OP here,

it was a high end yard sale/estate sale. no reason to think that someone moving out of great falls would be stealing ipads and reselling. Likley just ended up in their pile of electronics after shifting jobs

At least tha'ts what I'm assuming.

I’m guessing this iPad may not have been purchased from the rightful owner.
If it was, call them for the code. If it wasn’t, you’re stuck. Sounds like it’s old anyways, probably not worth anything.

MDM mobile device management.

companies use it to manage company owned mobile devices. IE prevent you from down loading stuff or to keep it more secure.

Not sure what you’re asking when you say “MDM”.
Are you trying to wipe it clean and start fresh but you don’t have the previous owners passcode?

Anyone know how to easily and cheaply (free) remove MDM from an old Ipad

Ipad was bought at a yard sale along with a slew of other electronics

I was able to get the Ipad booted and updated, but I can't get past the MDM screen.

Is this something that I'm going to have to jailbreak?