Tenant Screening in Montana

FCRA-compliant tenant screening for landlords in Montana — serving Billings, Missoula, Great Falls, Bozeman, Helena and every other Montana market. Reports start at $24.99 with no subscription. Montana-specific reporting-law overlays are applied automatically before the landlord sees any record.

What landlords in Montana can include in a screening report

• Credit report and score — TransUnion VantageScore plus tradeline detail.
• Criminal background — nationwide criminal record search with Montana-specific look-back limits applied.
• Housing records — sealed, dismissed, and time-barred housing-court records filtered before they reach you.
• Income verification — optional payroll + bank-link verification via Pinwheel.
• AI landlord reference call — optional AI agent calls the applicant’s prior landlord and produces a structured summary.

Housing records reporting in Montana

Federal FCRA 7-year limit applies.

Statutory citation: 15 U.S.C. § 1681c

How reporting limits interact with what you may lawfully consider is covered in what landlords can screen for and the investigative consumer report explainer.

Criminal-record reporting in Montana

Federal FCRA 7-year limit applies for non-conviction items.

Fair housing in Montana

The Montana Human Rights Act applies in addition to the federal Fair Housing Act. Source of income is not a statewide protected class in Montana; check your municipal ordinance, which may add this protection locally.

What Montana law limits when you screen and rent

These are the statutory limits most likely to affect a Montana landlord at the application stage, compiled from state statutes and reviewed August 2026. Where a limit could not be tied to a specific statute it is left out rather than estimated. Statutes change and local ordinances often add limits your state does not — this is a starting point for your own check, not legal advice, and not a substitute for counsel licensed in Montana.

Rental application / screening fee

Montana sets no dollar cap on rental application fees, though a property manager of four or more units must refund any amount charged for screening services not actually performed. Citation: Mont. Code Ann. § 37-56-109 (refund duty only; no maximum)

Security deposit limit

Montana sets no statewide maximum on residential security deposits; state law regulates only permitted deductions, itemization, and refunds. Citation: Mont. Code Ann. §§ 70-25-101 to 70-25-206 (no maximum)

Criminal history (fair-chance housing)

Montana has no statewide fair-chance housing law; criminal history is not a protected class under Montana fair-housing law. Citation: No Montana statute

Local ordinances frequently add limits your state statute does not — check your city and county before you set an application fee or a deposit.

How RentalApplication.ai works for Montana landlords

1. You start a screening at rentalapplication.ai/apply. Enter the applicant’s name and email; pick the reports you want.
2. The applicant gets an email with a secure link, completes the application, and authorizes the screening (FCRA § 1681b(b)(2)).
3. The applicant pays at the moment of submission (or you can land-lord-pay).
4. Reports are delivered to you in minutes (credit) to a few hours (housing/criminal). State-law overlays are applied before the landlord sees any record.
5. If you decline based on the report, we generate the FCRA § 1681m adverse-action notice for you.

This page is an informational summary, not legal advice. State and local landlord-tenant law changes frequently — verify against current statute and local counsel before relying on this content. RentalApplication.ai is a reseller of consumer reports under FCRA § 1681a(u) and does not make tenancy decisions. The landlord (the “end user”) is the party who decides whether to approve or deny an application.