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Montana Tax Sales

Montana sells tax lien certificates paying up to 10% under Mont. Code Ann. Title 15, ch. 17. Tax Sale Atlas holds the sale calendar, auction platform and list locations for all 56 Montana counties, each read from the county’s own official pages and checked against the statute on Sep 10, 2026.

Montana is a tax lien state with no tax lien auction. Read more…

The county treasurer attaches a tax lien to every delinquent parcel no later than the first working day in August, and on attachment the COUNTY is the possessor of that lien. No investor bids for it and no certificate is offered for sale. A private investor acquires a Montana tax lien only by ASSIGNMENT from the county treasurer under Mont. Code Ann. 15-17-323, by mailing the owner a notice of pending assignment and then paying the county the delinquent taxes, penalties, interest and costs. The price is the payoff figure, so there is nothing to bid up, and the return is the statutory delinquency rate of 5/6 of 1 percent a month, which is 10 percent a year, so there is nothing to bid down. Where more than one investor wants the same parcel, the treasurer allocates it under a written county policy, which is first come in some counties and a lottery in others. Three years after attachment, two years for certain unimproved subdivided lots, the assignee takes a tax deed from the treasurer, except that a parcel with a dwelling occupied by the record titleholder must instead go to a public auction run by the treasurer under Mont. Code Ann. 15-18-220, with the surplus above the payoff paid back to the owner. The governing law is Title 15, chapter 17 for the lien and its assignment and chapter 18 for redemption and the deed.

Rules verified Sep 10, 2026 against Montana Statutes.

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Sale type: Tax lien
Maximum rate: 10%
Redemption: 2 or 3 years
Auction method: premium bid

Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Sep 10, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify

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Tax lien certificates

You pay the overdue taxes and receive a certificate that earns a rate fixed by statute. Nothing is bid: the price is the debt itself and every buyer earns the same rate, so what is decided is who gets which parcel rather than what it costs. Compare bidding methods to see how that changes what you earn.

Bidding method: Fixed rate, no bidding
Maximum rate: 10% per year, fixed by statute (nothing is bid)
Minimum return: No statutory floor; every certificate earns the same statutory rate
Certificate life: Expires 3 years after issuance

Sale timingThere is no sale date to attend. The statewide calendar is fixed by statute rather than published per county. More…

The treasurer publishes or posts the notice of pending attachment on or before the last Monday in June, mails the assessed owner a notice at least 2 weeks before attaching, and attaches the tax lien no later than the first working day in August. An investor who wants an assignment must mail the assessed owner the statutory notice of pending assignment by certified mail at least 2 weeks before paying, and that notice may not be sent earlier than August 15 or more than 60 days before the purchase, so the earliest practical assignment date in any county is about August 29. Assignments of unclaimed liens remain available from the treasurer year round after that.

Zero-bid ruleNothing is bid in Montana because nothing is auctioned. More…

Montana repealed its tax lien sale. Title 15, chapter 17, part 2 is captioned "Tax Lien Sale (Renumbered and Repealed)" in the official code, 15-17-201 through 15-17-214 are shown as repealed, and the one surviving section, old 15-17-212, was renumbered 15-17-125 and now describes an ATTACHMENT rather than a sale. Under 15-17-125(1)(a) the treasurer attaches the lien and the county is the possessor of it unless it is assigned under 15-17-323. Under 15-17-323(1)(a) the treasurer must assign that lien to any person who first mails the assessed owner a notice of pending assignment and then pays the delinquent taxes, penalties, interest and costs. The amount is fixed by the payoff and the rate is fixed by 15-16-102, so neither price nor yield is competed. What a county allocates is access: 15-17-323(1)(b) directs each treasurer to write a policy for the case where more than one person seeks the same assignment, developed with the county clerk and recorder and the county attorney, and those policies differ. Madison County serves the counter first come, first served and breaks a tie by drawing numbers from a cup. Yellowstone County takes one ranked parcel list per investor by noon on the day before assignment day and runs a randomized snake draft at 10:00 a.m., then sells whatever is left first come, first served. Gallatin County takes ranked lists by noon on August 30 and runs a lottery on September 1. Those dates and fees come from each county's own published timeline and move with the year, so read them as the three shapes a policy takes rather than as fixed dates. TWO STATUTORY STEPS LOOK LIKE A SALE HERE AND ARE NOT AN INVESTOR AUCTION. The first is the attachment itself on the first working day in August, which several county offices still call the tax lien sale and advertise in the newspaper each summer; it transfers nothing to an investor, it moves the lien to the COUNTY, and the published notice under 15-17-122 is a warning to delinquent owners rather than a bidder notice. The second is the county tax-deed land auction under 7-8-2301, a genuine public auction but of land the county already owns after taking its own tax deed, ordered by the county commissioners within 6 months of acquiring title at a price the board fixes in advance. Neither one is a tax lien auction, and Montana holds no tax lien auction of any kind. A Montana sheriff's sale or foreclosure sale notice is a mortgage foreclosure and has nothing to do with the tax lien process.

