Housing & Tenant · Landlord Entry
Landlord Entry Notice in Montana
How much warning a landlord must give before entering your home in Montana, the hours entry is allowed, and what to do if they walk in unannounced, cited to the statute.
The rules and your rights in Montana
The notice, the allowed hours, the reasons a landlord may enter, and what to do about an unlawful entry.
| Advance notice | 24 hours before entry |
| Allowed entry hours | Reasonable times. The statute does not fix clock hours. |
| Reasons a landlord may enter | To inspect the premises, make necessary or agreed repairs, decorations, alterations, or improvements, supply necessary or agreed services, and exhibit the unit to prospective or actual purchasers, mortgagees, tenants, workers, or contractors. |
| Emergency entry | A landlord may enter without notice in an emergency, and also where giving notice is impracticable. Both escape routes are in the text, and guides routinely report only the first. |
| Local ordinance | The statute sets no local carve-out. A city ordinance could add a rule, so check your local code where you live. |
| Statute | Mont. Code Ann. §70-24-312 |
If the landlord enters unlawfully
The statute says a landlord may not abuse the right of access or use it to harass you. No dollar figure appears in this section, so the anti-harassment language is the hook, and a local legal aid office can explain how to enforce it.
What you can do right now
Concrete, neutral steps if a landlord keeps entering your Montana home without proper notice. This is legal information, not legal advice.
- Watch for a note on the door
Montana lets a landlord give notice by posting it on your main entry door, so you may not get a call or text. Check your door, and treat a posted note stating the time and purpose as valid notice.
- Watch the impracticable exception
Montana excuses notice not only in an emergency but where giving it is impracticable. If a landlord claims it, ask why notice could not reasonably be given, and keep the answer in writing.
- Keep a dated log
Record each entry: the date, the time, the reason, and how much notice you got. A log is your evidence if entries start skipping the 24-hour rule.
- Get local help
For repeated improper entries, the statute bars abuse of access. Contact a local Montana legal aid office to learn your options. Search for legal aid in your area.
This is general legal information, not legal advice. Read your own lease and check for a local ordinance, since either can change what applies to your home.
What Montana renters get wrong
The interesting thing about Montana here is the contrast with its own eviction statute. On eviction Montana is one of the most specific states in the country, naming eight separate grounds in a single section, including unauthorized pets, unauthorized occupants, and verbal abuse of the landlord. On entry it writes the plain uniform-act baseline and stops: 24 hours' notice, entry at reasonable times, and the familiar list of purposes, under Mont. Code 70-24-312. The same legislature drafted both, which is a useful reminder that a state reputation for being detailed or minimal does not carry across topics. Two details are worth flagging. Montana excuses notice not just in an emergency but where giving it is impracticable, a softer exception guides often miss. And a 2021 amendment lets a landlord give notice by posting it on the main entry door, which puts Montana alongside Alabama and North Dakota as states where the landlord does not have to reach you, only your door.
Common questions
Does the Montana 24 hours have to be written?
The statute sets 24 hours notice and expressly allows posting it on your main entry door, so a written posted note counts. It does not require the notice to be written in every case, but the door-posting route means you should check your door.
What does impracticable mean in Montana entry law?
Mont. Code 70-24-312 excuses notice in an emergency or where it is impracticable to give it. Impracticable is not defined, but it is a lower bar than emergency, so a landlord may rely on it for urgent but non-emergency situations.
What counts as a reasonable time to enter in Montana?
The statute requires entry at reasonable times but does not fix the hours. Normal daytime hours for an announced, allowed purpose are generally reasonable, while late-night or repeated entries generally are not, absent an emergency.
What can I do about repeated entries in Montana?
The statute bars a landlord from abusing the right of access or using it to harass you. Keep a dated log, object in writing citing Mont. Code 70-24-312, and ask a local legal aid office how to enforce the limit.
Not legal advicePlainStatute provides plain-language summaries of public law for general information only. This is not legal advice. Statutes change; always confirm current requirements with the official source linked above before acting.