Montana Mobile Home Park Lease Law: What Operators Need to Include

What must a mobile home lot lease include in Montana?

If you operate a manufactured or mobile home community in Montana, your lot leases are governed by the Residential Mobile Home Lot Rental Act, M.C.A. Title 70, chapter 33. It sets what your rental agreement may contain, what it may never contain, what you must disclose to the tenant, and how you may adopt and enforce community rules.

At a minimum, plan for four things in every tenancy: a rental agreement that states rent, payment terms, and the length of the term (M.C.A. 70-33-201); a written disclosure of who manages the community and who owns it, delivered at or before move-in (70-33-301); an agreement free of the clauses the statute prohibits (70-33-202); and a rulebook adopted and noticed the way the statute requires (70-33-311 and 70-33-313).

Because the Act is remedial, its defaults fill any gap your lease leaves open. If your agreement is silent on rent timing or term, the statutory defaults in 70-33-201(2) control, including a default month-to-month tenancy, so spell out your intended terms rather than relying on silence.

The rental agreement and required disclosures (Section 70-33-201, Section 70-33-301)

Section 70-33-201(1) is permissive: you and the tenant may include any terms and conditions not prohibited by chapter 33 or other law. Where your agreement is silent, subsection (2) supplies defaults, the tenant pays the rental value you set for use and occupancy of the lot; rent is payable at your address or by electronic funds transfer to a designated account; periodic rent is due at the start of each month; rent is apportionable day to day; and the tenancy is month to month.

Termination without cause carries a built-in remedy: under 70-33-201(2)(f), if either party ends the agreement without cause before the term expires, the aggrieved party may recover up to one month's rent, or a stated amount in the lease that does not exceed one month's rent. You also may not tack on a fee based on how the tenant pays, except to recoup an actual electronic bank fee you incur (70-33-201(4)).

Disclosure is mandatory and separate from the lease itself. Section 70-33-301 requires you to disclose to the tenant in writing, at or before the commencement of the tenancy, the name and address of the person authorized to manage the premises and of the owner (or the owner's agent for service of process and receiving notices and demands). That information must be kept current and binds any successor landlord, owner, or manager. A person other than the landlord who fails to disclose becomes the landlord's agent for service and for performing landlord obligations, a real exposure if you use a management company and skip the notice.

One term-length trap: if an unsigned agreement is later given legal effect because you accepted rent or the tenant took possession, any term longer than one year is effective for only one year (70-33-203(3)). Get the lease signed and delivered by both sides.

Clauses your Montana lot lease may never contain (Section 70-33-202)

Section 70-33-202 is a hard list of prohibited provisions. Your rental agreement may not require a party to waive or forego rights or remedies under chapter 33; may not authorize any person to confess judgment on a claim arising out of the agreement; and may not have a party agree to exculpation or limitation of liability for the other party's purposeful misconduct or negligence, or to indemnify the other party for that liability or related costs or attorney fees.

Subsection (2) closes a common loophole: no rental agreement or related document may permit you to receive rent free of the obligation to comply with your maintenance duties under 70-33-303. In practice, you cannot draft around your duty to maintain the premises by burying a waiver in the lease or an addendum.

Review your form lease and every addendum against this list before you use them. Boilerplate carried over from a general residential lease often contains jury-trial waivers, blanket indemnities, or hold-harmless language that is unenforceable, and using it invites a tenant challenge.

Adopting and enforcing community rules (Section 70-33-311, Section 70-33-313)

You may adopt rules on the tenant's use and occupancy under 70-33-311, but a rule binds a tenant only if it clears six tests: it promotes occupant convenience, safety, or welfare, protects your property from abusive use, or fairly distributes services; it is reasonably related to that purpose; it applies to all occupants fairly; it is explicit enough to fairly inform the tenant what to do or not do; it is not a device to evade your own obligations; and the tenant had notice of it when entering the agreement or when it was adopted.

