Committee backs study of HOA and condo law, citing need to modernize Montana’s Unit Ownership Act

The Senate Local Government Committee voted to give House Joint Resolution 50 a do-concur recommendation, advancing a request by Representative Alana Griffith that an interim committee complete long-running study of homeowners association and condominium law.

Representative Griffith told the committee the Unit Ownership Act — Montana’s statute for condominium ownership — has not been updated since 1965 and that an effort begun in 2019 needs the interim committee’s time to consider adoption, amendment or selective adoption of the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act. She said a prior attempt, House Bill 619, ran to more than 100 pages and stalled, and that much of the technical drafting work (she described "over 200 hours" of attorney work) and stakeholder outreach has already been done.

Jacqueline Lenmark, speaking for the Uniform Law Commission, outlined the ULC’s drafting process, noted the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act’s drafting history and recommended the committee give the resolution a favorable concurrence. "The ULC strongly encourages you to... give the resolution a do concur recommendation," she said, and described the 2021 version of the uniform act as the product under study.

Committee members asked about stakeholder participation and whether short-term rentals were included. Griffith said the draft intentionally left short-term rentals out of the uniform-act-based work but provided a framework for amending covenants to allow local communities to address such issues. She described the potential scope as large — affecting many Montanans who live under owners’ associations — and emphasized the interim committee could refine which provisions to adopt.

The committee passed HJ 50 by voice vote; Senator Fern was chosen to carry the measure to the Senate floor.