Montana HOA Governing Statute

1. Overview — How HOAs are governed in Montana

Montana runs a hybrid system, and the distinction matters from the first day you manage a community here. The state gives condominiums a full statutory framework, yet it has never enacted a comprehensive statute for non-condominium planned communities. Condominiums answer to the Montana Unit Ownership Act, Mont. Code Ann. § 70-23-101 et seq., a statute written specifically for them.¹

Non-condominium HOAs run on a different track. They operate mainly under their recorded covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&Rs), combined with the Montana Nonprofit Corporation Act, Mont. Code Ann. Title 35, Chapter 2. In practice, that makes those communities CC&R-primary.²

Montana's court system shapes every dispute that follows. The state has no intermediate appellate court. The Montana Supreme Court stands as the sole appellate court, and it must accept all timely civil appeals — it holds no discretion to deny review.³

One more point sets expectations. Montana has not adopted the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act (UCIOA), so practitioners should not assume UCIOA features apply here.⁴ The result is a two-track system, where both the governing documents and the path a dispute travels depend on whether a community is a condominium or a non-condo planned community.

2. The statutory framework

Start with the statute that does the heavy lifting. The Montana Unit Ownership Act, Mont. Code Ann. § 70-23-101 et seq., is the state's bespoke condominium statute. The legislature enacted it in 1965, and it still carries that lineage in the code (Sec. 1, Ch. 120, Laws of 1965, codified at R.C.M. 1947, 67-2301).⁵

The Act applies to condominiums, which § 70-23-102 defines as the ownership of single units with common elements on property submitted to the chapter. The definition draws a clear line: it expressly excludes townhomes and townhouses.⁶ And coverage is not automatic. A property becomes subject to the Act only when its owner records a declaration submitting the property to the chapter — an opt-in structure, not a default.⁷

The chapter organizes the rules into parts. Part 1 covers general provisions, Part 3 governs creation through the declaration and bylaws, Part 4 defines the nature of the ownership interest, Part 5 sets out the rights and duties of unit ownership, and Part 6 handles conveyances, liens, and common expenses.⁸ The same definitions section, § 70-23-102, supplies the key terms practitioners rely on: "association of unit owners" (all unit owners acting as a group under the declaration and bylaws), "common elements," "declaration," "manager," and "unit owner."⁶

The declaration is the foundational instrument, and § 70-23-301 spells out what it must contain — a description of the land, the building, each unit, the common elements, and a local-government subdivision review certification.⁹ The bylaws, governed by §§ 70-23-307 and 70-23-308, handle the operational details: how the association collects each owner's share of common expenses, how it adopts administrative rules, and what use restrictions apply.¹⁰ The Act also sets lien priority for unpaid common expenses (§ 70-23-607), records and inspection rights (§ 70-23-606), and seller disclosure (§ 70-23-613).¹¹ In 2021, the legislature added § 70-23-309, which lets unit owner associations meet by remote means unless the declaration or bylaws say otherwise.¹²

One theme runs through all of it. The Act leaves substantial room for the declaration and bylaws to set the operating rules of any given condominium, so you have to read the statute and the recorded documents together.

Now turn to everything that is not a condominium. Montana has no comprehensive planned community statute to match the Unit Ownership Act. For non-condominium HOAs, the recorded declaration of covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&Rs) is the primary governing document. As the Homeowners Protection Bureau puts it, "If a condominium or homeowners' association is organized as a nonprofit corporation, as is the case with most Montana associations, it will be governed by [the Act]" — meaning the Montana Nonprofit Corporation Act, Mont. Code Ann. § 35-2-113 et seq., supplies the corporate-governance backbone: directors and officers, members and voting, meetings, and corporate records.²

For a non-condo HOA, the order of precedence generally runs from applicable federal and state law, to the recorded declaration and any plat, to the articles of incorporation, to the bylaws, and finally to board-adopted rules.¹³ One targeted statutory protection sits outside the corporate code: Mont. Code Ann. § 70-17-901 bars an HOA from imposing more onerous use restrictions than existed when an owner acquired the property, unless the owner consents in writing.¹⁴

The operational implication is significant. For non-condo communities, the quality, clarity, and enforceability of the recorded documents carry far more weight than any statute, because no default statutory code fills the gaps the way the Unit Ownership Act does for condominiums.

