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Tax Sale Atlas

McCone County, MT tax sales

Tax Sale Atlas maps the McCone 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 state rules plus what the county publishes on Sep 11, 2026.

How tax lien and tax deed sales work in McCone County, seat of Circle: 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
Nothing is scheduled in advance.
Format
In person
County office
(406) 485-3590
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Sep 11, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page
Look up a sale detail

County Treasurer. In person at the county treasurer's office during regular office hours. Mont. Code Ann. 15-18-220(6) permits a county to conduct the auction electronically but does not require it, and there is no statewide platform.. As applied for. There is no deed sale calendar, and most parcels never reach an auction at all.

Record quality: medium. Last verified: 2026-09-11.

Mont. Code Ann. 15-18-220 - Sale at public auction, notice of auction, cancellation of assignment for unsuccessful auction, foreign entity prohibition (source accessed 2026-09-10)

Recorded reference information. Verify current sale conditions with the county. Read the full sale details.

Link to this detail

How McCone County sells delinquent taxes

Tax certificate sale (lien)

In person
Run by
McCone County Treasurer
Frequency
annual
Typical timing
No auction date exists, because McCone County holds no tax lien auction.
Registration
There is no bidder registration, no deposit and no auction to register for.
When it runs
No auction date exists, because McCone County holds no tax lien auction. The calendar is the statutory one. The Treasurer's office sets real estate taxes in two installments, the first due November 30th and the second due May 31st, and adds a 2 percent penalty plus 10 percent annual interest the moment either installment goes delinquent. The Treasurer publishes the notice of pending attachment on or before the last Monday in June, then attaches the tax lien to the county no later than the first working day in August. An investor may not mail the required notice of pending assignment before August 15, and must mail it at least 2 weeks before paying and no more than 60 days before the purchase, so the earliest a McCone County lien can change hands is around the end of August. Liens nobody takes stay available at the Treasurer's counter year round.
Registration and deposit

There is no bidder registration, no deposit and no auction to register for. Acquiring a McCone County lien takes a notice and a payment. Mail the person to whom the property was assessed a notice of pending assignment by certified mail, in the form printed at Mont. Code Ann. 15-17-323(6), carrying the owner of record, mailing address, legal description, parcel number and date of notice. Send it no earlier than August 15, at least 2 weeks before you pay, and no more than 60 days before the purchase, then bring the certified mailing receipt and a copy of the notice to the Treasurer's office and pay the delinquent taxes, penalties, interest and costs plus the county's assignment fee. McCone County publishes no assignment form, no fee schedule and no written policy for competing requests, so call the Treasurer at (406) 485-3590 to confirm the fee, the accepted payment methods and how the office decides between two buyers who want the same parcel.

Sale format and venue
McCone County publishes no online list of liens available for assignment, and no tax lien or assignment page at all. The list exists, it is simply not on the web. Mont. Code Ann. 15-17-122(2) requires the notice of pending attachment to state that a list of every property with delinquent taxes is on file in the county treasurer's office and open to inspection, and that notice runs in the county's legal newspaper on or before the last Monday in June. So the two places to look in McCone County are the Treasurer's counter, by calling (406) 485-3590 and asking for the delinquent list, and the local paper in late June and July. Nothing is bid here. Mont. Code Ann. 15-17-125 attaches the lien to the county on the first working day in August, and Mont. Code Ann. 15-17-323(1)(a) then obliges the treasurer to assign it to any person who mails the statutory notice and pays what is owed, so the price and the 10 percent annual rate are both fixed and every assignee earns the same return. Mont. Code Ann. 15-17-323(1)(b) leaves each treasurer to write a policy for the case where two or more people want the same parcel, which in other Montana counties takes the shape of first come first served, a ranked parcel list, or a lottery. McCone County publishes none of the three, so ask the Treasurer which one is in force before mailing any notices. In person at the McCone County Treasurer's counter in the courthouse at 1004 C Avenue in Circle, or by mail to PO Box 180 where the office allows it. Montana holds no tax lien auction, so there is no online bidding platform, no bidder portal and no vendor to sign up with.
Source: McCone County Treasurer, office contacts, property tax due dates and delinquency terms· Verified Sep 11, 2026

