Montana Rental Application
The Montana Association of Realtors Rental Application is the standard state form designed to be used by landlords handling the operation of one (1) or more Montana-based rentals to allow them to acquire information on those that show interest in renting a home, apartment, unit, or room. Prospective renters completing the document will be required to list information pertaining to several areas regarding their past and current livelihood, including but not limited to their criminal, rental, credit, and employment history, non-family references (for gauging their trustworthiness as a renter), and info regarding pets. In Montana, landlords are free to charge potential tenants any amount to run an application. Requiring a fee is highly recommended due to it providing itself as a screening measure in of itself, and by allowing property managers the ability to recoup the costs of running paid screening reports.
Maximum Application Fee: There is no maximum fee. Before accepting an application, landlords can require a fee of their choosing.
Security Deposits (§ 70-25-202): In accordance with Montana Annotated Code, landlords are required to return security deposits within ten (10) days so long there are no deductions from the security deposit, no cleaning that needs to be done, no tenant-caused property damage, and no unpaid rent. If there are deductions to be made for any of the mentioned reasons, landlords have thirty (30) days to return the remainder of the security deposit (if any) accompanied with a list of the damages.
NOTE: If the landlord mails the security deposit (or remaineder thereof) to the tenant’s last known address, or an address they gave to the landlord to receive the deposit, it is not considered “wrongful withholding”, the landlord is still liable for getting the deposit owed to the tenant, regardless of where the deposit was delivered.