Montana Statewide Rule
Montana Covenant & Architectural Enforcement (§ 70-17-210, Declaration + Common Law)
Key Facts
- Enforcement statute
- § 70-17-210 (Covenant enforcement and abandonment)
- Who may enforce
- Covenant parties/successors, burdened or benefited owners, or the HOA/governing body
- Architectural review
- No statute: authority comes from the declaration
- 15-year inactivity rule
- An HOA not meeting for 15 years generally cannot enforce against conforming uses (§ 70-17-210(3))
- Recording abandonment
- Notice recorded with the county clerk and recorder
Summary
Montana covenant and architectural disputes turn on the recorded declaration and common-law rules of restrictive covenants. Section 70-17-210 sets who may enforce a covenant and codifies an abandonment rule: an association that has not met for 15 years generally cannot enforce against an owner whose use matches the neighborhood.
70-17-210 . Covenant enforcement and abandonment. (1) The following persons may initiate a legal action to enforce covenants, conditions, or restrictions: (a) a party to an agreement containing real property covenants, conditions, or restrictions or the party's successors in interest; (b) the owner of an interest in real property burdened or benefited by a covenant, condition, or restriction; or (c) a homeowners' association or other governing body of a real property development subject to covenants, conditions, or restrictions. (2) The owner of an interest in real property subject to a covenant, condition, or restriction may assert a defense that a covenant, condition, or restriction has been abandoned for purposes of enforcement by offering evidence that no enforcement action has been undertaken for the prescribed period in 27-2-202 . Once a covenant, condition, or restriction is abandoned by a court order or agreed to have been abandoned by the approval of the appropriate association or governing body by recording a notice of abandonment or amendment in the office of the county clerk and recorder of the county where the property is situated, all persons are precluded from undertaking a different interpretation or enforcement action of the abandoned covenant, condition, or restriction against a similarly situated owner of an interest in real property subject to the abandoned covenant, condition, or restriction.
Full Breakdown
Architectural-review authority comes from the declaration, not statute; Montana courts enforce recorded covenants under common-law principles. Section 70-17-210 lists who may sue to enforce: a covenant party 'or the party's successors in interest,' 'the owner of an interest in real property burdened or benefited by a covenant,' and 'a homeowners' association or other governing body of a real property development.' Subsection (3) limits stale covenants: where an association 'has not met for a period of 15 years,' it may not enforce 'against the owner... whose use of the property is substantially similar to the nature and scope of the use of other properties in the development', though covenants for legal compliance, easements, utilities, or nuisance abatement survive. Abandonment is perfected by recording a notice with the county clerk and recorder. The section was revised in 2023 and amended in 2025.
Violations & Penalties
Covenant and architectural disputes are resolved by civil suit under § 70-17-210 and the recorded declaration. Standing is limited to covenant parties/successors, burdened or benefited owners, and the association. An association inactive for 15 years generally loses the power to enforce against owners whose use matches the development.
Frequently Asked Questions
How are HOA covenants enforced in Montana?
Can a Montana HOA enforce architectural rules?
What if my Montana HOA hasn't met in years?
Sources
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