Form and notice matter. Rules must be in writing and given to each current tenant and each new tenant on arrival (70-33-311(2)). If you adopt a rule after signing that substantially modifies the agreement, it is not valid until 30 days' written notice for a month-to-month tenancy (70-33-311(3)).

Section 70-33-313 governs lot and common-area rules specifically. A lot rule must follow 70-33-311, may not be unreasonable, and, if it does not apply uniformly to all tenants of a similar class, is rebuttably presumed unfair. Common-area facilities must stay open or available at all reasonable hours, and you must post the hours of any common recreational facility at the facility. Uniform, written, well-noticed rules are your best defense against an unenforceability challenge.

Lease requirements at a glance in Montana

• Governing law
  Montana Residential Mobile Home Lot Rental Act, M.C.A. Title 70, chapter 33.
• What the agreement may contain
  Any terms not prohibited by chapter 33 or other law; state rent, payment method, and term (70-33-201(1)).
• Statutory defaults if silent
  Landlord-set rent, payable at landlord's address or by EFT, due at the start of each month, month-to-month tenancy (70-33-201(2)).
• Termination-without-cause remedy
  Aggrieved party may recover up to one month's rent, or a lease-stated amount not exceeding one month's rent (70-33-201(2)(f)).
• Payment-type fees
  No extra fee based on payment type except to recoup an actual electronic bank fee (70-33-201(4)).
• Mandatory disclosure
  Written name and address of the manager and the owner/agent for service, given at or before move-in and kept current (70-33-301).
• Prohibited clauses
  No waiver of chapter rights, no confession of judgment, no exculpation or indemnity for the other party's misconduct or negligence (70-33-202(1)).
• No contracting out of maintenance
  No agreement or related document may collect rent free of the 70-33-303 maintenance duty (70-33-202(2)).
• Rule validity
  Rules must meet the six-part test, be in writing, and be given to each tenant and each new tenant on arrival (70-33-311).
• Rule changes
  A later rule that substantially modifies the agreement needs 30 days' written notice for month-to-month tenancies (70-33-311(3)).
• Lot and common-area rules
  Rules may not be unreasonable; non-uniform rules are presumed unfair; recreational-facility hours must be posted (70-33-313).
• Term-length limit on unsigned agreements
  An agreement given effect by accepting rent or possession is capped at one year if it states a longer term (70-33-203(3)).

Operator best practices in Montana

• State rent, method, and term in writing
  Do not rely on 70-33-201(2) defaults; spell out the amount, payment method, and lease length so the month-to-month default does not override your intent.
• Deliver the manager/owner disclosure at move-in
  Provide the written 70-33-301 disclosure at or before the tenancy starts and update it whenever management or ownership changes; an undisclosed manager becomes your agent by default.
• Audit your lease against Section 70-33-202
  Strip out any waiver of chapter rights, confession-of-judgment, exculpation, or indemnity-for-fault language, and any clause that collects rent while evading 70-33-303 maintenance duties.
• Keep a single written, uniform rulebook
  Draft rules that pass the 70-33-311 six-part test, apply them uniformly to avoid the 70-33-313 unfairness presumption, and hand a copy to every current and new tenant.
• Give 30 days' written notice for rule changes
  Before enforcing a rule that substantially modifies an existing month-to-month agreement, provide the 30-day written notice required by 70-33-311(3).
• Post common-area and recreational hours
  Keep common facilities open at reasonable hours and post the hours of any recreational facility at the facility, as 70-33-313(2) requires.
• Get every lease signed and delivered by both parties
  Avoid the one-year cap in 70-33-203(3) by ensuring both landlord and tenant sign and deliver the agreement before you rely on a multi-year term.
• Build a relationship with a Montana MHP attorney
  Have counsel who knows chapter 33 review your form lease, disclosure packet, and rulebook, and consult them before adopting new rules or terminating a tenancy.