Security Deposit Return Deadlines & Deductions in Montana

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Return and itemization

Section 70-25-202(1)(a) gives the landlord 30 days after the earlier of tenancy termination or surrender and acceptance to provide a written list of rent, damage, and cleaning charges and pay any balance. If inspection finds no damage or cleaning needed, no rent unpaid, and the tenant can demonstrate no unpaid utilities, subsection (1)(b)(i) requires return within 10 days. The latter text states no separate starting event for that 10-day period.

Deductions and cleaning

Section 70-25-201(1) allows tenant-caused damage, unpaid rent, late charges, utilities, lease penalties, other money owed, and actual cleaning expenses, including reasonable landlord labor. Subsection (3)(a) bars charges for normal cyclical maintenance unless tenant negligence made it necessary and generally requires written cleaning notice before deduction. Subsection (4) bars deductions for other purposes.

Remedy

If the landlord omits the required list, § 70-25-203 forfeits the right to withhold for damage or cleaning charges. Section 70-25-204 separately gives a tenant wrongfully withheld money as damages, places the burden of proving tenant-caused damage on the landlord, and permits the court to award fees to the prevailing party.

What trips people up

The 2025 code permits an electronic transfer, cash, check, another refund method, or mailing to the tenant’s new address or, absent one, the last known address (§ 70-25-202(1)(a)(ii)). The written list must be noticed under § 70-24-108 or § 70-33-106; § 70-24-108(1)(d) includes hand delivery or mailing with a certificate of mailing or by certified mail to the designated or last known address.

The cleaning notice rule has an exception: under § 70-25-201(3)(c), a tenant who gives no notice of intent to vacate or leaves without notice relieves the landlord of the ordinary cleaning-notice duty. Section 70-25-202(2) also excludes certain statutory terminations when the landlord has a pending court claim.

Common questions

Does failing to give a forwarding address erase the refund? No. Section 70-25-205 says the tenant can still recover the amount owed, while § 70-25-202(1)(c) protects a landlord who mailed to the last known address from a wrongful-withholding claim based solely on nondelivery.

When may I file a wrongful-withholding action? Section 70-25-204(2) permits it after a written denial or expiry of the applicable 30-day or 10-day period stated there.

