How to Sue Your Landlord

for Failure to Provide Essential Services in

Your Rental
Note: Use these instructions and forms to sue your landlord for failing to
provide essential services in your rental.
These instructions and forms may not be right for your case. They cannot take
the place of advice from a lawyer. Talk to a lawyer if you have any questions.
Do not change these forms. If you change the forms, you might lose language
you need.

What Forms Will I Need to Sue My Landlord?

You will need to fill out and file the following forms to sue your landlord:

Summons

Complaint (for failure to provide essential services)

Request to Serve Documents

Order Setting Hearing

Judgment

Affidavit of Inability to Pay (only if you cannot afford filing fees)

The Summons is the notice from the court to the landlord, telling the landlord
that he/she has been sued.
The Complaint asks the court to make your landlord provide the essential
services that you dont have.
The Request to Serve Documents tells the process server or sheriffs deputy to
personally deliver to your former landlord copies of the court papers you filed.

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2010 Montana Supreme Court Commission on Self-Represented Litigants and Montana Legal Services
Association. Use of this form is restricted to not-for-profit purposes.
Last updated 11/29/2016

The Order Setting Hearing is for the judge to fill out. Once completed, that
order will tell you when and where your hearing will be held.
The Judgment is for the judge to fill out after the hearing.
The Affidavit of Inability to Pay asks the court for permission to file your lawsuit
without paying the filing fee. Some courts prefer that you fill out their own form to
request a waiver of filing fee, rather than this one. Be sure to fill out whichever
form the Court prefers.

What Words Do I Need to Know?

Plaintiff- A Plaintiff is someone who files an action in court. If you are asking the
court for relief because your landlord did not provide you essential services, you
are the Plaintiff.
The Summons is the document that the Judge or Clerk of Court signs that is
served to the Landlord along with the Complaint. It tells the Landlord that he or
she has 20 days to respond.
The Complaint tells the court about the essential services the Landlord did not
give you. It also tells the court what you want it to do for you. (This is called the
relief you are asking for.) Your Landlord will get to see and respond to your
Complaint.
The Request to Serve Documents is the document that you give to the Sheriff
that tells him or her your Landlords name and contact information and what
documents to serve your Landlord with.
The Affidavit of Inability to Pay asks the court to waive filing fees in your case.
If you can not afford to pay the filing fees, ask the clerk of Justice of the Peace
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2010 Montana Supreme Court Commission on Self-Represented Litigants and Montana Legal Services
Association. Use of this form is restricted to not-for-profit purposes.
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Court for an affidavit of inability to pay. This form may be called something else in
your region.

Who Can Use These Forms?

You can use these forms if:

You rent a home, mobile home, or apartment in Montana; and

Any of these problems exist:

o the

electrical,

plumbing,

sanitary,

heating,

ventilating,

air-

conditioning, or other facilities and appliances arent working right;

and/or
o there isnt running water or reasonable amounts of hot water;
and/or
o there isnt enough heat in your residence between October 1 and
May 1; and

You have given your landlord written notice that repairs need to be made
to the essential services you want the court to give you relief for; and

Your landlord did not repair the essential services within a reasonable
time after you gave written notice.

Note: You should give your landlord written notice to make

repairs before using this form. Talk to a lawyer if you have
questions.

What Do I Do with the Forms?

1

Fill out the Forms

Fill out the lines for your contact information on the Complaint form.

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Association. Use of this form is restricted to not-for-profit purposes.
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Fill out the caption on the form. The caption looks like this:

1________________________________
Your name
2________________________________
Your mailing address
3________________________________
City
State
4________________________________
Your phone number
Plaintiff

Zip

Justice Court of ______________________________ County

Name of the county where you are filing
Before _________________________, Justice of the Peace
Name of the Judge

____________________________,
Plaintiff (Your Name),
and

Cause No. _______________

Complaint

____________________________,
Defendant (Your Landlords Name).

Fill out all the other blanks on the Complaint.

