Do New Landlords Have To Give Notice Prior To Repairs

landlordtenant "Almost anybody rents housing at some signal in life. Both landlords and tenants tin can prevent misunderstandings, hassles and possible legal expenses past knowing their rights and responsibilities under the Montana Residential Landlord and Tenant Deed and their rental agreement."

The Montana Chaser General's Office provides the following general information to assist landlords and renters in the country. However, this office is prohibited from providing legal advice or representation to individuals, and does not handle complaints related to landlord-tenant disputes.

For complaints or questions regarding:

legal assistance, contact Montana Legal Services Association
legal information, contact MontanaLawHelp.org or Montana Public Interest Research Group (MontPirg)
federal law, see the Federal Fair Housing Act
suspected discrimination, go to Montana Off-white Housing

Moving In

Rental Agreements

A tenant's rights and responsibilities are adamant by the rental understanding and the Montana Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. This constabulary includes certain requirements that apply regardless of what is in the rental agreement.

There are ii common types of rental arrangements: leases and calendar month-to-month rental agreements.

Lease – A charter requires the tenant to stay for a specific period of time (for example, one year). A lease must be in writing. Neither the landlord nor the tenant can modify the terms of the lease, including raising the rent, during the term of the lease unless they both agree to the alter.
Month-to-Calendar month – A month-to-calendar month rental agreement is open up-ended, with rent usually payable on a monthly basis. The understanding may be in writing or it may be an oral understanding. Either the landlord or the tenant may alter the terms, raise rent, or end the calendar month-to-month agreement at whatsoever fourth dimension with proper notice.

Before signing whatever rental understanding, a renter should know:

What does it say? Read the entire agreement carefully and ask for an explanation of any part y'all don't sympathise. If the landlord'due south explanation is different from the written understanding, ask him or her to add the verbal explanation in writing on the agreement.
Is it legal? Check to make sure the agreement doesn't incorporate any illegal provisions in violation of the Montana Residential Landlord and Tenant Act or the federal Fair Housing Act.
Is anything blank or missing?The agreement should address how y'all and the landlord volition handle situations like necessary repairs, unauthorized pets or guests and nonpayment of rent, and the cleaning yous are expected to do when you move out. If you are concerned about a situation that the understanding does not accost, ask the landlord:
- how he or she would desire to handle it
- to write it into the agreement
- to fill in or cross out any blanks before y'all sign

[note]Even if a rental agreement is non signed or returned past the landlord or tenant, it is withal considered to be in effect if the tenant pays rent or the landlord accepts payment of hire.[/note]

Illegal Provisions in Rental Agreements

Sure provisions that are not legal or enforceable under the law may appear in your charter or rental agreement. Illegal provisions include any that:

waive any right given to tenants by the Montana Residential Landlord and Tenant Act
contain discriminatory terms prohibited by the federal Fair Housing Deed (such equally requiring college hire for tenants with children)
waive tenants' right to defend themselves in court against a landlord'due south accusations
limit the landlord's liability in situations where the landlord would commonly be responsible
allow the landlord to enter the rental unit of measurement without proper detect
require a tenant to pay for all damage to the unit, even if it is not caused by the tenant or his or her guests
states the tenant will pay the landlord'south attorney's fees under whatever circumstances if a dispute goes to court
allows the landlord to seize a tenant's property if the tenant falls behind in rent

Security Deposits

At the beginning of the rental understanding, a landlord may require a tenant to pay a deposit that is refundable when the tenant moves out, if the tenant causes no harm, completes all required cleaning, and owes no unpaid rent or utilities.

At the fourth dimension the landlord and tenant enter the rental agreement, the landlord must provide the tenant with a written statement of the condition of the belongings, signed by the landlord. If the landlord does not provide such a argument, the landlord may non keep any part of the tenant'southward security deposit for amercement when the tenant moves out, unless the landlord can clearly prove that the tenant caused the damage.

Rights and Responsibilities

Landlord Responsibilities

Nether the Montana Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, a landlord must:

maintain the dwelling so every bit to comply with state and local building and housing codes related to a tenant'southward wellness and safety
maintain in good and safe working gild all electric, plumbing, heating, air-conditioning, and other facilities and appliances supplied by the landlord, including any elevators
proceed all mutual areas, such as lobbies, stairways and halls, in a reasonably clean and rubber condition
make repairs and exercise whatever is necessary to make the bounds fit and habitable
inform the tenant of the name and address of the landlord or landlord's amanuensis
provide smoke detectors, and ensure they piece of work properly when a new tenant moves in. (Tenants are responsible for maintaining the fume detectors.)

Tenant Responsibilities

Under the Montana Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, a tenant is required to:

pay hire and whatever utilities agreed upon
comply with any requirements of metropolis, canton or country regulations
keep the rental unit make clean and sanitary
dispose of all garbage and waste matter properly
properly operate plumbing, electrical and heating systems
maintain smoke detectors, including replacing batteries

A tenant may non:

damage or destroy any part of the property
disturb neighbors' peaceful enjoyment of their property
change the locks without obtaining the landlord'south permission and providing the landlord with a copy of the new key

Rental Repairs

Notice Required – When something in the rental unit needs to be repaired, the beginning step is for the tenant to requite written discover of the problem to the landlord or person who collects the rent. The notice must include:

the address and apartment number of the rental
the name of the owner, if known
a description of the problem

Information technology is a practiced idea to evangelize the find personally, or to use certified mail and get a return receipt from the post office.

