Montana: Security Deposit Return Deadlines & Deductions
The short answer
If your Montana landlord isn't withholding anything — no damage, no needed cleaning, no unpaid rent, no unpaid utilities you owe — they must return the full deposit within 10 days. If they are withholding something, they have 30 days after the tenancy terminates or you surrender and the landlord accepts the unit, whichever happens first, to send a written itemized list along with whatever's left of the deposit. There's no cap on the deposit amount, no interest requirement, and no separate-account requirement. Miss the list deadline, and the landlord forfeits the right to withhold anything at all; separately, wrongfully withholding any amount makes the landlord liable for that amount, with attorney's fees available to whichever side wins, at the court's discretion — not a multiplier, and not guaranteed to the tenant.
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This is the general rule in Montana. Ezel applies current Montana law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law | Mont. Code Ann. §§ 70-25-201 through 70-25-205 (Residential Tenants' Security Deposits) |
|---|---|
| Deadline to return the deposit | 10 days after the tenancy terminates if inspection shows no damage, no cleaning needed, no unpaid rent, and the tenant can demonstrate no unpaid utilities. Otherwise, 30 days after the termination of the tenancy OR after surrender and acceptance of the premises, whichever occurs FIRST — not both. |
| Itemized statement required? | Yes, whenever any amount is withheld — a written list of any rent due and any damage/cleaning charges, delivered along with payment of the difference between the deposit and the amount withheld, within the 30-day window |
| What can be deducted | Damage caused by the tenant, the tenant's household, or their guests/invitees (including damage from the tenant's failure to perform a legal duty regarding the premises); unpaid rent, late charges, utilities, lease-provision penalties, and other money owed to the landlord; and actual cleaning expenses, including a reasonable charge for the landlord's own labor — except cleaning charges for the landlord's normal cyclical maintenance can't be deducted unless the tenant's negligence forced that maintenance, and the tenant must get a written notice and 24 hours to do any required cleaining first. The statute bars deducting for anything outside this list. |
| Maximum deposit amount | No statutory cap |
| Interest on the deposit? | No interest required |
| Penalty for a late/bad-faith withholding | Two layers. Failing to provide the written list at all forfeits the landlord's entire right to withhold any portion of the deposit. Separately, wrongfully withholding any amount makes the landlord liable for that amount (not a multiplier), with the landlord bearing the burden of proving any damage claim; the court MAY, in its discretion, award attorney's fees to whichever party prevails — not a mandatory award, and not limited to the tenant. A tenant can't sue until getting the landlord's written denial, or until the applicable 30-day or 10-day period has expired. |
| Separate account or bond required? | No separate-account, trust, or bond requirement found in these sections |
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Requirements one by one
Governing law
Montana's deposit rules live in a short chapter, Mont. Code Ann. §§
70-25-201 through 70-25-205 ("Residential Tenants' Security Deposits").
Deadline to return the deposit
Two separate tracks apply. If, "after inspection there are no damages to
the premises, no cleaning required, and no rent unpaid" and the tenant
"can demonstrate that no utilities are unpaid," the landlord "shall return
the security deposit within 10 days" (§ 70-25-202(1)). Otherwise, the
landlord has "30 days subsequent to the termination of a tenancy or...
30 days subsequent to a surrender and acceptance of the leasehold
premises, whichever occurs first" to deliver the written list and pay
back the difference (§ 70-25-202(1)) — an either/or test keyed to whichever
of those two events happens sooner, not both.
Itemized statement required?
Yes, whenever anything is withheld. The landlord must provide "a written
list of any rent due and any damage and cleaning charges," and "delivery
of the list must be accompanied by payment of the difference, if any,
between the security deposit and the permitted charges" (§ 70-25-202(1)).
What can be deducted
"Damage... caused by the tenant," unpaid "rent, late charges, utilities,
penalties due under lease provisions, and other money owing to the
landlord," and "actual cleaning expenses, including a reasonable charge
for the landlord's labor" (§ 70-25-201). One built-in limit: "cleaning
charges may not be imposed for normal maintenance performed on a cyclical
basis by the landlord... unless the landlord is forced to perform this
maintenance because of negligence of the tenant," and the tenant must get
written notice and 24 hours to finish any cleaning first. The list is
closed: "a person may not deduct or withhold from the security deposit any
amount for purposes other than those set forth in this section."
Maximum deposit amount
None. Montana's statute sets no ceiling on the deposit amount.
Interest on the deposit?
No. Nothing in this chapter requires interest on a held deposit.
Penalty for a late/bad-faith withholding
Two separate consequences. Missing the written-list deadline entirely is
an automatic forfeiture: "any landlord who fails to provide the departing
tenant with a written list... shall forfeit all rights to withhold any
portion of the security deposit" (§ 70-25-203). Separately, a landlord who
"wrongfully withholds" a deposit "is liable in damages to the tenant... for
an amount equal to the sum determined to have been wrongfully withheld or
deducted" — just that amount, with no built-in multiplier — and "the
attorney fees may be awarded the prevailing party at the discretion of the
court," a discretionary call that could favor either side, not a guaranteed
tenant recovery. "The burden of proof of damages caused by the tenant... is
on the landlord" (§ 70-25-204). A tenant can't sue at all until receiving
the landlord's written denial, or until the applicable 30-day or 10-day
period has run out.
Separate account or bond required?
No. Nothing in this chapter requires the deposit to sit in a separate
account, an interest-bearing account, or a bond.
What trips people up
The 30-day trigger is "whichever happens first," not "both." A
commercial demand-letter template circulating for Montana wrongly frames
the deadline as running from termination AND delivery of possession
together — the real rule fires as soon as either one happens, whichever
comes sooner.
Attorney's fees aren't automatic, and they aren't tenant-only. The
statute gives the court discretion to award fees to whichever party
actually wins the case — not a guaranteed award, and not limited to
tenants.
No cap doesn't mean no limit on deductions. Montana doesn't cap the
deposit amount itself, but it does strictly limit what can be deducted
from it to the categories the statute lists — normal wear and tear and
routine cyclical maintenance still can't be charged to you.
Common questions
How long does my Montana landlord have to return my deposit? 10 days
if nothing is being withheld; 30 days (from whichever of termination or
surrender-and-acceptance comes first) if something is.
Is there a cap on my deposit? No. Montana sets no statutory limit.
Can I recover more than my deposit if the landlord wrongfully withholds
it? You can recover the amount wrongfully withheld, and a court may — at
its discretion — also award attorney's fees to whichever side prevails.
There's no automatic multiplier.
Statutes and sources
- Mont. Code Ann. § 70-25-201 — permitted deductions and the cleaning-charge notice/cure rule.
https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0700/chapter_0250/part_0020/section_0010/0700-0250-0020-0010.html (accessed 2026-07-06) - Mont. Code Ann. § 70-25-202(1) — the 10-day/30-day dual return deadline and itemization duty.
https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0700/chapter_0250/part_0020/section_0020/0700-0250-0020-0020.html (accessed 2026-07-06) - Mont. Code Ann. § 70-25-203 — automatic forfeiture for failing to provide the written list.
https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/2007/mca/70/25/70-25-203.htm (accessed 2026-07-06) - Mont. Code Ann. § 70-25-204 — the wrongful-withholding remedy, discretionary attorney's fees, and pre-suit conditions.
https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0700/chapter_0250/part_0020/section_0040/0700-0250-0020-0040.html (accessed 2026-07-06) - Mont. Code Ann. § 70-25-205 — a tenant's failure to give a new address doesn't bar recovery.
https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/2007/mca/70/25/70-25-205.htm (accessed 2026-07-06)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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