A Montana rental application tells you who will live in your rental, where they have lived and how they will pay the rent. When every applicant answers the same questions, you can compare renters fairly and show that you did.
This guide covers what to ask, how to pre-screen leads, the federal and Montana laws that apply, application fees, assistance animals, and how to approve or deny an applicant.
What should a Montana rental application ask?
An application collects personal and financial details, so ask only what you need to apply your written rental criteria. Your Montana rental application should ask for:
- Applicant and co-signer names, email, phone and date of birth,
- A Social Security number, entered securely,
- The desired move-in date and everyone who will live in the home,
- The current address and current landlord’s contact details,
- Employer, job title and monthly income,
- Any housing voucher or rental assistance,
- Pets, assistance animals, vehicles and smoking, and
- Past evictions and consent to screening.
The Rentari application covers all of this in six short sections. Renters can upload a pay stub, photo ID, bank statement or reference letter, and you choose which background questions to ask, with up to four of your own.
See it first: open the whole application before you send it.
Pre-screen your leads
Not every lead fits your rental. A short pre-screener shows who meets your basic criteria before anyone spends time or money on a full application.
Send the Rentari pre-screener from Leads. Your Montana pre-screener asks every lead for:
- Monthly household income,
- Desired move-in date,
- How many people would live there,
- Pets, and what kind,
- Smoking, and
- A self-reported credit band.
When a lead’s answers fit, invite them to apply. Remember: pre-screener answers are what the renter tells you, so verify them with the application and screening.
Federal application laws
Federal law sets the baseline for every screening decision in Montana. These five laws shape how you screen applicants:
Fair Housing Act (FHA): You may not treat applicants differently because of these seven protected characteristics:
- Race,
- Color,
- National origin,
- Religion,
- Sex,
- Familial status, or
- Disability
It also bars ads that show a preference and different rental terms for different applicants (42 U.S.C. § 3604).
Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA): Bars credit discrimination, including because income comes from public assistance. Courts differ on whether a lease counts as credit, so count assistance income the same way as wages (15 U.S.C. § 1691).
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): Covers places open to the public, such as a leasing office. Disability rules for the rental home itself come from the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. § 12182).
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA): Covers credit, criminal and eviction reports. You need the renter’s consent before screening. Rentari collects it before our screening partner, RentButter, runs the checks (15 U.S.C. § 1681b).
Civil Rights Act of 1866: Bars race discrimination when renting any property, including homes the Fair Housing Act exempts, such as some small owner-occupied buildings (42 U.S.C. § 1982).
Criminal history: HUD warns that blanket bans on applicants with any criminal record can be discriminatory, and an arrest alone does not show that a person did anything.
Further reading: HUD fair housing rights and obligations and FTC guidance for landlords.
Montana application laws
Beyond federal law, Montana has its own rules on application fees and fair housing. Check both before you send an invite.
Montana Law
Montana application and screening fees
The rule: A property manager of four or more dwelling units who collects an application fee must refund it within a reasonable time if the applicant does not enter a signed rental agreement or an agreement given the same effect by law. Only the permitted costs may be deducted (MCA 37-56-109; MCA 70-24-204).
At collection, give written notice allocating the fee among specific service costs. Retain only disclosed costs for services actually performed before approval or rejection; these are out-of-pocket expenses, excluding the manager's own time or effort. Refund the rest (MCA 37-56-109(2), (4)).
The manager bears the burden of proving the services. Wrongfully withheld or deducted fees can be recovered in a civil action, with attorney fees at the court's discretion. Keep the allocation, service invoices and refund calculation together (MCA 37-56-109(3)).
A deposit that an agreement requires a prospective tenant to give and keep in place for part or all of the lease term is presumed to be a security deposit, so the deposit return rules apply to it (MCA 70-25-101(4)).
If you accept rent or a deposit from a person who intends to occupy the home, you are considered to have consented to their possession and to have created a landlord-tenant relationship (MCA 70-24-302(2)).
Local rules: Cities and counties can add their own limits. Check local rules before you set a fee.
