Montana rent notice

Montana nonpayment notice: a guide for unincorporated Madison County

This notice addresses unpaid rent under Montana's Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. The steps below distinguish the landlord's demand, the tenant's opportunity to pay, and a later court action. A notice does not itself award possession. Review the rental agreement, the property and the current account before signing.

1. Confirm the tenancy and the property's actual location

This form supports lawful ordinary residential rentals in unincorporated Madison County, outside incorporated towns. A mailing address in Ennis, Sheridan, Twin Bridges or Virginia City does not establish whether a particular home is inside that town. Confirm the parcel boundary with the Madison County Planning Office. Other locations need their own review.

MCA 70-24-104 excludes several arrangements from this chapter, including certain institutional housing, purchase contracts, transient hotel occupancy, employment-dependent housing and primarily commercial or agricultural premises. Particularly relevant here, subsection (8) excludes a dwelling outside a municipality when the rental agreement includes hunting, fishing or agricultural privileges. Do not assume a rural house qualifies just because someone lives there. Mobile-home lot rentals also need a different review.

Use this tool only for a new, undisputed occupancy-rent balance with no other charges due, earlier notice, payments or credits requiring reconciliation, extra lease requirements, or special protections. Assisted housing, covered financing, bankruptcy, military protections, accommodation requests and uncertain coverage can change the analysis. The eligibility checks limit this form's coverage; they do not decide every tenancy's legal status.

2. Identify the unpaid rent and the intended consequence

Under MCA 70-24-422(2), unpaid rent can support a written notice of nonpayment and the landlord's intention to terminate if the rent is not paid within three days. Failure to pay within the applicable period permits termination; the tenant must vacate if the landlord terminates. This is a conditional rent notice, not an immediate order to leave regardless of payment. Other breaches and repeated violations have separate provisions and should not be substituted into this form.

Enter each due date and amount from the rental agreement and ledger. Confirm that rent is already overdue and any applicable grace period has passed. The notice incorporates its rent statement, so the names, premises, total and payment instructions must agree across the pages. Identify the payment recipient, accepted method and delivery location clearly enough for the tenant to tender payment.

MCA 70-24-103(14), amended in 2025, defines rent to include agreed late fees and other charges, excluding security deposits. This tool deliberately covers only cases with no such additional charges due. Do not hide fees in a rent row, treat a security deposit as an unpaid installment, or assume the tool's narrower scope is the statute's definition.

3. Determine receipt before counting the notice period

This branch uses a printed notice personally delivered to each named adult tenant. MCA 70-24-108(1)(d) recognizes in-hand delivery. The day the notice is prepared or signed is not proof of the day a tenant receives it. Record each actual receipt, then determine the end of the statutory period and any longer period that applies before taking further action.

MCA 1-1-307 allows an act appointed by law or contract for a Saturday or holiday to be performed on the next business day. Check the actual calendar and applicable timing rules; the phrase “three days” should not be used to shorten a legally extended deadline. This form supplies no automatic expiration or court-filing date.

Section 70-24-108 also provides distinct mail and email rules: specified certificate-of-mailing or certified-mail service is deemed made three days after mailing; email notice requires the rental-agreement address and the specified read receipt or nonautomatic reply. Those methods are outside this branch. A sent email, text message or app sharing confirmation alone does not establish the required receipt.

4. Sign the demand and record delivery as separate events

Paper signing remains available. Optional electronic signing rests on an applicable transaction and the parties' agreement under MCA 30-18-103 and 30-18-104. Electronic form alone does not defeat a signature under 30-18-106, but the checkbox cannot create the tenants' agreement or override another legal requirement.

MCA 30-18-107 preserves specified delivery and formatting requirements. Regardless of the signing choice, this tool calls for personal delivery of the printed notice and its rent statement. Leave the delivery record unexecuted until delivery occurs. The person who actually delivers should identify the recipient, place, date, time and pages delivered, then sign that factual record. A preparation timestamp is not a delivery certification.

5. Reassess the notice when money is received

MCA 70-24-423 distinguishes full payment from partial payment. Accepting full rent due waives a claimed breach when the breach is nonpayment; it does not automatically waive a different breach. Acceptance of partial rent does not itself waive rights, including the remaining rent. Do not import another state's blanket payment rule.

Nevertheless, a payment changes the account. Preserve the receipt, date, amount and allocation and obtain a review before relying on the previously prepared balance or filing. This initial form does not determine the effect of a negotiated payment plan, disputed allocation or later agreement. Never present an old total to a court as still unpaid after receiving money against it.

6. Check local rental compliance and tenant defenses

Madison County's Buildings for Lease or Rent Regulations, amended March 2026, identify Ordinance 3-2026 as their adoption authority. Sections 5–7 distinguish exemptions, sanitation review and approval for other buildings on a tract. The first three buildings are not simply exempt from every requirement; section 6(C) addresses sanitation approval and recording where required. Section 6(E) permits a voluntary certificate documenting an exemption, with proof supplied by the landowner.

Confirm the property's approval or exemption with Planning and retain supporting records. The county update page also lists particular zoning districts and draft documents. A draft is not an adopted rule, and one district's requirements do not establish the rules for every rural parcel. These land-use issues do not supply a different rent-notice deadline by themselves; unresolved legality or code disputes need separate review.

MCA 70-24-421 permits relevant tenant counterclaims in a nonpayment case and addresses the net amount due; if no rent remains due after its application, judgment in the possession action must favor the tenant. 70-24-431 addresses retaliation, a six-month complaint presumption and exceptions, including rent default. Those exceptions do not erase all landlord liability. Review repair, service and complaint records instead of treating a rent entry as an answer to every defense.

7. Complete and retain a consistent notice

The blank version contains the demand, a rent statement and an unexecuted personal-delivery record. Complete the names, rental address, notice date, amount, due dates, payment instructions, landlord address and signature legibly. Use the same total on the demand and statement. Add continuation sheets only when they remain clearly connected to this notice; do not crowd information into unreadable spaces. Online entries that exceed the supported capacity need a separate review.

Review every page before delivery and keep a copy of what was actually delivered. Correct an error before using the notice. If a notice has already been delivered, do not silently alter your saved copy to make it appear that the tenant received different terms. Preserve the earlier version and obtain advice about correction or a new notice.

8. Use the court process if possession remains disputed

The Madison County Justice Court guide distinguishes proper notice before filing from the later complaint, summons and process-server or sheriff return. Its ink instructions concern court pleadings, not a general prohibition of electronic signatures on every preliminary notice. Obtain current filing forms and procedural directions from the court; the notice is not a filed complaint, summons or judgment.

MCA 70-24-411 provides remedies for unlawful exclusion or purposeful interruption of essential services. A notice does not authorize lock changes, removal of belongings or utility interruption to recover possession. Keep the lease, account, payment evidence, complete notice, delivery record and relevant correspondence for any court review. Verify current fees and deadlines rather than relying on a cached procedural page.

Reviewed October 27, 2026 against the cited Montana statutes and county sources. This is an explanation of the form's supported use, not a court's approval of a particular notice or a determination of disputed facts.