Tax deed process

The deed process can lead to property ownership. Confirm the steps below, the interest conveyed, and the title and possession requirements for the parcel. If the parcels you are bidding on are vacant land rather than houses, see what buying land at a tax sale hands you.

Auction method: premium bid

Runs afterMontana runs no scheduled county tax deed auction and no calendar of deed sales. More…

Two different endings apply once the redemption period runs out, and which one applies is a property of the parcel. For ordinary property the treasurer simply grants the assignee a tax deed under 15-18-211 for a 25 dollar deed fee plus the county's actual notice costs, with no auction and no bidders. For property that contains a dwelling currently occupied by the legal titleholder of record, and that is classified residential under 15-6-134, agricultural under 15-6-133(1)(a) or (1)(c), or forest under 15-6-143, the assignee may not take the deed directly. Under 15-18-219 the assignee files an application with the treasurer and pays a 25 dollar application fee, the redemption amount on any unassigned liens or liens held by other assignees, any delinquent taxes, penalties and interest, and the current taxes. The treasurer then holds a public auction in the county within 60 days of receiving that application, under 15-18-220. That auction exists so the owner's equity is paid out rather than forfeited, which is why the opening bid carries half the assessed value. If no assignment was ever taken, no deed issues to the county unless the county commissioners direct the treasurer by resolution.

Run by

County Treasurer

DepositThe high bidder posts a nonrefundable deposit with the county treasurer at the time of sale of 5 percent of the bid or 200 dollars, whichever is greater, and the deposit is applied to the sale price on full payment. More…

Notice of the deposit requirement must be posted at the auction site, and the treasurer may require bidders to show they can post it. The treasurer may refuse to recognize a bid from someone who previously bid and then refused to honor the bid.

Balance dueFull payment of the purchase price plus the treasurer's auction costs is due within 24 hours of the sale, excluding weekends and legal holidays. More…

If a high bidder who is not the assignee fails to pay, the treasurer cancels that bid and offers the deed to the next highest bidder for the amount bid, repeating down the list until someone pays or no bidders remain. If the assignee is the high bidder, the assignee pays auction costs plus any part of the opening bid not already paid, including filing fees, the tax deed fee and half the most recent assessed value of the land and dwelling, and a failure to pay within the same 24 hours cancels the assignment entirely. If no one bids at all, or nobody pays, the treasurer cancels the assignment and files a notice of cancellation with the county clerk and recorder. The investor loses the lien in that case, so an assignee on this track should treat the auction as a real risk to the position, not a formality.

Surplus proceedsMontana pays the owner's equity out rather than letting it be forfeited. More…

The portion of the opening bid equal to half the most recent assessed value of the land and of the dwelling is treated as surplus funds, and so is anything a winning bid adds above the opening bid. Where the deed is bought by someone other than the assignee, the treasurer first repays the assignee the amount paid for the assignment, including delinquent taxes, penalties, interest and costs, plus everything paid on the tax deed application under 15-18-219(2). The treasurer then distributes the surplus to the legal titleholder of record within 30 days of receiving payment from the purchaser, whether or not the titleholder lives in Montana. On the ordinary non-auction track there is no sale, no bidding and no surplus: the assignee receives the deed itself.

Confirm marketability and insurance requirements with a title professional. Budget any title-clearing work and delays before relying on a resale. See the due diligence guide, or check what survives a tax deed in Montana.

Redemption, delinquency, and over-the-counter at a glance

Redemption

How longThe clock runs from attachment of the tax lien, which happens no later than the first working day in August, and it ends on the first working day in August of the third year after that. More…

Redemption stays open for the whole period and the assignee cannot shorten it. On the residential auction track the right to redeem runs further still: the statutory notice tells the parties that a tax deed will be auctioned unless the lien is redeemed before the date of the auction, and 15-18-112(4) lets a particular tax year be redeemed until a deed has issued under 15-18-211 or 15-18-220. Interest and costs keep accruing until the day of redemption, and the county treasurer, not the assignee, calculates the payoff as of the date of payment. A redemption before the lien is assigned goes to the county; after assignment the treasurer pays the assignee.

What the owner paysThe full amount of the property tax lien, which is the delinquent taxes plus the 2 percent penalty, the interest accrued at 5/6 of 1 percent a month and the county's costs, plus every subsequent tax the assignee paid with interest and penalty at the same 15-16-102 rate. More…

The treasurer then pays the assignee the amount the assignee paid for the lien, plus any subsequent amounts paid, plus interest at the 15-16-102 rate from the date of each payment to the date of redemption, and sends it to the address on the assignment certificate within 30 days. Anything left over is credited to the taxing funds the taxes would originally have gone to. Costs are the category to check before assuming a payoff: they include the county's charge for assigning the lien, the certified mailings, a title search to the extent needed to identify interested parties, publication and the filing of proof of notice, and the treasurer may require receipts or accept a notarized affidavit of costs.