Where disputes go matters as much as which rules apply. Montana's District Courts are the trial courts of general civil jurisdiction, and they hear HOA and condominium disputes at first instance.¹⁵ Above them, the structure is unusually lean. Montana has no intermediate appellate court. The Montana Supreme Court — a chief justice and six associate justices, established under Article VII of the 1972 Montana Constitution — serves as the sole appellate court.¹⁶

That design has a direct consequence. Because there is no intermediate court and litigants have a right to appeal, the Montana Supreme Court has no discretion to decline a timely civil appeal; it must accept and resolve every one.³ So an HOA or condominium dispute that is appealed travels straight from the District Court to the Montana Supreme Court, with no intervening review. The same path appears in New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, and Alaska. For associations, it compresses the appellate timeline and means every adverse District Court judgment carries a guaranteed, single-stage route to the state's highest court.

3. Compliance obligations created by the statutory framework

Governance obligations

For condominiums, the Unit Ownership Act requires the association to operate through its declaration and bylaws. Section 70-23-308 mandates that the bylaws address how the association collects common expenses, how it adopts and amends administrative rules, and what use restrictions apply.¹⁰ Meetings may proceed remotely under § 70-23-309 unless the governing documents provide otherwise.¹² For non-condo planned communities, governance obligations flow from the CC&Rs and the Montana Nonprofit Corporation Act: § 35-2-906 requires corporations to keep minutes of member and board meetings and to maintain membership and accounting records, and Title 35, Chapter 2, Part 5 governs members, voting, and meetings.¹⁷ Those corporate requirements are mandatory for incorporated associations, while many condominium governance details can be varied by the declaration or bylaws.

Financial obligations

For condominiums, the Act tackles assessments and common expenses head-on. Section 70-23-501 allocates common profits and expenses among unit owners, and § 70-23-607 establishes a lien for unpaid common expenses that takes priority over all other liens except tax and assessment liens and a recorded first mortgage or trust indenture.¹⁸ The Act does not impose a statutory reserve-funding mandate; the declaration and bylaws typically set budget and reserve practices. For non-condo planned communities, assessment authority comes from the recorded CC&Rs rather than a statute; the Nonprofit Corporation Act requires appropriate accounting records (§ 35-2-906) but does not mandate assessment levels or reserves.¹⁷ For both property types, then, assessment and budget obligations are largely document-driven.

Disclosure obligations

For condominiums, § 70-23-613 imposes a seller-disclosure duty where one person constitutes a majority of unit owners. It requires the seller to give the buyer a copy of the Unit Ownership Act, the bylaws, and the administrative regulations before they sign a buy-sell agreement, and the agreement does not take effect until 72 hours after delivery — a window in which the buyer may withdraw without penalty.¹⁹ That is a mandatory statutory disclosure for condominiums. For non-condo planned communities, no parallel statutory resale-disclosure requirement exists; those disclosure obligations arise from the CC&Rs, general real estate disclosure law, and contract. For incorporated non-condo associations, financial-record access runs through the Nonprofit Corporation Act's member-inspection provisions (§§ 35-2-906 and 35-2-907).²⁰

Dispute resolution obligations

For condominiums, § 70-23-506 requires compliance with the bylaws, rules, and covenants and authorizes actions to compel it, and Part 9 of the Act governs actions and process.²¹ The Act does not mandate alternative dispute resolution; ADR, notice, and opportunity-to-be-heard procedures generally come from the declaration and bylaws. For non-condo planned communities, the CC&Rs control dispute resolution, and for corporate matters the Nonprofit Corporation Act applies, including the derivative-action provisions in Title 35, Chapter 2, Part 13.²² In both settings, due-process-style notice and hearing requirements before fines or enforcement usually come from the governing documents rather than statute, so boards should confirm their documents spell them out.

4. Montana's recent legislative and judicial activity

Recent bills

Montana's legislature meets only in odd-numbered years, and recent sessions have weighed several covenant bills. Most have stalled rather than passed.

Recent court rulings

With no intermediate appellate court, HOA and condominium appeals land directly before the Montana Supreme Court, which has been clarifying how covenants are read.

Active legislative debates

The liveliest fights center on how short-term rentals should be classified, while a comprehensive planned-community statute stays off the table.

5. National positioning and related coverage

Montana sits firmly in the hybrid category. It offers comprehensive statutory coverage for condominiums through the bespoke Unit Ownership Act, yet it stays CC&R-primary for non-condominium planned communities, which lean on recorded covenants and the Nonprofit Corporation Act instead of a dedicated planned-community code.

Its most distinctive structural feature is the direct-appeal court system. With no intermediate appellate court, civil HOA disputes move straight from District Court to the Montana Supreme Court, which must accept all timely appeals. That places Montana alongside New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, and Alaska on the civil side.

