2026-09-15 · Montana · Regulation

What happened. Montana rewrote the rule that governs how a licensed broker or property manager handles other people's money. For an association whose reserves and assessments sit with a management company, that is the rule now in force — and the old one is repealed.

The rulemaking

Proposed as MAR Notice No. 2025-349.1 by the Board of Realty Regulation, Department of Labor & Industry, published in the Montana Administrative Register, Issue No. 23, December 5, 2025, with a virtual hearing on December 29, 2025 and comments due January 2, 2026. Adopted by MAR Notice No. 2025-349.2, Register Issue No. 4, February 20, 2026, effective February 21, 2026. All three new rules were adopted as proposed.¹

New Rule 2, ARM 24.210.427, TRUST ACCOUNTS, is the operative one, implementing § 37-1-319, MCA. It replaces the repealed ARM 24.210.426.

What it requires

Money received on behalf of others must go into a trust account that is:

• liquid, readily accessible, insured, in a Montana financial institution, identified as a trust account, and reconciled each month having activity

And, expressly, trust funds cannot be in sweep accounts or invested in certificates of deposit, repurchase agreements, or anything else placing funds at risk. Other provisions:

• Others' money must be deposited within three business days unless the parties agree otherwise.
• Interest-bearing accounts are allowed, with interest payable to the broker or anyone else.
• A broker may hold up to $1,000 of personal funds in a trust account for bank charges; money due the broker must be withdrawn within ten business days once due and payable.
• Records must be complete and chronological, with a running balance identifying dates, parties, payees, sources and amounts received, disbursed and deposited, “maintained to facilitate auditing.”
• Where funds go to a third party, the broker must obtain and retain documentation of receipt. Maintenance may be delegated to another licensed broker, but both remain responsible.

1. MAR Notice No. 2025-349.2, Notice of Adoption, Register Issue No. 4, Feb. 20, 2026 — effective February 21, 2026 (Montana Board of Realty Regulation) ↩
2. MAR Notice No. 2025-349.1, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Register Issue No. 23, Dec. 5, 2025 — full text of New Rules 1 through 3 (Montana Department of Labor & Industry) ↩
3. Montana Board of Realty Regulation — rule notices index ↩