Mobile Home Lot Maintenance, Including Water or Sewer Problems

This article may be right for you if you own your mobile home and rent a lot in Montana. 

When you own a mobile home and only rent the lot it sits on, you have different rights than if you were renting both the mobile home and the lot. In your case, both you and your landlord are covered by the Montana Residential Mobile Home Lot Rental Act. We’ll call it the “Lot Rental Act“ to keep it short. You can find the law at 70-33-101 in Montana Code Annotated. 

If you do not own your mobile home, check out our other articles in the Housing section of MontanaLawHelp. 

The general rule is that a landlord cannot require you to repair damage that you did not cause, unless you have agreed in writing to do so. The agreement must be in a document that is separate from your rental agreement.

The law requires the landlord to maintain the rental property. A landlord must:

• Make sure the rental property meets all applicable building and housing codes that affect your health and safety;
• Make repairs and do whatever is necessary to keep the rental property in a fit and habitable condition;
• Maintain all common areas in a clean and safe condition;
• Maintain in good and safe working order and condition all electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating, air-conditioning, and other facilities and appliances, including elevators, supplied or required to be supplied by the landlord;
• Provide and maintain appropriate containers for ashes, garbage, rubbish, and other household waste and arrange for their removal, unless otherwise stated in the rental agreement;
• Supply running water at all times, unless the lot is not required by law to have running water or water is supplied by an installation within your control.

The law also requires you to maintain your lot. A mobile home owner/ tenant must:

• Comply with all applicable building and housing codes that are the responsibility of the tenant;
• Keep the land that you occupy reasonably clean and safe;
• Dispose of all ashes, garbage, and other waste in a clean and safe manner;
• Use in a reasonable manner all electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating, air-conditioning, and other facilities and appliances, including elevators, on the premises;
• Not disturb or let your guests or household members  disturb others’ peaceful enjoyment;
• Use all parts of the premises in a reasonable manner for which they were designed and intended;
• Not destroy, deface, damage or remove any part of the premises, or permit any other person to do so.

If you have any questions about whether something should be yours or the landlord's responsibility, talk to a lawyer right away. 

If you have a water or sewer/septic  problem that the landlord refuses to fix, it’s a good idea to contact your County Health Department. Ask for the office that inspects mobile home parks or homes for health hazards. Most counties have a public health inspector, but some do not. If the health inspector finds a problem at the park, the health inspector may notify the landlord, or the inspector may send you a letter about the problem, and you can give that letter to the landlord. If the problem is a serious risk to public health and safety, the County may take the landlord to court if they do not fix the problem.

If the sewer or water problem may harm the environment or cause a threat to human health, it’s a good idea to contact the Enforcement Division of the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). DEQ can investigate complaints related to a “public water system.” For more information on what that means, visit https://deq.mt.gov/water/Programs/dw. 

If your mobile home park is served by a private well, not a public water system, DEQ likely won’t be able to help. For more information, see the “Private Wells and Septic Systems” section at https://deq.mt.gov/water/Programs/dw

• The State Bar Lawyer Referral Service may provide you with contact information for attorneys who provide the type of assistance you are seeking, for a fee. You can contact the State Bar Lawyer Referral Service at montanabar.org. 
• Montana Legal Services Association (MLSA) provides free civil, non-criminal legal help to eligible clients. Learn more about how to apply for free legal help in Montana. 
• If you qualify for help from MLSA, you may be able to get free legal advice from a volunteer attorney by email using Ask Karla. 
• Contact your nearest Self Help Law Center for free legal information and forms. 

• If the landowner won’t make repairs, you can use our free Repairs Demand Letter. 
• You can report environmental hazards to the Montana Department of Environmental Quality.