Mont. Judicial Branch, Answering Your Landlord's Complaint to Evict You

A Plaintiff is someone who files a lawsuit in court. If your landlord has filed a
Complaint asking the court to make you move out, your landlord is the Plaintiff. A
Plaintiff is one of the parties to a lawsuit.

A Defendant is someone who is being sued. If you are being sued by a landlord
to make you move out, you are the Defendant. A Defendant is one of the parties
to a lawsuit.

Note: Only the person named as a Defendant in the landlord’s Complaint is
being sued. A landlord must name as a Defendant each adult tenant that the
landlord is trying to evict. For example, if a husband and wife are tenants on
the property, the landlord must name both the husband and the wife as
Defendants in the Complaint if the landlord wants to evict them both. If the
landlord files the Complaint against only the wife, the husband will not be
evicted and cannot be made to move out (even if the landlord wins in court).

With an Affirmative Defense you tell the court there is a reason you are not
responsible or are only partly responsible for whatever the landlord is asking for in
the Complaint. You must check the appropriate box(es) for any affirmative defense
that applies to you. If you tell the court you have an affirmative defense, be
prepared to support it with t e s t i m o n y and laws at your hearing. The law for

Answering Your Landlord’s Complaint to Evict You, Page 3 of 21, including instructions and forms.
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each defense is written in the paragraph you may check for the defense.