Montana Landlord Compliance Kit: Deposit, Notice and Eviction Checklists with an Excel Tracker

Who it is for

Landlords and property managers with rentals in Montana, and tenants who want the same record, from move-in through move-out or a court case.

Not the right fit if

Your rental is outside Montana: get that state's kit. Not legal advice, not a lawyer's review of a lease, notice or court case, and not a set of legal notice forms; city and county rules aren't covered.

Why it is different

• Built only from our Montana data files, checked November 2026 against 7 official pages, among them Montana Legislature: MCA 70-25-202, List of damages and refund; Montana Legislature: MCA 70-25-203, Failure to provide list; Montana Judicial Branch, Commission on Self-Represented Litigants: Giving your tenant notice to vacate (updated April 18, 2023); Montana Judicial Branch: Answering Your Landlord's Complaint to Evict You (05/23/23); Montana Code Annotated 70-24-427: Landlord's remedies after termination, action for possession; MCA 25-35-502 Jurisdiction (Montana Code Annotated 2025).
• 13 items the official pages didn't state are marked "not confirmed" with the page to check, never guessed.
• The workbook recalculates with zero formula errors and works out Montana notice and deposit dates for you.

What is inside

• Start here. How to use the kit, the 10 confirmed Montana rules at a glance and the 13 items to confirm: deposit limit, interest on the deposit, where the deposit is held, ending month-to-month (tenant), rent increase notice, entry notice, late fee limits, court and more, each with the official page to check.
• Montana landlord rules checklist. Deposits, notice periods, the eviction case and the small claims limit, each confirmed rule with its source link and check date. What it confirms: return deadline: Within 30 days after the tenancy ends or the premises are surrendered and accepted: a written list of rent due and damage and cleaning charges with any balance; itemized list of deductions: A written list of rent due and damage and cleaning charges, with payment of the difference (70-25-202(1)(a)); penalty the law states: Without the written list, the landlord forfeits all rights to withhold for damage or cleaning (70-25-203); ending month-to-month (landlord): 30 days' notice to end a month-to-month tenancy; unpaid rent notice: 3 days after the tenant receives the notice to pay in full or move out; time to answer or appear: Five business days to file an Answer; the hearing must then be held within 10 business days of the Answer; judgment to writ: If possession is granted, the court issues the writ of possession and writ of assistance immediately; writ to lockout: The sheriff executes the writ of assistance within 5 business days of receiving it, unless the landlord and sheriff agree otherwise.
• Move-in and move-out deposit checklist. A room-by-room condition checklist for both visits and the steps after move-out, with Montana's return deadline (within 30 days).
• Notice calendar. When each notice must go out: the lead time for every notice the state's text confirms, with a 2027 month-by-month serve-by table worked out with our notice date calculator's rules.
• Eviction timeline sheet. The Montana case in order from notice to lockout, with each confirmed stage, an example dated from a sample filing day where the rules give periods, and blanks for your own case dates.
• Montana landlord workbook (Excel). A tenant notice log that dates each notice from the Montana rules, a deposit tracker that works out the return date for each move-out, and a rent ledger with a running balance.