Security Deposit Not Returned in Montana: What Can I Do?
This page covers what happens to your deposit when you move out of a rental in Montana. It explains the landlord's deadlines, the list of charges, and what you can do if money is kept without a legal right.
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Your landlord must give you a written list of any rent due and any damage and cleaning charges. The list is due within 30 days. The clock starts when your rental ends, or when you give back the home and your landlord accepts it, whichever comes first. The 30-day rule does not apply in one case. Your rental agreement has ended under a Montana law that gives your landlord a claim for possession, rent, and money for its losses. The landlord has filed that claim in court.
Montana Code Annotated MCA 70-25-202(1)(a)(i) Montana Code Annotated MCA 70-24-427(1) Montana Code Annotated MCA 70-33-427(1)✓ Sources checked October 2, 2026
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Your landlord must send the list together with a refund. The refund is the difference, if any, between your deposit and the allowed charges.
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Your landlord must return your deposit within 10 days in one case. This is when, after an inspection, there is no damage to the home, no cleaning is needed and no rent is unpaid. You must also be able to show that no utilities (water, electric, gas) are unpaid.
✓ Sources checked October 2, 2026
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Your landlord may mail your deposit to your last-known address. If you never gave a new address and do not get the money, that is not keeping it without a legal right. Your landlord still owes you the money.
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Say you never gave your landlord a new address in writing. You can still get back the amount your landlord owes you. The address was due when your rental ended, or when you gave back the home and your landlord accepted it.
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Your landlord may take money out of your deposit for the damage the landlord says you caused. The allowed list includes unpaid rent, late charges, utilities (water, electric, gas), and penalties due under your lease. It also includes other money you owe and actual cleaning costs, with a reasonable charge for the landlord's labor.
✓ Sources checked October 2, 2026
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Your landlord may not take or hold back any part of your deposit for other reasons. Only the reasons in the law's list of what can be taken out are allowed.
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Your landlord may not take cleaning charges out of your deposit until the landlord gives you written notice. The notice must list the cleaning you did not do. It must also list the additional cleaning needed to bring the home back to its condition when you rented it. The notice is not needed if you leave without telling your landlord.
✓ Sources checked October 2, 2026
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After your landlord delivers the cleaning notice, you have 24 hours to do the cleaning it lists. One case is different. Your rental agreement has ended under a Montana law that gives your landlord a claim for possession, rent, and money for its losses. The landlord has filed that claim in court.
Montana Code Annotated MCA 70-25-201(3)(b) Montana Code Annotated MCA 70-24-427(1) Montana Code Annotated MCA 70-33-427(1)✓ Sources checked October 2, 2026
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Your landlord must give you the written list of damage and cleaning charges. If not, the landlord loses the right to keep any part of your deposit for damage or cleaning charges.
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If your landlord keeps your deposit, or part of it, without a legal right to it, you can sue in court. The landlord owes you the amount a court decides was kept without a legal right. You get this money only if you win your case and your landlord pays.
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In court, your landlord must prove the damage that the landlord says you caused to the home.
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Montana law lists times before which you cannot sue over money kept from your deposit. They include getting a written denial from your landlord of the amount you say was kept without a legal right. They also include 30 days passing after your rental ends.
✓ Sources checked October 2, 2026
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