For multi-state operators, the practical takeaway is twofold: Montana compliance hinges on the recorded documents far more than on a statutory code for most communities, and appellate exposure is both faster and unavoidable once a District Court judgment is entered.

6. Closing note

HOA Weekly updates its Montana Governing Statute coverage quarterly to reflect new legislation, Montana Supreme Court decisions, and regulatory changes. Keep in mind that federal frameworks — including the Fair Housing Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act — also apply to Montana associations alongside the state framework described here.

Footnotes

1. Montana Unit Ownership Act, Mont. Code Ann. § 70-23-101 et seq. (Title 70, ch. 23) ↩
2. Montana Nonprofit Corporation Act, Mont. Code Ann. § 35-2-113 (short title), Title 35, ch. 2; Homeowners Protection Bureau, Montana HOA Laws ↩
3. Montana Judicial Branch, About Us ↩
4. Mont. Code Ann. tit. 70, ch. 23 (bespoke condominium act; Montana has not adopted the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act) ↩
5. Mont. Code Ann. § 70-23-101 (short title; En. Sec. 1, ch. 120, L. 1965; R.C.M. 1947, 67-2301) ↩
6. Mont. Code Ann. § 70-23-102 (definitions; "the term does not include a townhome or a townhouse") ↩
7. Mont. Code Ann. § 70-23-102(9), §§ 70-23-103, 70-23-305 (declaration submits and records the property under the chapter) ↩
8. Mont. Code Ann. tit. 70, ch. 23, Table of Contents (Parts 1, 3, 4, 5, 6) ↩
9. Mont. Code Ann. § 70-23-301 (contents of declaration) ↩
10. Mont. Code Ann. §§ 70-23-307 (bylaws — adoption, recording, amendment), 70-23-308 (contents of bylaws) ↩
11. Mont. Code Ann. §§ 70-23-606 (records and inspection), 70-23-607 (claim for common expenses — priority of lien), 70-23-613 (disclosure by seller) ↩
12. Mont. Code Ann. § 70-23-309 (association of unit owners — remote meetings; En. Sec. 3, ch. 185, L. 2021) ↩
13. Mont. Code Ann. tit. 35, ch. 2, Parts 2 and 5 (order of precedence: declaration, articles, bylaws under the Nonprofit Corporation Act) ↩
14. Mont. Code Ann. § 70-17-901 (homeowners' association restrictions — real property rights) ↩
15. Montana Judicial Branch, Appeals (district court is the trial court of general jurisdiction; appeals go to the Montana Supreme Court) ↩
16. Mont. Const. art. VII; Montana Supreme Court (chief justice and six associate justices) ↩
17. Mont. Code Ann. § 35-2-906 (corporate records); tit. 35, ch. 2, Part 5 (members — delegates — voting) ↩
18. Mont. Code Ann. §§ 70-23-501 (common profits and expenses), 70-23-607 (lien priority over all other liens except tax and assessment liens and a recorded first mortgage or trust indenture) ↩
19. Mont. Code Ann. § 70-23-613 (disclosure by seller — seller to furnish documents — delay period) ↩
20. Mont. Code Ann. §§ 35-2-906 (corporate records), 35-2-907 (inspection of records by members) ↩
21. Mont. Code Ann. § 70-23-506 (compliance with bylaws, rules, and covenants required — action); tit. 70, ch. 23, Part 9 (actions and process) ↩
22. Mont. Code Ann. tit. 35, ch. 2, Part 13 (derivative actions) ↩
23. Montana HB 761 (2025 Reg. Sess.), An Act Generally Revising Residential Covenant Laws to Protect Real Property Rights … Amending Section 70-17-901, MCA (introduced Feb. 25, 2025; died May 20, 2025); BillTrack50, HB 761 detail ↩
24. Brandt v. R&R Mountain Escapes, LLC, 2025 MT 155, 423 Mont. 100, 572 P.3d 809 (Mont. July 22, 2025) (No. DA 23-0716) ↩
25. Brandt v. R&R Mountain Escapes, LLC, 2025 MT 155 (McKinnon, J.) (quoted holding) ↩
26. Craig Tracts Homeowners' Ass'n v. Brown Drake, LLC (Mont. 2020), distinguished in Brandt, 2025 MT 155 ↩
27. Brandt v. R&R Mountain Escapes, LLC, 2025 MT 155 (Swanson, C.J., concurring) ("These covenants were voluntarily and willingly accepted by subsequent property owners upon purchase of their land") ↩
28. Montana SB 336 (2025 Reg. Sess.), defining short-term rentals as residential use; Montana Legislature bill records ↩