A reasonably complete set of remedies. Written notice starts a 14-day cure period with termination at 30 days — but there is a much faster emergency route: if the non-compliance amounts to an emergency and the landlord has not fixed it within THREE WORKING DAYS of a written notice stating both the situation and your intention to terminate, you may end the agreement. Repair-and-deduct is available up to one month's rent after notice and a reasonable time, and for emergency repairs Montana requires the work be done only by a person qualified to make them — so check the license before you hire. Actual damages and injunctive relief sit on top of all of this rather than instead of it.
Who pays for treatment
Landlord under the maintenance duty
Landlord response deadline
14 days to remedy, 3 working days in an emergency
Disclosure before lease
No
What the law actually says
No bed bug provision, and no pest provision of any kind — confirmed against the Montana Code Annotated. Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, Mont. Code Ann. tit. 70 ch. 24. § 70-24-303 (landlord obligations) — comply with applicable building, housing and health codes materially affecting health and safety; make all repairs necessary to keep the premises fit and habitable; maintain common areas in a clean and safe condition; maintain electrical, plumbing, heating, ventilating, air conditioning and other systems in good and safe working order; supply running and reasonable hot water. CORRECTION — CLAIM DISPROVED: a pest-control company page states § 70-24-303 requires keeping the property free from vermin and rodents. It does not. The section as published by the Montana Code Annotated enumerates the landlord's duties at (1)(a) to (g) — building and housing codes, fit and habitable, common areas, building systems and appliances, waste receptacles, water and heat, and carbon monoxide and smoke detectors. Vermin, rodents and pests appear nowhere in it. An infestation is reached through (1)(b), fit and habitable, and through code compliance at (1)(a). Note also that (1)(b) carries its own exception — the duty applies 'except when it is the tenant's responsibility to maintain the dwelling unit pursuant to 70-24-321' — and that (1)(e), waste receptacles, applies 'unless otherwise provided in a rental agreement', so refuse removal can be shifted by lease even though the habitability duty cannot. § 70-24-406 (failure of landlord to maintain premises — tenant's remedies), verified against the Montana Code Annotated: (1) where there is non-compliance with § 70-24-303 affecting health and safety, the tenant may (a) deliver written notice specifying the acts and omissions constituting the breach and stating that the rental agreement will terminate on a date not less than 30 days after receipt if the breach is not remedied in 14 days — and IF THE NON-COMPLIANCE RESULTS IN A CASE OF EMERGENCY and the landlord fails to remedy within 3 working days after written notice of the situation and of the tenant's intention to terminate, the tenant may terminate. The agreement does not terminate where the breach is remediable by repairs, payment of damages or otherwise and the landlord adequately remedies it in time. REPAIR AND DEDUCT: the tenant may make repairs costing no more than one month's rent and deduct the cost from rent, having given notice and allowed a reasonable time; where the repair is required in a case of emergency and the landlord has not acted, the tenant may have repairs made ONLY BY A PERSON QUALIFIED TO MAKE THEM — which for an infestation means a licensed pest control operator, so verify the license first. (2) the tenant may recover actual damages and obtain injunctive relief for any non-compliance with the rental agreement or § 70-24-303; (3) that remedy is IN ADDITION TO the rights under subsection (1); (4) on termination the landlord returns all security recoverable under ch. 25. History: enacted 1977, ch. 313 § 26; amended ch. 222. Quiet enjoyment: § 70-24-305. Retaliation prohibited: § 70-24-431. Consumer help: Montana Legal Services Association, mtlsa.org, (406) 442-9830.
Hiring someone in Montana? Check they are actually licensed for structural pest control before you pay a deposit. Verify a Montana exterminator →
What to do, in order
Photograph everything before you touch it
Live insects, shed skins, dark staining along the mattress seam. Timestamps are the evidence.
Notify the landlord in writing
Email or certified letter, never a phone call alone. Written notice is what starts the clock in every state that has one.
Do not throw out furniture yet
Discarded items can't be inspected, and moving them spreads the infestation down the hallway.
Let the deadline above run
Escalating before it expires generally forfeits the remedy.
Escalate to the housing agency, then to court
An independent inspection report is worth more than your own photographs. Rent withholding rules vary sharply — check the section above before you try it.
Read it yourself
Everything above was written by reading the sections named in the citation, not by summarizing another summary. You should not take our word for it — open the statute and check. Look up the section numbers quoted above.
The state's own legislature or code site. Search it for the section numbers quoted above — they are the whole basis for this page.
Last checked against the Montana code: . Statutes change every legislative session — if you are reading this long after that date, open the cited sections yourself before relying on them.
Not legal advice. This is a plain-language reference to publicly available statutes, verified against the Montana code. Liability turns on your lease, your local ordinance and your specific facts. Talk to a tenant attorney or legal aid before withholding rent or filing anything.