted
55Introduced or inactive
59 bills in scope
Introduced or inactive
25 of 55 shown
What it would do: Establishes short-term rentals as residential use permissible in areas zoned for residential use unless expressly prohibited throughout entire jurisdiction. Requires jurisdictions restricting or prohibiting short-term rentals to make findings regarding safety, public health, or public services. Treats existing compliant short-term rentals as legal nonconforming uses.
What it would do: Requires landlords to give tenants a 45-day right of first refusal to purchase their rental dwelling unit or premises before selling to a third party or issuing a notice to vacate for demolition, repurposing, or sale, at a price comparable to willing buyer-seller terms or appraised value.
What it would do: Requires landlords to refund residential rental application fees within 20 days if applicant does not sign a lease, allowing deduction only of out-of-pocket costs up to $25 for services actually performed, and permits acceptance of prior credit or background checks to waive fees.
What it would do: Revises Montana tenant moveout laws by defining normal wear, capping landlord labor charges at prevailing professional cleaner costs, prohibiting carpet and paint deductions after 2+ year tenancies, requiring professional cleaner bills be provided to tenants, and shortening security deposit return timelines from 30 to 21 days.
Showing the 25 furthest along of 55. Subscribers see all of them, filtered and searchable. Bill titles link to the Montana Legislature's own page.
What counts as rental housing legislation
In scope: Rent caps and stabilization; eviction procedure; fees, screening and rent pricing; security deposits; habitability and repairs; and short-term rentals.
Questions
Does Montana have a rental housing law?
Yes. Montana enacted 4 rental housing laws in the 2025 and 2026 sessions, among them HB 810, HB 444 and SB 149. Each is listed on this page with what it requires.
What does Montana legislate on most in rental housing?
Short-term rentals (9 bills), Eviction procedure (8 bills) and Fees, screening and rent pricing (7 bills).
Are these summaries reviewed by a lawyer?
No. Which bills count as Rental housing bills, and the line on what each law requires or each bill would do, are drafted by software from the bill's own text and not reviewed by an attorney. Every bill links to the legislature's own record: read the text before relying on it. The list covers bills from the 2025 and 2026 sessions.
Other practice areas in Montana
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- Data center and energy in Montana11
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- Employment in Montana77
- Healthcare in Montana266
- Insurance in Montana155
- Intellectual Property in Montana8
- Packaging and PFAS in Montana7
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- All jurisdictions
Rental housing legislation in other jurisdictions
51 more currently hold bills in this tracker
- New Jersey209
- New York197
- Connecticut99
- Massachusetts86
- Virginia72
- Texas64
- Arizona59
- Maryland59
- Rhode Island54
- Illinois52
- California44
- Hawaii39
- Michigan38
- Florida36
- Oregon32
- Pennsylvania31
- Congress30
- Georgia28
- Kentucky28
- Indiana27
- Washington26
- Wisconsin26
- Maine25
- Missouri25
- Iowa24
- Minnesota22
- Vermont22
- Colorado21
- South Carolina19
- Kansas17
- Nebraska17
- New Hampshire17
- Oklahoma16
- Delaware15
- New Mexico15
- Tennessee15
- North Carolina14
- West Virginia14
- Nevada12
- Utah12
- Ohio11
- Idaho10
- Mississippi10
- District of Columbia9
- Louisiana9
- North Dakota8
- Arkansas5
- Alaska3
- South Dakota3
- Puerto Rico2
- Wyoming1
Know when Montana's rental housing law changes
An alert when a bill moves, and one report a month on what changed in every state and Congress.