In Rentari: You choose an optional application fee when you send the invite. It is paid to you on top of any screening fee.
Montana Law
Fair housing in Montana
Protected classes: Montana's Human Rights Act makes it unlawful to refuse to rent, set different terms, or make discriminatory inquiries, statements or ads because of sex, marital status, race, creed, religion, color, age, familial status, physical or mental disability or national origin (MCA 49-2-305(1); MCA 49-2-305(3)).
Accommodations: Disability discrimination includes refusing reasonable modifications at the tenant's expense (you may require the interior to be restored where reasonable) and refusing reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices or services (MCA 49-2-305(4); MCA 49-2-305(5)).
Exemptions: Renting no more than three sleeping rooms in a single-family home where the owner lives is excluded from the refusal, terms, inquiry and other rules of subsection (1), but not from the disability rules or the bar on coercion and interference; federal advertising law is not covered here (MCA 49-2-305(2); MCA 49-2-305(4); MCA 49-2-305(9)).
Exemptions: The age and familial status rules do not apply to qualifying housing for older persons. A dwelling for no more than two families where the owner lives in one unit is exempt only from the age and familial status refusal and terms rules (MCA 49-2-305(10); MCA 49-2-305(11)).
Familial status: Familial status means having a child or children who live or will live with the person, including distinctions based on a child's age (MCA 49-2-305(12)).
Retaliation: It is unlawful to coerce, threaten or interfere with anyone exercising these rights (MCA 49-2-305(9)).
Pets, ESAs and service animals
Ask about animals on every application, but treat an assistance animal differently from a pet. Here is what to keep in mind:
Pet information: The Rentari application asks whether an animal will live at the property and lets the renter mark an assistance animal.
Not a pet: A service animal or emotional support animal is not a pet. Under federal fair housing law you generally can’t:
- Charge a pet fee, pet deposit or pet rent for one, or
- Apply your pet breed, size or weight limits to it.
Damage: The renter stays responsible for any damage the animal causes.
In Rentari: An assistance animal is routed as a fair housing request and is never charged a pet fee.
Montana rules on assistance animals
Documentation: Montana sets specific rules for emotional support animal documentation (MCA 70-24-114).
Approvals and denials
Apply the same written criteria to every applicant, and handle each decision the same way.
Approval: Choose Accept complete household in the household decision. Your lease draft is ready to review. Before move-in, check Montana’s deposit rules:
Lawful reasons to deny: Deny only for reasons in your written criteria that you apply to every applicant, such as income below your standard, credit history, rental history including unpaid rent or eviction judgments, or incomplete or false information. Use criminal history only where Montana and local law allow it, and weigh the offense and how long ago it happened.
Adverse action notice: If a screening report contributes to a denial, or to terms such as a co-signer, a higher deposit or higher rent, federal law requires a notice that:
- Names the reporting company and how to reach it,
- Says that company did not make the decision,
- Explains the renter’s right to a free copy of the report within 60 days, and
- Explains the right to dispute the report.
In Rentari: Choose Deny selected applicants and send individual notices in the household decision to send each notice. You make the decision.
Record keeping: Federal law sets no retention period for a private landlord’s applications. A fair housing lawsuit can be filed up to two years after a decision, so keep each application, your written criteria and the decision at least that long (42 U.S.C. § 3613(a)(1)(A)).
Screening reports: When you no longer need a screening report, destroy it securely. The FTC Disposal Rule covers consumer reports (16 C.F.R. Part 682).
Montana rental application questions
Can I charge an application fee in Montana?
A property manager of four or more dwelling units who collects an application fee must refund it within a reasonable time if the applicant does not enter a signed rental agreement or an agreement given the same effect by law. Only the permitted costs may be deducted (MCA 37-56-109; MCA 70-24-204).
Who pays for screening on Rentari?
In most states the renter pays the screening fee at the end of the application and nothing is charged to you. Where a state requires the landlord to pay, the invite tells you. The fee is shown before payment.
Can I ask about criminal history?
You choose whether the application asks about criminal convictions; it is off by default. Check Montana and local rules first, and avoid blanket bans.