Hines v. Topher Realty LLC

In this landlord-tenant dispute, Landlord complied with the requirements of the Montana Residential Tenants’ Security Deposits Act prior to deducting costs of cleaning from the vacating Tenant’s security deposit, and therefore, Tenant was entitled to a return of her security deposit.Tenant filed an action in justice court asserting that Landlord improperly withheld a portion of her security deposit that the Landlord spent to clean the vacated property, in violation of Mont. Code Ann. 70-25-201(3). The justice court found that Landlord had violated the statute by failing to provide Tenant written notice of cleaning deficiencies or twenty-four hours to clean or fix any issues found during the inspection. The district court reversed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that Landlord complied with the requirements of state law before deducing the cost of cleaning from Tenant’s security deposit. View "Hines v. Topher Realty LLC" on Justia Law