Statutes and sources

• Mont. Code Ann. § 70-25-201: “A landlord renting property covered by this chapter may deduct from the security deposit a sum equal to the damage alleged to have been caused by the tenant, together with a sum equal to the unpaid rent, late charges, utilities, penalties due under lease provisions, and other money owing to the landlord at the time of deduction, including rent owed under 70-24-441(3), and a sum for actual cleaning expenses, including a reasonable charge for the landlord's labor.” — https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0700/chapter_0250/part_0020/section_0010/0700-0250-0020-0010.html (accessed 2026-10-07)
• Mont. Code Ann. § 70-25-202(1): “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, shall provide the departing tenant with a written list of any rent due and any damage and cleaning charges, brought after the provisions of 70-25-201 have been followed, with regard to the leasehold premises that the landlord alleges are the responsibility of the tenant.” — https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0700/chapter_0250/part_0020/section_0020/0700-0250-0020-0020.html (accessed 2026-10-07)
• Mont. Code Ann. § 70-25-203: “Any landlord who fails to provide the departing tenant with a written list of damage and cleaning charges as required by 70-25-202 shall forfeit all rights to withhold any portion of the security deposit for the damages or cleaning charges.” — https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0700/chapter_0250/part_0020/section_0030/0700-0250-0020-0030.html (accessed 2026-10-07)
• Mont. Code Ann. § 70-25-204: “A person who wrongfully withholds a residential property security deposit or any portion of the deposit is liable in damages to the tenant in a civil action for an amount equal to the sum determined to have been wrongfully withheld or deducted. The attorney fees may be awarded the prevailing party at the discretion of the court. The burden of proof of damages caused by the tenant to the leasehold premises is on the landlord.” — https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0700/chapter_0250/part_0020/section_0040/0700-0250-0020-0040.html (accessed 2026-10-07)
• Mont. Code Ann. § 70-25-205: “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 of the leasehold premises, whichever occurs first, does not bar the tenant from recovering the amount owing to the tenant by the landlord.” — https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0700/chapter_0250/part_0020/section_0050/0700-0250-0020-0050.html (accessed 2026-10-07)
• Mont. Code Ann. § 70-25-201(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 that the tenant occupies the space unless the landlord is forced to perform this maintenance because of negligence of the tenant. Additionally, 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 its renting.” — https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0700/chapter_0250/part_0020/section_0010/0700-0250-0020-0010.html (accessed 2026-10-07)
• Mont. Code Ann. § 70-25-201(3)(b)-(c): “A tenant who fails to notify the landlord of the intent to vacate or who vacates the premises without notice relieves the landlord of the requirement of giving notice and allows the landlord to deduct the cleaning charges from the deposit, or 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, and notice is considered delivered.” — https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0700/chapter_0250/part_0020/section_0010/0700-0250-0020-0010.html (accessed 2026-10-07)
• Mont. Code Ann. § 70-25-201(4): “A person may not deduct or withhold from the security deposit any amount for purposes other than those set forth in this section.” — https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0700/chapter_0250/part_0020/section_0010/0700-0250-0020-0010.html (accessed 2026-10-07)
• Mont. Code Ann. § 70-25-202(1)(a)(ii): “Delivery of the refund must be accomplished by different forms of payment that include 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 a new address is not provided, to the tenant's last-known address. Delivery of the written list must be noticed pursuant to 70-24-108 or 70-33-106.” — https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0700/chapter_0250/part_0020/section_0020/0700-0250-0020-0020.html (accessed 2026-10-07)
• Mont. Code Ann. § 70-25-202(1)(b)(i): “If after inspection there are no damages to the premises, no cleaning required, and no rent unpaid and if the tenant can demonstrate that no utilities are unpaid by the tenant, the landlord shall return the security deposit within 10 days.” — https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0700/chapter_0250/part_0020/section_0020/0700-0250-0020-0020.html (accessed 2026-10-07)
• Mont. Code Ann. § 70-25-202(2): “This section does not apply if a rental agreement is terminated pursuant to 70-24-427 or 70-33-427 and the landlord has a pending claim filed in court.” — https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0700/chapter_0250/part_0020/section_0020/0700-0250-0020-0020.html (accessed 2026-10-07)
• Mont. Code Ann. § 70-25-204(2): “An action may not be maintained by a tenant for any amount wrongfully withheld or deducted prior to: (a) the tenant's receipt from the landlord or the landlord's agent of a written denial of the sum alleged to be wrongfully detained; (b) the expiration of a 30-day period after the termination of a tenancy; (c) the expiration of a 30-day period after surrender and acceptance of the leasehold premises; or (d) the expiration of a 10-day period after the landlord has indicated there were no damages to the premises, no cleaning was required, no rent was unpaid, and no utilities were unpaid by the tenant.” — https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0700/chapter_0250/part_0020/section_0040/0700-0250-0020-0040.html (accessed 2026-10-07)
• Mont. Code Ann. § 70-25-201(3)(b): “After the delivery of the notice pursuant to 70-24-108 or 70-33-106, the tenant has 24 hours to complete the required cleaning, unless the rental agreement is already terminated pursuant to 70-24-427 or 70-33-427 and the landlord has a pending claim filed in court.” — https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0700/chapter_0250/part_0020/section_0010/0700-0250-0020-0010.html (accessed 2026-10-07)
• Mont. Code Ann. § 70-25-202(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 tenant who has departed and the tenant does not receive the funds because the tenant has not given the landlord the tenant's new address, but the landlord remains liable to the tenant for the amount due the tenant.” — https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0700/chapter_0250/part_0020/section_0020/0700-0250-0020-0020.html (accessed 2026-10-07)
• Mont. Code Ann. § 70-24-108(1)(d): “in the case of a landlord or tenant, it is delivered in hand to the landlord or tenant or mailed with a certificate of mailing or by certified mail to the person at the place indicated by the person as the place for receipt of the communication or, in the absence of a designation, to the person's last-known address. If notice is made with a certificate of mailing or by certified mail, service of the notice is considered to have been made on the date 3 days after the date of mailing.” — https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0700/chapter_0240/part_0010/section_0080/0700-0240-0010-0080.html (accessed 2026-10-07)
• Mont. Code Ann. § 70-33-106(1)(c): “in the case of a landlord or tenant, the notice is personally delivered to the landlord or tenant or mailed with a certificate of mailing or by certified mail to the place held out by the landlord or tenant as the place for receipt of the communication or, in the absence of a designation, to the landlord's or tenant's last-known address. When notice is made by certificate of mailing or certified mail, the service of the notice must be considered to have been made 3 days after the date of mailing.” — https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0700/chapter_0330/part_0010/section_0060/0700-0330-0010-0060.html (accessed 2026-10-07)