Bozeman City commissioners Tuesday heard the latest in a year-long discussion over how to best help renters facing eviction.
The commission is exploring putting money in the budget to hire legal counsel.
If Bozeman took this step, it would be the first city in Montana to do so.
Bozeman’s Chief Civil Attorney, Anna Saverud told commissioners at the meeting that she’s looked into 19 other cities around the nation who have similar programs in place.
“These all have amazing results,” Saverud said.
According to city staff, Bozeman sees more than 100 evictions a year filed in municipal court, almost all of which are due to nonpayment of rent.
In 2024, only four tenants out of 123 eviction cases had lawyers.
Bozeman Tenants United, a local tenants union has been urging the city to fund legal counsel to represent renters in municipal court eviction cases.
Ozaa Echomaker, a leader in the union said when she faced eviction as a student, she was able to get help from the University’s legal services.
“So I’m really glad that I had that , but it’s not nearly enough of a safety net” Echomaker said.
Western Vice President of the Montana Landlords Association Robert Smaus, who lives and owns rentals in the area, urged the commission to differentiate between local renters and out of state corporations.
“Really the only problem we have is just basically the city using taxpayer dollars to support this” Smaus said.
Montana Legal Services Ass estimates that it would cost about $315,000 a year to provide legal assistance specifically to families with children facing eviction
City commissioners did not make a decision on the matter Tuesday, but directed staffers to keep working on the details and parameters of the proposal for approval this fall.