Sign and date the Complaint.
Fill out all the blanks on the Summons. But, do not sign the
Summons.
Fill out all of the blanks on the Request for Service.
Sign and date the Request for Service.
Fill out the caption on the Order Setting Hearing.
Fill in the information for the caption on the Judgment.
2

Make Copies
Make two copies of the Summons after you have filled it out.
Make two copies of the Complaint (including all attachments)
Make one copy of the Request for Service

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Association. Use of this form is restricted to not-for-profit purposes.
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Make 3 copies of the Order Setting Hearing

3

File Forms at the Courthouse

Go to the Justice of the Peace Court in your county courthouse.
If you cant afford the filing fees, ask the Clerk of Justice of the
Peace Court for an Affidavit of Inability to Pay. This form may be
called something different in your county.
File the original Complaint. Give the Original Summons to the
Clerk. Give the copies of the Complaint to the Clerk and ask to
have them stamped as Filed.

Serve your Former Landlord

Have a copy of your Summons and your Complaint (including all
attachments) served on your former landlord.
Sheriffs in Montana will serve the former landlord for free if the
landlord is in Montana and you have an Order of Inability to Pay
from the judge. If you do not have this, you will need to pay the
sheriff to serve your forms.
Mail or hand-deliver your original Request to Serve Documents, a
copy of your Summons, and Complaint (including all attachments)
to the Sheriffs office in the county where your former landlord lives,
or to the other office that the clerk of court suggested for service.
Give the Sheriffs office a self-addressed, stamped envelope so
they can mail you Proof of Service after they deliver your forms to
your former landlord. You must have a separate Request to Serve
Documents for each defendant you sue.

Failure to Provide Essential Services, Page 5 of 12

2010 Montana Supreme Court Commission on Self-Represented Litigants and Montana Legal Services
Association. Use of this form is restricted to not-for-profit purposes.
Last updated 11/29/2016

Wait for the Order Setting Hearing

When a hearing date is set, the court will fill out and sign your
Order Setting Hearing. The clerk of court will mail a copy of the
order to you and to your landlord, if your landlord has filed an
answer to the lawsuit

Go to Your Hearing
Bring your stamped copies of the documents you filed with the
court. Bring the Judgment with you, too.
Arrive at the courthouse at least 15 minutes before your scheduled
hearing. Dress like you were going to an important job interview.
Check with the Clerk of Courts office to find the right courtroom for
your hearing. Go to that courtroom and wait for the judge to call
your name and case number. Remember to address the judge as
Your Honor.
Be prepared to tell the judge what essential services are not being
Provided and what steps you have taken to get them.

Where Can I Get More Information?

The Montana Code Annotated (M.C.A.) contains the law on failure to provide
essential services. These laws can be found in Title 70, Chapter 24. The M.C.A.
can be found at your local library or on the Montana State Law Library website at
www.lawlibrary.mt.gov. Click on the State Laws option near the top of the page
and select MCA from the list.

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Association. Use of this form is restricted to not-for-profit purposes.
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Where Can I Get Legal Help?

These organizations may be able to help you:

Montana Legal Services Association (MLSA) gives free legal help to

low and moderate-income people. To find out if you qualify for MLSA, call
the MLSA HelpLine at 1-800-666-6899.

The State Bar Lawyer Referral and Information Service (LRIS) refers
people to Montana lawyers who might be able to help. The referral is free.
Call LRIS at 1-406-449-6577.

The State Law Library can help you find and use legal resources such as
books, forms, and websites. You can visit the Law Library website at
www.lawlibrary.mt.gov. Or you can contact a Reference Librarian at 1-406444-3636 or by email at mtlawlibrary@mt.gov.

