When the Landlord Will Not Fix It

• The landlord makes repairs and does what is necessary to keep the premises fit and habitable.
• The landlord keeps the electrical, plumbing, heating and other facilities supplied in good and safe working order.
• The landlord supplies running water, reasonable hot water at all times, and reasonable heat between October 1 and May 1.

• §MCA 70-24-303StatuteLandlord to maintain premises -- agreement that tenant perform duties -- limitation of landlord's liability for failure of smoke detector or carbon monoxide detectorOpens mca.legmt.gov ↗

For a failure affecting health and safety, the tenant may give written notice that the lease ends on a date at least 30 days after it is received unless the breach is remedied in 14 days. In an emergency, the tenant may end the lease if the landlord does not remedy it within 3 working days of written notice.

• After notice and a reasonable time with no repair, the tenant may make repairs costing no more than 1 month's rent and deduct them from the rent.
• In an emergency, those repairs are made only by someone qualified.
• If the same breach recurs within 6 months, the tenant may end the lease on 14 days' written notice.

• §MCA 70-24-406StatuteFailure of landlord to maintain premises -- tenant's remediesOpens mca.legmt.gov ↗

In a landlord's suit over unpaid rent, the tenant may counterclaim for what the landlord owes, and the court may have the rent paid into court meanwhile.

• §MCA 70-24-421StatuteAction for nonpayment of rent -- tenant's counterclaimOpens mca.legmt.gov ↗