Tax deed sale

In person at the county treasurer's office during regular office hours. Mont. Code Ann. 15-18-220(6) permits a county to conduct the auction electronically but does not require it, and there is no statewide platform.
Run by
County Treasurer
Frequency
As applied for. There is no deed sale calendar, and most parcels never reach an auction at all.
Typical timing
Nothing is scheduled in advance.
When it runs
Nothing is scheduled in advance. Once the redemption period runs out, 3 years after attachment or 2 years for an unimproved subdivided lot with delinquent improvement district assessments, the path forks on what is standing on the parcel. Ordinary property is deeded straight to the assignee under Mont. Code Ann. 15-18-211 for a 25 dollar deed fee plus the county's notice costs, with no auction and no bidders. Property with a dwelling currently occupied by the legal titleholder of record goes to a public auction instead: the assignee files a tax deed application with the treasurer after the redemption period expires, and the treasurer must hold the auction in the county within 60 days of receiving it. The treasurer publishes the auction notice with the date, time, location, legal description, deposit requirement and minimum opening bid. The auction runs during the treasurer's regular office hours and may be conducted electronically.
Registration and deposit

Bidders at a Montana tax deed auction do not pre-register, but three requirements bind at the auction itself. An entity must give the treasurer written proof that it is a domestic entity before the treasurer will accept its opening bid, and a foreign entity may not buy at all. The high bidder posts a nonrefundable deposit at the time of sale of 5 percent of the bid or 200 dollars, whichever is greater, applied to the price on full payment, and the treasurer may ask bidders to show they can post it. Full payment of the purchase price plus the treasurer's auction costs is due within 24 hours of the sale, excluding weekends and legal holidays, and a bidder who misses it loses the parcel to the next highest bidder. Confirm the accepted payment methods with the county treasurer before the auction opens.

Sale format and venue
The opening bid is the amount needed to redeem the lien, plus everything the assignee paid on application, plus the tax deed and recording fees, plus an amount equal to half the most recent assessed value of the land and of the dwelling. An independent appraisal meeting Montana Board of Real Estate Appraisers standards and conducted within 6 months may stand in for the assessed value. The treasurer may not take a bid below that figure. The half-value component, and anything bid above the opening bid, is surplus: the treasurer repays the assignee first where someone else buys, then pays the surplus to the legal titleholder of record within 30 days. If nobody bids, or no bidder pays, or the assignee wins and fails to pay inside the 24 hours, the treasurer cancels the assignment and files a notice of cancellation, and the investor loses the lien position entirely. The owner may redeem right up to the day of the auction.
Source: Mont. Code Ann. 15-18-220 - Sale at public auction, notice of auction, cancellation of assignment for unsuccessful auction, foreign entity prohibitionMont. Code Ann. 15-18-220· Verified Sep 10, 2026

McCone County tax sale list and auction calendar

For McCone 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.

  1. Get the advertised list

    McCone County publishes no tax sale list online. The County Treasurer 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) 485-3590 to ask for the current advertisement.

  2. Register to bid

    Ask the county office how and when to register; many counties close registration days or weeks before the sale.

  3. Sale day

    Nothing is scheduled in advance. 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.

  4. Confirm with the office

    If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use County Treasurer as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.

Before you bid in McCone County

  1. Start with the live sale list

    There is no online list to price against. McCone County advertises the parcels before the sale rather than posting them, so get the advertisement from the office on (406) 485-3590 and price from the parcel numbers it carries.