Delinquency

How it startsMontana property taxes are billed in halves. More…

The first half is payable by 5 p.m. on November 30, or within 30 days after the tax notice is postmarked if that is later, and the second half by 5 p.m. on May 31. An unpaid half is delinquent from that moment, draws interest at 5/6 of 1 percent a month until paid, and has a one time 2 percent penalty added to it. Taxpayers on the alternative payment schedule for primary residences pay one seventh each month from November 30 through May 31 and fall under the same interest and penalty if a payment is missed. A taxpayer may pay the current year without clearing an older delinquency, and paying the current year is not a redemption of any earlier tax lien. Parcels still delinquent at the end of that cycle get a county tax lien attached no later than the first working day in August.

Over-the-counter

How to buyEvery Montana tax lien is over the counter, because that is the only way one is ever acquired. More…

The county holds the lien from the moment it attaches, and 15-17-323(1)(a) requires the treasurer to assign it to any person who first mails the assessed owner a notice of pending assignment by certified mail and then pays the delinquent taxes, penalties, interest and costs. The notice must be mailed at least 2 weeks before the payment, not earlier than August 15 and not more than 60 days before the purchase, and the buyer must hand the treasurer proof of the mailing. Counties add their own assignment fee, which ran from 50 to 75 dollars per parcel at the offices checked for this record. The treasurer issues an assignment certificate in the statutory form, mails a copy to the assessed owner, and files a copy with the clerk and recorder. In the first days after attachment most counties run an allocation step because several investors want the same parcels, and after that step the remaining liens sit with the treasurer and can be assigned on demand for the rest of the year. An assignee may pass the lien on to a new assignee for any consideration, which is binding only once a signed statement naming the old and new assignees and describing the property is filed with the treasurer.

What is availableMontana keeps no lands available list and no struck to the state inventory. More…

Parcels are never struck to the state, because the lien sits with the COUNTY from the day it attaches. What does exist is county tax-deed land. Where the county itself ends up with a tax deed, the board of county commissioners must within 6 months enter an order to sell the land at public auction, donate it to a municipality, donate it or sell it at a reduced price to a qualifying corporation for low income housing, or retain it. A sale may not go below a price the board fixes in advance, which may be set high enough to recover the taxes, assessments, penalties and interest due when the deed was taken plus the county's costs of taking the deed and running the sale. The county clerk publishes the notice with the list of lands, the department of revenue fair market value and the time and place. If no bids come in, the board orders another auction within 6 months and may reset the price, and after a second failure the land can be managed or disposed of under Title 7, chapter 8, part 25. Before bidding, note that the delinquent taxpayer or a successor may repurchase the land from the county up to 24 hours before the time fixed for the first offering.

Every state has its own name for what goes unsold, so check what Montana calls its leftover tax-sale inventory.

Governing statutes

Mont. Code Ann. Title 15, ch. 17 Mont. Code Ann. Title 15, ch. 17, part 2 Mont. Code Ann. 15-16-102 Mont. Code Ann. 15-17-121 Mont. Code Ann. 15-17-122 Mont. Code Ann. 15-17-125 Mont. Code Ann. 15-17-323 Mont. Code Ann. 15-18-111 Mont. Code Ann. 15-18-112 Mont. Code Ann. 15-18-114 Mont. Code Ann. 15-18-211 Mont. Code Ann. 15-18-212 Mont. Code Ann. 15-18-214 Mont. Code Ann. 15-18-219 Mont. Code Ann. 15-18-220 Mont. Code Ann. 15-18-221 Mont. Code Ann. 7-8-2301

All 56 Montana counties

Sales are organized by county. Search your city or county and compare the available sale details. Where deed-sale formats are listed, filter for online or in-person sales. Certificate platforms appear where that sale type is available.

Frequently asked questions

Does Montana hold a tax lien auction?

No. Montana repealed its tax lien sale. Title 15, chapter 17, part 2 is printed in the official code as "Tax Lien Sale (Renumbered and Repealed)", and 15-17-125 now has the county treasurer ATTACH a tax lien to each delinquent parcel no later than the first working day in August, with the county as the possessor of that lien. There is no bidding, no bid down of interest, no premium bidding and no auction platform. An investor takes a Montana tax lien only by assignment from the county treasurer under 15-17-323.

How does an investor buy a Montana tax lien?

By assignment. First mail the person to whom the property was assessed a notice of pending assignment by certified mail, in the form set out in 15-17-323(6). It must go out at least 2 weeks before you pay, not earlier than August 15 and not more than 60 days before the purchase. Then pay the county treasurer the delinquent taxes, penalties, interest and costs, hand over proof of the certified mailing, and pay the county's assignment fee. The treasurer issues an assignment certificate, mails a copy to the owner and files a copy with the clerk and recorder.

What happens when two investors want the same Montana parcel?

The county decides, under a written policy. Mont. Code Ann. 15-17-323(1)(b) directs each county treasurer to develop a policy for assigning a tax lien when more than one person seeks it, with input from the county clerk and recorder and the county attorney, and the policies differ from county to county. Some treat the counter as first come, first served and break a tie by a random draw. Others take one ranked parcel list per investor by a stated deadline and run a randomized lottery on a fixed assignment day, then sell whatever is left first come, first served. Ask the treasurer for that county's written policy before you mail your notices.

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