Does a landlord have to pay interest on a security deposit in Montana?
Montana requires no interest on a residential security deposit, and its deposit chapter does not mention interest, accounts, or banks at all.
Cited to Mont. Code Ann. § 70-25-201 (security deposit; deductions authorized) and 2 more cited sources · Verified August 28, 2026
Title 70, chapter 25 is nine sections long and covers five things: what counts as a security deposit, what may be deducted from it, a written list of any rent due and damage and cleaning charges delivered with the balance within 30 days of the tenancy ending or the premises being surrendered and accepted, whichever comes first — within 10 days where there is no damage, no cleaning required, and no rent or utilities unpaid — the loss of all deduction rights if the landlord never provides that list, and liability for anything wrongfully withheld. Not one of the nine sections says where the money is held, whether it earns anything, or who gets what it earns. The chapter reaches as widely as it can: § 70-25-102 applies it to all rentals of dwellings under the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act and under the mobile home park chapter alike, so park spaces get the same answer as apartments. And § 70-25-103 makes any lease provision contrary to the chapter invalid and any tenant waiver invalid — which cuts nothing here, because there is no interest duty for a lease to waive.
Montana deposit interest at a glance
| Interest owed to the tenant | No — no statute addresses it |
|---|---|
| How the rate is set | No rate exists — there is no interest duty |
| Current figure | No published figure exists |
| Rate rules | No rate rules — no duty exists |
| Accrual and payment | No payment duty exists |
| Who and what is covered | No statutory conditions stated — see the summary and notes |
| Statute controls where or how the deposit is held | No statute addresses how the deposit is held |
| Interest-bearing account required | No statute addresses whether the account must bear interest |
| Custody rules | No statute addresses custody of the deposit |
| Penalty for violation | No statutory penalty reaches an interest violation specifically |
| Local rules | None noted for this state |
Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, Montana Security Deposit Interest Laws (verified August 28, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/deposit-interest/montana/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified). Everything above is cited in the citations section below.
Check the verified Montana answer — and every state and city that differs — in the deposit interest calculator — free, no signup, built on the same verified Montana law as this page.
Notes and caveats
- Nine sections, and none of them names an account — The chapter's sections are 70-25-101 (definitions), -102 (application), -103 (waivers and contrary provisions invalid), -201 (deductions), -202 (list of damages and refund), -203 (forfeiture of deduction rights), -204 (wrongful withholding), -205 (departing tenant's failure to furnish a new address), and -206 (statement of condition at the start of the lease). The words interest, account, trust, escrow, and bank appear in none of them.
- One rule for apartments and park spaces — Section 70-25-102 says the chapter 'applies to all rentals of dwellings subject to Title 70, chapter 24, or Title 70, chapter 33' — the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act and the mobile home park law. Montana is unusual in giving both kinds of tenancy the same deposit rule; most of its neighbours split them.
- The remedy is the amount withheld, not a multiple of it — Under § 70-25-204(1) a landlord who wrongfully withholds a deposit or any part of it is liable 'for an amount equal to the sum determined to have been wrongfully withheld or deducted,' with attorney fees to the prevailing party at the court's discretion and the burden of proving tenant-caused damage on the landlord. There is no doubling. Separately, § 70-25-203 forfeits all rights to withhold for damages or cleaning if the required written list never arrives.
- The chapter is current, and no 2026 amendment is possible — The published Montana Code Annotated 2025 already carries the 2025 session: §§ 70-25-201 and 70-25-202 each end with an amendment from chapter 656 of the 2025 laws. Montana's Legislature holds regular sessions only in odd-numbered years, so there is no 2026 regular session for an amendment to hide in.
Common questions: Montana deposit interest
Each answer is the verified value from the table above, restated as a direct answer. Free to quote with a link to this page.
- What is the Montana security deposit interest rate right now?
- No published figure exists.
- When must a landlord pay or credit deposit interest in Montana?
- No payment duty exists.
- Does the deposit have to be in an interest-bearing account in Montana?
- No statute addresses whether the account must bear interest.
- What happens if a landlord does not pay deposit interest in Montana?
- No statutory penalty reaches an interest violation specifically.
- Do any cities or counties in Montana have their own deposit-interest rules?
- None noted for this state.
Citations
- Mont. Code Ann. § 70-25-201 (security deposit; deductions authorized) (verified 2026) Official source
- Mont. Code Ann. title 70, ch. 25 (Residential Tenants' Security Deposits; the complete nine-section chapter) · §§ 70-25-101 through 70-25-206 (verified 2026) Official source
- Mont. Code Ann. § 70-24-112 (application of the security-deposit laws to the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act) (verified 2026) Official source
How this record was verified: Direct read of the whole of the Montana Code Annotated 2025, title 70, chapter 25 (Residential Tenants' Security Deposits), on the Legislative Services Division's code site — all nine sections, 70-25-101 through 70-25-206, read in full and searched for interest, account, trust, escrow, bank, accrual and investment terms, none of which occurs anywhere in the chapter, including its headings and history lines. Title 70, chapter 24 (the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act of 1977) was checked heading by heading across all four of its parts for any deposit-holding provision, and its one security-deposit section, 70-24-112, read in full. Currency taken from the chapter's own history lines, which carry the 2025 session amendments to 70-25-201 and 70-25-202.