  2. Confirm registration and deposit

    Bidders at a Montana tax deed auction do not pre-register, but three requirements bind at the auction itself. An entity must give the treasurer written proof that it is a domestic entity before the treasurer will accept its opening bid, and a foreign entity may not buy at all. The high bidder posts a nonrefundable deposit at the time of sale of 5 percent of the bid or 200 dollars, whichever is greater, applied to the price on full payment, and the treasurer may ask bidders to show they can post it. Full payment of the purchase price plus the treasurer's auction costs is due within 24 hours of the sale, excluding weekends and legal holidays, and a bidder who misses it loses the parcel to the next highest bidder. Confirm the accepted payment methods with the county treasurer before the auction opens.

  3. 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.

  4. 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

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)

McCone County Treasurer

(406) 485-3590

1004 C Avenue, PO Box 180, Circle, MT 59215

Official website

County notes

  • McCone County publishes no online list of tax liens available for assignment. Mont. Code Ann. 15-17-122(2) puts that list at the Treasurer's counter instead: the notice of pending attachment, published in the county's legal newspaper on or before the last Monday in June, must state that a list of every property with delinquent taxes is on file in the treasurer's office and open to inspection. Call the Treasurer at (406) 485-3590 to ask for the delinquent list, and watch the local paper in late June and July.
  • There is no auction to attend and no bidding method to learn. Montana repealed its tax lien sale. The lien attaches to the county on the first working day in August under Mont. Code Ann. 15-17-125, and a private investor acquires it only by assignment from the McCone County Treasurer under Mont. Code Ann. 15-17-323. Price and the 10 percent annual rate are fixed by statute, so nothing is bid up and nothing is bid down.
  • The assignment fee, the paperwork the office wants and the rule for competing requests are county policy rather than statute, and McCone County publishes none of them. Confirm all three with the Treasurer before mailing a notice of pending assignment, because a notice mailed outside the August 15 to 60 day window has to be sent again.
  • Two things that look like a tax sale in McCone County are not one. A sheriff's sale or foreclosure sale notice is a mortgage foreclosure and has nothing to do with delinquent property taxes. A county land sale is the county disposing of ground it already took by tax deed, not an investor lien or deed purchase.
  • The Treasurer's office in Circle is open Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, and the same office handles motor vehicle and property tax work, so call ahead before driving in for an assignment.

Montana rules

Max interest rate
10% per year, fixed by statute (nothing is bid)
Minimum return
No statutory floor; every certificate earns the same statutory rate
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.
Governing statute
Mont. Code Ann. Title 15, ch. 17

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.

See the full Montanarules and every county →

Frequently asked questions

Does McCone County, Montana sell tax liens or tax deeds?

McCone County follows Montana's tax lien state system.

When is the McCone County tax certificate sale?

No auction date exists, because McCone County holds no tax lien auction. The calendar is the statutory one. The Treasurer's office sets real estate taxes in two installments, the first due November 30th and the second due May 31st, and adds a 2 percent penalty plus 10 percent annual interest the moment either installment goes delinquent. The Treasurer publishes the notice of pending attachment on or before the last Monday in June, then attaches the tax lien to the county no later than the first working day in August. An investor may not mail the required notice of pending assignment before August 15, and must mail it at least 2 weeks before paying and no more than 60 days before the purchase, so the earliest a McCone County lien can change hands is around the end of August. Liens nobody takes stay available at the Treasurer's counter year round. The sale is held in person. Always confirm the exact date with the County Treasurer before the sale.

How often does McCone County hold tax deed sales?

McCone County holds its tax deed sale As applied for. There is no deed sale calendar, and most parcels never reach an auction at all. Nothing is scheduled in advance. Each sale is scheduled and advertised in advance, so check the county's tax deed calendar for the next posted date.

I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?

Often yes, by paying the overdue taxes, interest, and costs before the deadline. Montana's redemption rule: 3 years from attachment of the tax lien, ending on the first working day in August; 2 years for a subdivided residential or commercial lot with delinquent improvement district assessments and no habitable dwelling or commercial structure. Call the County Treasurer as early as possible for your exact payoff and options; deadlines are strict. Free help: lawhelp.org lists legal aid programs, and consumerfinance.gov lists HUD-approved housing counselors.

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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