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Association. Use of this form is restricted to not-for-profit purposes.
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Mike Roddewig
815 Rifle Rd
Bozeman, Montana 59715
(406) 539-4328

PLAINTIFF PRO SE

JUSTICE COURT OF GALLATIN COUNTY, STATE OF MONTANA

BEFORE _____________________________,
JUSTICE OF THE PEACE

MIKE RODDEWIG,
Plaintiff,
and

Cause No. _______________

Complaint

KIM KRIEGE,
Defendant.

I am the Plaintiff in this case. I am complaining that my

landlord, the Defendant, did not provide essential services to my
rental unit, and I am asking for relief. I state the following facts in
support of my claim:
Information about Me (Plaintiff)
1. My name is: Mike Roddewig, I live at 815 Rifle Rd Bozeman,

Gallatin County, Montana.

Information about My Landlord (Defendant)
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Association. Use of this form is restricted to not-for-profit purposes.
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2. My landlord is the Defendant. My landlords name is Kim

Kriege (hereinafter my landlord). My landlord lives at 265

Coke Dale Rd Livingston, Park County, Montana.
Information about Our Rental Agreement
3. My landlord and I entered into a Rental Agreement on

August 1, 2015. The rental property is located at 815 Rifle

Rd Bozeman, Gallatin County, Montana.
4. The Rental Agreement was written and is attached as Exhibit

A.
5.

Information about my Landlords Violation of the Law

5. Montana law says that a landlord may not purposely or

negligently fail to supply heat, running water, hot water,
electricity, gas or other essential services to the tenant. See
Mont. Code Ann. 70-24-408. Montana law also requires a
landlord to do whatever is necessary to keep the premises in
a habitable condition, including providing heat, running
water, and hot water. Mont. Code Ann. 70-24-303. If a
landlord fails to maintain the premises, Montana law allows a
tenant to recover actual damages and obtain injunctive relief
against the landlord. Mont. Code Ann. 70-24-406.
Failure to Provide Essential Services, Page 9 of 12
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Association. Use of this form is restricted to not-for-profit purposes.
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6. My landlord did not provide me with the following services:

Running water
Hot water
7. I was denied the services mentioned in Paragraph 6 above

on November 8, 2015. The services havent been fixed yet.

8. The denial of services mentioned in Paragraph 6 above was

not caused by me, a member of my family, or anyone else on

the rental property with my consent.
Written Notice of Violation
9. I told my landlord in writing that he or she was not providing
the essential service/s mentioned in Paragraph 6 on
December 21, 2015.
10. My landlord did not restore essential services within a
reasonable time after I gave him or her written notice.
My landlord still has not restored the services.
Damages
11. My landlords failure to provide essential services has
damaged me by:
Causing me to pay for reasonable amounts of heat, hot
water, running water, electricity, gas or other essential
Failure to Provide Essential Services, Page 10 of 12
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Association. Use of this form is restricted to not-for-profit purposes.
Last updated 11/29/2016

services during the time that my landlord did not provide the
services.
Causing my rental unit to be worth less than I pay for it.
12. Montana law says that I can get attorneys fees and costs
for bringing this complaint. See Mont. Code Ann. 70-24-442.

Request for Relief

I respectfully ask the Court, under sec. 70-24-406, Mont.
Code Ann., for the following relief:
For damages caused to me by my landlords failure to
provide essential services. The damages are $200 (Two
Hundred Dollars and No Cents).
If I am still residing in the rental and my landlord has not
resumed all services, for an order requiring my landlord to
immediately resume the essential services described in
paragraph 6 above.
For costs of bringing this complaint.
For my attorney fees, if I have an attorney.
For any other relief the Court deems just and proper .
DATED this ____ day of ________________, 20___.
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Association. Use of this form is restricted to not-for-profit purposes.
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__________________________
Plaintiff

Failure to Provide Essential Services, Page 12 of 12

2010 Montana Supreme Court Commission on Self-Represented Litigants and Montana Legal Services
Association. Use of this form is restricted to not-for-profit purposes.
Last updated 11/29/2016