How to Evict a Roommate in Montana (and Other Household Situations)
What Montana law says about roommates who are not on the lease, guests who won't leave, family members, renting a room in your own home, and tenancies at will — each with the statute or official source.
Short answer: Under Montana's Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, a tenant is a person entitled under a rental agreement (written or oral) to occupy the unit, or a person who has a sublease with the leaseholder made with the landlord's written approval under the rental agreement. A person living there without a rental agreement or approved sublease is not a tenant; someone staying temporarily with a tenant is a guest. Mont. Code Ann. § 70-24-103(8), (16), (19)
| Roommate not on the lease | Under Montana's Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, a tenant is a person entitled under a rental agreement (written or oral) to occupy the unit, or a person who has a sublease with the leaseholder made with the landlord's written approval under the rental agreement. A person living there without a rental agreement or approved sublease is not a tenant; someone staying temporarily with a tenant is a guest. Because an oral agreement counts as a rental agreement, an occupant who reaches an agreement with the landlord can become a tenant even without a written lease. |
|---|---|
| Removing a roommate or subtenant | A tenant may use Montana's unlawful detainer procedures to recover possession from an undertenant (subtenant) who unlawfully stays. A periodic or at-will occupancy must first be ended by proper written notice (at least 30 days for month-to-month, 7 days for week-to-week, at least 1 month for a tenancy at will) before a court case is filed. Notice for tenancy at will: https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0700/chapter_0270/part_0010/section_0040/0700-0270-0010-0040.html. Subletting against the lease terms can itself end the main lease (70-27-108). |
| Guests who won't leave | A guest is a person staying with a tenant for a temporary period defined in the rental agreement, or, if the agreement is silent, no more than 7 days, unless the landlord gives written consent to a longer stay. A person who cannot produce authorization to occupy (a written rental agreement, permission from the landlord, or permission from a tenant as that tenant's guest, with verbal permission counting only if confirmed) is an unauthorized person or trespasser and may be removed immediately by law enforcement at the owner's request. Guest definition: https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0700/chapter_0240/part_0010/section_0030/0700-0240-0010-0030.html. An owner who knowingly gives police false information must indemnify the agency. |
| Renting a room in your own home (lodgers) | No separate lodger statute. Montana's landlord-tenant act does not exclude lodgers, roomers, or people renting a room in the owner's home; it defines a 'roomer' (a person in a unit that shares a bathroom or kitchen facilities with other occupants) and generally covers them. Exclusions include transient hotel/motel occupancy and occupancy by an employee whose housing depends on the job. |
| Tenancy at will | A tenancy or other estate at will, however created, may be ended by the landlord giving the tenant written notice to leave within a period of not less than 1 month, stated in the notice. Until that notice period runs, a tenant at will is not a holdover. Tenancies described in § 70-15-202(4) are not tenancies at will. |
| Hotel and extended-stay guests | Transient occupancy in a hotel or motel is excluded from Montana's Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (unless the arrangement was created to avoid the Act). No statute sets a specific number of days after which a hotel guest becomes a tenant. Whether a long-term stay is still 'transient' depends on the facts. Source: Mont. Code Ann. § 70-24-104 |
Never remove someone by changing the locks or taking their belongings: if the person has become a tenant, only a court can order them out. If there is violence or a threat, call 911 and ask about a protective order.
Templates
Montana eviction laws · Free legal help in Montana · Roommate rules in other states
General legal information, not legal advice. Laws change and local rules can differ; check the linked official source or talk to a lawyer about your situation.