Tenant Options – For conditions that affect the tenant'due south health and rubber, the tenant may notify landlord that repairs must occur inside fourteen days or the tenant may finish the rental agreement at the stop of 30 days. If landlord does not make the repairs within 14 days and the cost of repairs is less than one calendar month'south rent, the tenant may either:

notify the landlord that the tenant is terminating the rental agreement
or
have the repairs fabricated and deduct the cost from the rent. However, before a tenant deducts any corporeality from the rent, the tenant should consult an attorney to brand sure the deduction is lawful. Whenever a tenant pays less that the total rent due, there is a chance that the landlord will seek eviction based on nonpayment of rent.

For emergency conditions, the landlord must brand repairs inside three working days of written notice from the tenant.

When the Landlord Tin can Enter Your Rental

Except in emergencies, a landlord must give a tenant at least 24 hours' notice of intent to enter the rental unit, and may enter only at reasonable times.
The landlord may just enter for valid purposes, including repairs, inspection or alterations to the property. The landlord may not abuse the right of admission or use it to harass the tenant.
The tenant may non unreasonably withhold consent to enter. If the tenant does and so, the landlord tin can stop the rental agreement or get a court gild to allow access, with the tenant responsible for the landlord's legal expenses.
In the case of an emergency, the landlord may enter the unit immediately without the tenant's consent.

Illegal Deportment by a Landlord

The constabulary prohibits a landlord from taking certain actions against a tenant. These illegal actions include:

Lockouts – The constabulary prohibits landlords from changing locks or adding new locks to continue a tenant out, fifty-fifty if the tenant is behind in hire. A tenant who is locked out can file a lawsuit to regain entry.
Utility Shutoffs – The landlord may not shut off utilities because the tenant is behind in rent or to strength a tenant to move out. If the utilities have been shut off by the landlord, the tenant should beginning check with the utility company to see if information technology will restore service. If it appears the shutoff is illegal, the tenant can file a lawsuit.
Retaliation – The police force prohibits the landlord from retaliating against a tenant for exercising rights under the law, such as complaining to a government authorisation or deducting for repairs. Examples of retaliation are raising the rent, reducing services provided to the tenant, or evicting the tenant.

If you lot experience your landlord has taken an illegal action against you, you may wish to consult an attorney or contact Montana Legal Services Association to determine whether you lot are eligible for legal assistance.

Moving Out

Proper Notice to Leave

The discover a tenant is required to give a landlord upon moving out depends upon the type of rental agreement. A tenant who is moving out may non sublet or transfer possession of the rental unit to someone else unless the landlord has canonical this in writing.

Lease – A tenant cannot terminate a lease prior to its expiration unless the landlord agrees. A tenant who chooses to move out before the lease has expired is responsible for paying the rent for the remainder of the lease until the landlord finds another tenant. The landlord must brand reasonable efforts to hire the belongings to someone else as presently as possible.
Calendar month-to-Month Understanding – A tenant must requite xxx days' observe to terminate a month-to-month rental agreement. It is a skilful idea to give this notice in writing and to keep a copy for your records.

Render of Deposits

A landlord may keep part or all of a tenant'south security deposit to pay unpaid rent, utilities, late charges, damages to the property, cleaning expenses paid by the landlord, and a reasonable amount for the landlord's labor.

In certain circumstances, the landlord may not proceed part or all of the security deposit. For example:

The landlord cannot deduct cleaning expenses from a security eolith unless the landlord gave the tenant written notice of the cleaning that needed to be done, and gave the tenant at least 24 hours to do the cleaning.
The landlord must send the tenant a written list of whatever deductions from the security eolith within 30 days. Any landlord who fails to provide the parting tenant with such a list may non withhold any portion of the security deposit for the damages or cleaning charges.
If the landlord did not provide the tenant with a written argument of the property's condition at the time the tenant moved in, the landlord cannot go on whatever office of the security deposit for amercement unless the landlord can testify by articulate and convincing evidence that the tenant caused the damage.

A landlord must return a tenant'south security deposit within ten days after inspecting the rental if at that place are no amercement, no cleaning left to be done and no unpaid rent or utilities.

Information technology is the tenant's responsibility to provide the landlord with a forwarding address to which the security eolith can be sent. Otherwise, the deposit is sent to the tenant'south last known address.

Evictions

Lease – A lease may not be terminated early unless the tenant has violated the rental agreement or the requirements of the Montana Residential Landlord and Tenant Act.
Month-to-Month Agreement – A landlord may generally finish a month-to-calendar month rental understanding by providing 30 days' notice to the tenant.

Tenant Violations

If the tenant has violated either the rental agreement or the requirements of the Montana Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, the landlord may terminate a rental understanding with fourteen days' detect to the tenant, except under the following circumstances:

The landlord need but give 3 days' notice if the tenant'south violation involves:
- unpaid rent
- an unauthorized tenant or pet
- harm to the rental property
- the tenant'due south arrest for producing or manufacturing drugs on the rental premises
The landlord need but give 5 days' notice if it is a echo violation about which the landlord has previously notified the tenant inside the by six months.

If the noncompliance is something the tenant can fix through repairs, payment of damages or otherwise, and the tenant adequately remedies the noncompliance before the date specified in the detect, the rental agreement does not terminate.

Source: https://dojmt.gov/consumer/tenants-and-landlords/

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