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68th Legislature 2023 SB 499.1
1 SENATE BILL NO. 499
2 INTRODUCED BY T. MCGILLVRAY, K. BOGNER
3
4 A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: “AN ACT REVISING LAWS RELATED TO ADVERSE POSSESSION OF
5 LAND, FIXTURES, AND OTHER IMPROVEMENTS ON LAND OWNED BY FOREIGN FOR-PROFIT
6 CORPORATIONS BY A MONTANA RESIDENT; EXEMPTING REAL PROPERTY OWNED BY A TRIBAL
7 MEMBER, A TRIBE, OR TRIBAL LAND WITHIN THE BOUNDARIES OF A RESERVATION; AMENDING
8 SECTION 70-18-101, MCA; AND PROVIDING AN IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVE DATE AND A RETROACTIVE
9 APPLICABILITY DATE.”
10
11 WHEREAS, native Montanans have invested their labor and financial resources developing the local
12 infrastructure by making improvements on fixtures and permanent residences on real property in rural Montana;
13 and
14 WHEREAS, housing opportunities are limited in rural Montana; and
15 WHEREAS, outside corporate interests seek to displace local control over housing developed and paid
16 for locally; and
17 WHEREAS, Montana has a vested interest in preserving its local tax base; and
18 WHEREAS, Montana has a public interest in deterring exploitation of its citizens by foreign corporations
19 and other interests.
20
21 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:
22
23 NEW SECTION. Section 1. Immovable fixture attached -- accession by owner. (1) A Montana
24 resident may adversely possess the land and immovable fixtures or other improvements on land that the
25 resident has improved and possessed when:
26 (a) the Montana resident has paid property taxes to the state through contributions or on the
27 immovable fixtures or other improvements to the land without proving the resident's possession was
28 nonpermissive; and
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68th Legislature 2023 SB 499.1
1 (b) the owner of the land is a foreign for-profit corporation registered to do business in the state
2 and the corporation has permitted the development and use of the land by the Montana resident.
3 (2) In an action by the Montana resident seeking to acquire title to the land and immovable fixtures
4 and other improvements through adverse possession, the foreign owner of the land may not claim that the
5 foreign owner permitted the development and use of the land as a defense.
6 (3) This section does not apply to real property owned by a tribal member, a tribe, or tribal land
7 within the boundaries of a reservation.
8
9 Section 2. Section 70-18-101, MCA, is amended to read:
10 "70-18-101. Fixture attached by other -- accession by owner. When Except as provided in [section
11 1], when a person affixes the person's property to the land of another without an agreement permitting the
12 person to remove it, the thing affixed, except as provided in 70-18-102 and in the Uniform Commercial Code,
13 belongs to the owner of the land unless the owner of the land chooses to require the person to remove it."
14
15 NEW SECTION. Section 3. Codification instruction. [Section 1] is intended to be codified as an
16 integral part of Title 70, chapter 19, and the provisions of Title 70, chapter 19, apply to [section 1].
17
18 NEW SECTION. Section 4. Effective date. [This act] is effective on passage and approval.
19
20 NEW SECTION. Section 5. Retroactive applicability. [This act] applies retroactively, within the
21 meaning of 1-2-109, to actions or causes of actions that occurred prior to [the effective date of this act].
22 - END -
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Statutes affected:
SB0499_1.pdf: 70-18-101
SB0499_2.pdf: 70-18-101
Amended: 70-18-101
Introduced: 70-18-101