Rosebud County, MT tax sales

County offices

County notes

• •The assignment fee is $50.00 per parcel on top of the delinquent taxes, penalties and interest, and the Treasurer takes cash, check or cashier's check. Fax is (406) 346-2754 and office hours are Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• •Rosebud County posts a countywide delinquent tax report and it is the parcel list an investor works from. Every unpaid real property account appears with its tax ID, owner name, tax sale certificate number, tax year, and the tax, penalty, interest and total due. There is no separate auction catalog, because assignments involve no auction.
• •Use the county's own Notice of Pending Assignment form rather than a generic one. It carries the statutory citations, the 60 day expiry and the signature block the Treasurer expects, and the Treasurer posts it alongside the assignment guide.
• •At the end of the redemption period the route splits on what stands on the parcel. Rosebud County deeds ordinary property straight to the lienholder for a $25.00 tax deed fee plus $8.00 per page to record. A parcel with an owner occupied residential dwelling is auctioned instead: the lienholder files a tax deed application by August 5, or the next business day, with a $25.00 application fee plus any non-assigned taxes, any other tax assignments and the sheriff fee. The county then publishes notice of that auction within 30 days of the application and holds it within 60 days, so these sales are scheduled parcel by parcel and never on an annual calendar.
• •At one of those auctions the opening bid cannot be lowered. It has to cover the amount required to redeem the lien, everything the lienholder paid with the application, the $25.00 deed fee and $8.00 per page recording fee, and half the assessed value of the property, or half the appraised value from an independent appraisal submitted to the Treasurer, conducted within 6 months of the auction and meeting Montana Board of Real Estate Appraisers standards. A winning bidder who is not the lienholder posts 5 percent of the bid or $200.00, whichever is greater, at the time of sale, then pays the balance with auction costs by cash or cashier's check within 24 hours.
• •The deadline that ends a Rosebud County position is a notice, not a payment. The county mails each lienholder a notice of obligation in January of the final redemption year, the lienholder publishes and mails the notice that a tax deed may be issued between May 1 and May 30, and proof of notice has to be filed with the Clerk and Recorder within 30 days of that first mailing and publication. Any lien in its final redemption year with no proof of notice on file "will be cancelled" in July.

Montana rules

Max interest rate

10% per year, fixed by statute (nothing is bid)Mont. Code Ann. 15-16-102 - Time for payment, penalty for delinquencyMont. Code Ann. 15-16-102Verified Sep 10, 2026

Minimum return

No statutory floor; every certificate earns the same statutory rateMont. Code Ann. 15-16-102 - Time for payment, penalty for delinquencyMont. Code Ann. 15-16-102Verified Sep 10, 2026

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.Mont. Code Ann. 15-18-111 - Time for redemption, interested partyMont. Code Ann. 15-18-111Verified Sep 10, 2026

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.Mont. Code Ann. 15-18-220 - Sale at public auction, notice of auction, cancellation of assignment for unsuccessful auction, foreign entity prohibitionMont. Code Ann. 15-18-220Verified Sep 10, 2026

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.Mont. Code Ann. 15-18-221 - Distribution of tax deed auction proceedsMont. Code Ann. 15-18-221Verified Sep 10, 2026

Governing statute

Mont. Code Ann. Title 15, ch. 17Mont. Code Ann. 15-17-125 - Attachment of tax lien and preparation of tax lien certificateMont. Code Ann. 15-17-125Verified Sep 10, 2026

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.

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