A Montana 14 Day Notice To Comply or Vacate is a letter which complies with state legal standards to begin eviction against a tenant for a lease violation, such as failing to maintain the premises in a clean and sanitary manner. The tenant must take appropriate corrective action move out within fourteen (14) calendar days of receiving notice.
When To Use a Montana 14 Day Notice To Comply or Vacate
A Montana 14 Day Notice to Comply or Vacate begins the eviction process for the following tenant violations:
- Failure to maintain the rental unit in a clean and sanitary manner
- Interference with the quiet enjoyment of neighbors
- Causing minor damage to the premises
- Other lease violations
Some types of Montana lease termination notice may allow different reasons for termination, or different notice periods. This may also apply to an eviction notice issued because of a lease or legal violation.
How To Write a Montana 14 Day Notice To Comply or Vacate
To help ensure the legal compliance of a Notice To Comply or Vacate:
- Use the full name of the receiving parties, and address of record, if known
- Specify the termination date of the lease or tenancy
- Specify the basis for terminating the tenancy, and the corrective action(s) necessary to avoid termination
- Fill in the full address of the rental premises
- Provide updated/current address and phone number information
- Print name and sign the notice
- Complete the certificate of service by indicating the date and method of notice delivery, along with printed name and signature
It is easy to lose an otherwise justified legal action because of improper notice. Check carefully to ensure enough time after notice is delivered, not when it’s sent.
How To Serve a Montana 14 Day Notice To Comply or Vacate
Montana landlords may deliver a Notice To Comply or Vacate by any method which results in actual notification of the other party. State law gives a presumption of legal validity to the following methods:
- Hand delivery to the tenant
- Delivery by certified mail, or by first class mail with a certificate of mailing
- Delivery of electronic notice (by email), if the tenant has provided an email address in the rental agreement
Electronic notice is considered delivered when the tenant replies (other than an automatic reply), or when the system generates a read receipt. Mailed notice extends a notice period by three (3) calendar days, to account for variable delivery times.
Sources
- 1 MT Code § 70-24-422
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The tenant shall vacate the premises on a date specified in the notice not less than the minimum number of days after receipt of the notice provided for in this section. The rental agreement terminates and the tenant shall vacate the premises as provided in the notice, subject to the following:
(a) If the noncompliance is remediable by repairs, the payment of damages,or written approval of the landlord and the tenant remedies the noncompliance before the date specified in the notice, the rental agreement does not terminate.
(b) If the noncompliance involves an unauthorized pet, the notice period is 3 days.
(c) If the noncompliance involves unauthorized persons residing in the rental unit, the notice period is 3 days.
(d) If the noncompliance is not listed in subsection (1)(b), (1)(c), or (1)(f), the notice period is 14 days.
(e) If substantially the same act or omission that constituted a prior noncompliance of which notice was given recurs within 6 months, the landlord may terminate the rental agreement upon at least 5 days’ written notice specifying the noncompliance and the date of the termination of the rental agreement.
(f) If the noncompliance is from verbal abuse of the landlord by a tenant, the landlord may terminate the rental agreement on giving 3 days’ written notice. If the tenant adequately remedies the noncompliance, the rental agreement does not terminate.
Source Link - 2 MT Code § 70-24-425
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If there is noncompliance by the tenant with 70-24-321 affecting health and safety that can be remedied by repair, replacement of a damaged item, or cleaning and the tenant fails to comply as promptly as conditions require in case of emergency or within 14 days after written notice by the landlord specifying the breach and requesting that the tenant remedy it within that period of time, the landlord may enter the dwelling unit and cause the work to be done in a workmanlike manner and submit an itemized bill for the actual and reasonable cost, the fair and reasonable cost, or the fair and reasonable value thereof as rent on the next date periodic rent is due or, if the rental agreement has terminated, for immediate payment.
Source Link - 3 Mont. Code § 70-24-108(1)
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Source Link
A person has notice of a fact if any of the following is true:
(a) the person has actual knowledge of it; (b) in the case of a landlord, it is delivered at the place of business of the landlord through which the rental agreement was made; (c) in the case of a tenant or a landlord, it is transmitted to an electronic mail address provided by the tenant or the landlord in the rental agreement. Notice by electronic mail is complete on receipt of a read receipt generated by an electronic mail system or an electronic mail reply other than an automatically generated electronic mail reply. (d) in the case of a landlord or tenant, it is delivered in hand to the landlord or tenant or mailed with a certificate of mailing or by certified mail to the person at the place indicated by the person as the place for receipt of the communication or, in the absence of a designation, to the person’s last-known address. If notice is made with a certificate of mailing or by certified mail, service of the notice is considered to have been made on the date 3 days after the date of mailing.
