Montana Bans Local Rent Control Statewide

Montana broadly preempts local rent regulation. Mont. Code Ann. § 7-1-111 lists powers denied to local governments, and subsection (26) bars a local government from exercising "any power to control the amount of rent charged for private residential or commercial property." The 2023 Legislature added this preemption (HB 463, signed March 2023), extending the ban to both residential and commercial property; the only carve-out is property in which the local government holds an interest, such as housing it owns or operates through a housing authority. Because the state occupies this field, no Montana county, city, or town may enact a rent-control ordinance or a cap on rent increases, and Montana sets no statewide ceiling on rent or rent increases. No Montana municipality currently has rent control.

Any local rent-control ordinance or resolution is void as preempted by Mont. Code Ann. § 7-1-111(26); a local government simply lacks authority to enact one. An affected landlord could challenge such a measure in court, where it would be struck down. The state imposes no statewide cap on rent increases.