Montana Roommate Agreement
The Montana rules that shape the document: the 7-day guest cap on an unadded roommate, the unauthorized-person removal tool, and why a named co-tenant still needs a formal eviction.
Find out where you stand in Montana
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Introduction
A roommate agreement is a private contract between co-tenants, not a lease, and it does not bind the landlord or change what the lease says. In Montana, the biggest difference from most states is structural: a roommate who is never added to the written rental agreement is not a subtenant with any independent rights, but merely a time-limited 'guest,' capped at 7 days unless the landlord consents in writing to a longer stay. Once that window lapses, the property owner, not the roommate's co-tenant, can have that person removed by police as an unauthorized person, with no court eviction. A roommate who IS named on the lease has none of that exposure; removing them still takes a formal process. Montana also has no statute on splitting a security deposit or setting joint-and-several rent liability among roommates, so this agreement is what governs both. Everything else, the rent split, chores, guests, and quiet hours, is covered by the national template.
Key Things to Know
- 1
A roommate a tenant brings in but never adds to the written rental agreement is, by default, just a 'guest' in Montana, capped at 7 days unless the landlord gives written consent (or later-verifiable authorization) to a longer stay (Mont. Code Ann. 70-24-103(8); 70-24-113(2)-(3)). There is no statutory middle category of subtenant with independent rights.
- 2
Once that guest period lapses without landlord authorization, Montana law lets the property owner or an authorized agent, not a co-tenant acting alone, treat that roommate as an 'unauthorized person or trespasser' and have law enforcement remove them immediately, with no court eviction (Mont. Code Ann. 70-24-113).
- 3
That removal tool only reaches a roommate who was never added to the lease and whose stay was never authorized. If the roommate IS a named co-tenant on the lease, Montana has no special mechanism letting one co-tenant remove another; it takes a private agreement between them or the landlord pursuing the ordinary Title 70, chapter 24 termination process against that tenant.
- 4
No Montana statute gives a tenant an affirmative right to add a roommate over the landlord's objection. Mont. Code Ann. 70-24-305 requires the landlord's written consent before a tenant may transfer possession or sublet at all.
- 5
No Montana statute sets a default joint-and-several rule for rent among co-tenants. Liability is set by the lease itself, so this agreement should state each roommate's payment share explicitly rather than assume Montana law fills the gap.
- 6
No Montana statute addresses how roommates split a security deposit refund; Title 70, chapter 25 is scoped entirely to the landlord-tenant relationship, so the deposit split is a private matter this agreement should set out.
- 7
Montana's fair housing law exempts an owner who lives in their own single-family residence and rents no more than 3 sleeping rooms from the housing-discrimination law entirely, and Montana's protected-class list adds marital status, age, and creed beyond the federal list.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Roommate Agreement in Montana, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Roommate Agreement guide walks through them.
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Montana Requirements for Roommate Agreement
Montana 7-Day Guest Cap for an Unadded Roommate
A roommate not named on the written rental agreement is, by default, a 'guest' under Montana law, capped at 7 days unless the landlord gives written consent, or verifiable authorization, to a longer stay (Mont. Code Ann. 70-24-103(8); 70-24-113(2)-(3)). State clearly whether any roommate not on the lease has landlord authorization to stay longer.
Montana Unauthorized-Person Removal Is the Owner's Tool, Not the Co-Tenant's
Once a roommate's guest period lapses without landlord authorization, only the property owner or an authorized agent, not a co-tenant acting alone, may have that roommate treated as an unauthorized person and removed by law enforcement with no court eviction (Mont. Code Ann. 70-24-113). Do not draft language suggesting a roommate can invoke this directly.
Montana Named Co-Tenant Requires Formal Removal Process
If the roommate to be removed is a named co-tenant on the lease, Montana has no statute letting one co-tenant remove another unilaterally. Removal requires a private agreement between the co-tenants or the landlord pursuing the ordinary Title 70, chapter 24, part 4 termination process against that tenant.
Montana Has No Default Rule on Joint Rent Liability
No Montana statute sets a default joint-and-several rule for rent among co-tenants. Draft the payment clause to state each roommate's share explicitly rather than relying on an assumed Montana default; liability to the landlord is set by the lease itself.
Montana Has No Statutory Deposit-Apportionment Rule
Montana's security deposit statutes (Title 70, chapter 25) are scoped to the landlord-tenant relationship and do not address dividing a deposit among roommates. The agreement should set out how a shared deposit is divided when a roommate moves out.
Montana Owner-Occupied Sleeping-Room Exemption and Added Protected Classes
Montana's fair housing law exempts an owner who lives in their own single-family residence and rents no more than 3 sleeping rooms from the housing-discrimination provisions entirely (Mont. Code Ann. 49-2-305(1)-(2)). Outside that exemption, Montana's protected-class list adds marital status, age, and creed beyond the federal Fair Housing Act.