Deer Lodge County, MT tax sales
Tax Sale Atlas maps the Deer Lodge County, MT tax sale, one of 2,862 counties in 36 states. Montana sells tax lien certificates paying up to 10%. Sale office, calendar and list locations read from the county’s own official pages on Sep 11, 2026.
How tax lien and tax deed sales work in Deer Lodge County, seat of Anaconda: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.
New to tax sales? Read how Montana tax sales work or look terms up in the glossary.
- Next sale
- No tax deed auction is held.
- Format
- In person
- Registration
- Tax deed action is driven by the assignee, not by the county.
- County office
- 406-563-4053
On this page
How Deer Lodge County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Treasurer's Office
- Frequency
- annual
- Registration
- There is no bidder registration and no bidding.
When it runs
Registration and deposit
There is no bidder registration and no bidding. Start by mailing the owner of record a certified-mail Notice of Pending Assignment on the county's form, showing the date of notice, owner name and mailing address, legal description, parcel number and geo code, signed by the interested assignee. The owner has two weeks from the date of the letter to bring the taxes current. If they remain unpaid, bring proof of the certified mailing to the Treasurer's counter on the second floor of the courthouse and pay the delinquent taxes plus a $75 assignment fee. Cash, personal check and cashier's check are accepted.
Sale format and venue
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Treasurer's Office
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- No tax deed auction is held.
- Registration
- Tax deed action is driven by the assignee, not by the county.
When it runs
Registration and deposit
Tax deed action is driven by the assignee, not by the county. The assignee orders a title search, serves the Final 60 Day Notice on all interested parties by certified mail with concurrent publication in the Anaconda Leader, files proof of notice with the Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Clerk and Recorder within 30 days of publication, and files copies of every document created during the action with the Treasurer's Office.
Sale format and venue
Deer Lodge County tax sale list and auction calendar
For Deer Lodge County tax sale 2026 searches, use the county-run sources below rather than a copied parcel list, and confirm the parcel, registration cutoff, deposit, and payment deadline against the county before you bid. If the parcels on this list are vacant land rather than houses, what buying land at a tax sale hands you is the place to start.
Get the advertised list
Deer Lodge County publishes no tax sale list online. The Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Treasurer's Office advertises the parcels ahead of the sale rather than posting them, so the list reaches bidders through the county legal newspaper and the office itself. Call 406-563-4053 to ask for the current advertisement.Register to bid
Sale day
No tax deed auction is held. The sale is live and in person; there is no online bidding platform. Confirm the venue and hour with the county office before you go.Confirm with the office
If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Treasurer's Office as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in Deer Lodge County
4 checks
Start with the live sale list
There is no online list to price against. Deer Lodge County advertises the parcels before the sale rather than posting them, so get the advertisement from the office on 406-563-4053 and price from the parcel numbers it carries.Confirm registration and deposit
Tax deed action is driven by the assignee, not by the county. The assignee orders a title search, serves the Final 60 Day Notice on all interested parties by certified mail with concurrent publication in the Anaconda Leader, files proof of notice with the Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Clerk and Recorder within 30 days of publication, and files copies of every document created during the action with the Treasurer's Office.
Check the state rules that change the bid
Read the Montana due-diligence checklist before bidding. Redemption, liens that survive a tax deed, title cleanup, and payment deadlines can change what a parcel is worth. Which liens survive is state law, so read what survives a tax deed in Montana before you price the title work.Set a walk-away number
Work out what the parcel is actually worth with the rural land value estimator, then turn it into a ceiling with the tax deed max-bid calculator.
Over-the-counter (leftover) purchases
unsold liens and deeds
Every Montana tax lien is effectively over the counter, because assignment is the only way one is ever acquired. The county holds each lien from the day it attaches, and the treasurer must assign it to any person who mails the assessed owner the statutory notice and pays the delinquent taxes, penalties, interest and costs plus the county's assignment fee. After the late August allocation step, whatever is left sits with the treasurer and can be assigned on demand for the rest of the year, subject to the same notice rules: not earlier than August 15, mailed at least 2 weeks before payment and no more than 60 days before it. Older tax years are assignable the same way. Separately, land the county itself took by tax deed is sold at a public auction the county commissioners must order within 6 months of acquiring title, at a price the board fixes in advance, with the list of lands and the time and place published by the county clerk. That county land auction is not a tax lien or tax deed sale and the delinquent taxpayer may repurchase up to 24 hours before the first offering.
New to this path? Read how over-the-counter certificates work. Every state has its own name for what goes unsold, so check what Montana calls its leftover tax-sale inventory.
Use the arrow keys to switch between these sections.
County offices
Tax Collector (runs the certificate sale)
County notes
- Montana runs no competitive tax lien auction, and Deer Lodge County is no exception. The county itself becomes the lienholder on every delinquent parcel each July, and a private investor acquires that lien only by assignment from the Treasurer under Mont. Code Ann. 15-17-323. The county's own guidance states plainly that this is not an auction of the property.
- Assignment is available year round rather than on a sale date, so the timeline an investor controls is the two-week certified-mail notice to the owner of record. Use the Treasurer's Notice of Pending Assignment form, which asks for the owner name and mailing address, legal description, parcel number, geo code and date of notice, and keep the certified mailing receipt because the county requires proof of it before granting the assignment.
- There is no online parcel list. Delinquencies appear for three weeks in the Anaconda Leader ahead of the July lien date, and the Treasurer's uncollected tax report can be viewed at the counter; an electronic copy is $25 and a printed copy is priced on request, each requiring a signed disclaimer. Call the Treasurer at 406-563-4053 to arrange either.
- Budget $75 per parcel for the assignment fee on top of the delinquent taxes, penalties, interest and costs. If the owner redeems, the county repays the amount advanced plus that $75 fee, 10% annual interest to the date of redemption, and any receipted costs you have filed with the Treasurer's Office.
- The Treasurer's office accepts cash, personal checks and cashier's checks for an assignment, and states that the county cannot provide legal advice or assistance anywhere in this process.
Montana rules
- Redemption
- The 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. 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.
- Deed deposit
- The 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. 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.
- Surplus proceeds
- Montana pays the owner's equity out rather than letting it be forfeited. 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.
A tax deed does not convey marketable title. Most buyers file a quiet title action before they can resell or insure the property. See the due diligence guide.
Frequently asked questions
Does Deer Lodge County, Montana sell tax liens or tax deeds?
When is the Deer Lodge County tax certificate sale?
How often does Deer Lodge County hold tax deed sales?
I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?
Verified Sep 11, 2026 against official county and state sources.
Tax Sale Atlas publishes educational information about public tax sale processes. This is not legal, financial, or investment advice. Rules, dates, and fees change; confirm with the county office before you bid.
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