Move-out cleaning in Montana: windows and your deposit

Windows are easy to forget at move-out and easy to see at the final inspection: dust on the sills, a track full of dead insects, handprints on the glass. Here is what Montana’s security deposit law says about cleaning, so you know what a landlord can charge for and what has to happen first.

In a college town the timing matters too. Montana State’s spring 2027 finals end on Thursday, May 6, and commencement is the next day.

What a landlord can charge for

A landlord can deduct “actual cleaning expenses, including a reasonable charge for the landlord’s labor” (MCA 70-25-201). The law defines those as the cost of cleaning needs “not attributable to normal wear,” measured against “the condition it was at the time of renting” (70-25-101). So what counts is cleaning beyond normal wear, compared with how the unit was when you moved in, not whether the glass is spotless.

The law does not mention windows, blinds or screens by name. They are part of the unit like everything else.

The notice comes first

In most cases, cleaning charges “may not be deducted until written notice has been given to the tenant.” The notice has to list the cleaning not done and “the additional amount and type or types of cleaning” still needed, and once it is delivered the tenant has 24 hours to do it. A notice sent by certified mail counts as served three days after mailing (70-25-201).

The big exception: a tenant who moves out without telling the landlord gives up that notice, and the landlord can take the cleaning straight out of the deposit. In that situation the law also lets the landlord leave the notice somewhere obvious in the unit and tell the tenant by email, phone or text.

When the deposit comes back

A landlord who does not provide that list loses the right to keep any of the deposit for damage or cleaning (70-25-203), though not for other lawful charges such as unpaid rent.

The move-in statement

A landlord who takes a deposit has to give the tenant a separate written statement of the unit’s condition when the tenancy starts (70-25-206). Without one, the law says the landlord “is barred from recovering any sum for damage to or cleaning of the leasehold premises,” unless they can show by clear and convincing evidence that the damage happened during the tenancy and was caused by the tenant.

Montana State’s off-campus housing office suggests noting “dirty windows, missing screens” on that statement when you move in, and taking photos or video once you have cleaned at the end.

The windows, on the way out

1. Vacuum the tracks and wipe the sills; that is where a year of dust and insects ends up.
2. Clean the glass inside, and outside wherever you can reach it safely from the ground.
3. Wash the screens and put each one back in its own window.
4. Photograph every window when you are done.

Upper-floor outside glass is ladder work, and worth reading about before you try it. If you would rather hand the windows over, or a notice has put 24 hours on the clock, we can often fit a move-out cleaning in quickly.

General information about the law as written in the Montana Code Annotated (2025), not legal advice. Montana Legal Services Association’s guide, listed below, is a good plain-language place to start.