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Tax Sale Atlas

Yellowstone County, MT tax sales

Tax Sale Atlas maps the Yellowstone County, MT tax sale, one of 3,131 counties in 51 states. Montana sells tax lien certificates at a fixed 10% a year. Sale office, calendar and list locations read from state rules plus what the county publishes on Oct 6, 2026.

How tax lien and tax deed sales work in Yellowstone County, seat of Billings: 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 tax deed sale
Held parcel by parcel, not on an annual calendar.
Format
In person
County office
(406) 256-2807
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Oct 6, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page
Look up a sale detail

Yellowstone 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.. annual

Record quality: medium. Last verified: 2026-10-06.

Notice of Tax Deed Auction, Yellowstone County Treasurer (source accessed 2026-10-06)

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

Link to this detail

How Yellowstone County sells delinquent taxes

Tax certificate sale (lien)

In person at the county treasurer's counter, or by mail or email where the county allows it. Montana holds no tax lien auction, so there is no online bidding platform, no registration portal and no vendor to sign up with.
Run by
Yellowstone County Treasurer
Frequency
annual
Typical timing
Montana runs no tax lien auction, so Yellowstone County has no lien sale date.
Registration
There is no bidder registration because there is no auction.
When it runs
Montana runs no tax lien auction, so Yellowstone County has no lien sale date. The Treasurer publishes or posts the notice of pending attachment on or before the last Monday in June, and the county tax lien attaches no later than the first working day in August. An investor notice of pending assignment may not be mailed before August 15 and must precede payment by at least two weeks, which puts the earliest possible assignment purchase near the end of August.
Registration and deposit

There is no bidder registration because there is no auction. To take an assignment, identify the delinquent parcel with the Treasurer Property Tax Department, send the statutory notice of pending assignment by certified mail to the person the property was assessed to, supply proof of that mailing, then pay the delinquent taxes plus penalties, interest and costs in full. The Treasurer issues an assignment certificate naming you as assignee. Montana law requires each county treasurer to adopt a written policy for deciding who receives the lien when more than one person seeks the same parcel. Yellowstone County does not publish that policy or its assignment fee, so confirm both with the Property Tax Department at 406-256-2802, or the Treasurer office at (406) 256-2807 or treasurer@yellowstonecountymt.gov, before mailing notice.

Sale format and venue
Yellowstone County has no tax lien auction and no auction platform. Its Treasurer Property Tax Department issues real property tax assignment certificates and tax deeds, and an investor buys in by paying off a delinquent parcel and taking assignment of the county lien. The county publishes no online delinquent-parcel list and no assignment calendar. Under state law the list of every property with delinquent taxes is on file in the Treasurer office and open to inspection, and the notice of pending attachment runs in the newspaper by the last Monday in June, so request the list from the Property Tax Department rather than looking for a download.
Source: Property Tax Department, Yellowstone County Treasurer· Verified Oct 6, 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
Yellowstone County Treasurer
Frequency
annual
Typical timing
Held parcel by parcel, not on an annual calendar.
Sale list
Notice of Tax Deed Auction, October 19, 2026
When it runs
Held parcel by parcel, not on an annual calendar. When an assignee seeks a deed to a dwelling the legal titleholder still occupies, the Treasurer must hold a public auction within 60 days of the application. The current noticed auction is Monday, October 19, 2026 at 10:00 a.m., for Lots 37 and 38, Block 2, Pine Hill Subdivision, with a minimum opening bid of $34,333.13.
Registration and deposit

All bidders register in advance at the auction; registration begins at 9:00 a.m. on sale day. A winning bidder who is not the lienholder posts a deposit of 5 percent of the winning bid (at least $1,716.66 at the current opening bid). If the lienholder wins, the deposit is the auction costs plus any unpaid amounts in the opening bid. Full payment of the price and auction costs is due within 24 hours of the sale, excluding weekends and legal holidays.

Sale format and venue
In-person public auction in the Treasurer's Office Conference Room, first floor of the John V. Ostlund Building, 2825 3rd Ave N, Billings. The opening bid includes the delinquent taxes and costs, filing and tax deed fees, and one-half of the most recently assessed value of the land and improvements. Under state law a non-lienholder deposit is 5 percent of the bid or 200 dollars, whichever is greater, and it is nonrefundable. Each auction is announced by its own notice on the Treasurer page and in the county News and Alerts; for parcel details call (406) 256-2807 or email treasurer@yellowstonecountymt.gov.
Source: Notice of Tax Deed Auction, Yellowstone County Treasurer· Verified Oct 6, 2026

Yellowstone County tax sale list and auction calendar

For Yellowstone 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. Confirm the advertised parcel list

    Use Notice of Tax Deed Auction, October 19, 2026 as a starting reference. Check which sale or list it covers; a Lands Available or office information page is separate from an auction parcel list. Ask the sale office for the advertised parcels for the auction you plan to attend.

  2. Register to bid

    Ask the Yellowstone County Treasurer how and when to register; many counties close registration days or weeks before the sale.

  3. Sale day

    Held parcel by parcel, not on an annual calendar. The sale is live and in person; there is no online bidding platform. Confirm the venue and hour with the Yellowstone County Treasurer before you go.

  4. Confirm with the office

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

Before you bid in Yellowstone County

  1. Confirm the parcel list before pricing

    Open Notice of Tax Deed Auction, October 19, 2026. Confirm whether this reference contains the auction parcels or covers a different list. Get the advertised parcel list from the county before you price a bid, and recheck it before the sale.

  2. Confirm registration and deposit

    All bidders register in advance at the auction; registration begins at 9:00 a.m. on sale day. A winning bidder who is not the lienholder posts a deposit of 5 percent of the winning bid (at least $1,716.66 at the current opening bid). If the lienholder wins, the deposit is the auction costs plus any unpaid amounts in the opening bid. Full payment of the price and auction costs is due within 24 hours of the sale, excluding weekends and legal holidays.

  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)

Yellowstone County Treasurer

(406) 256-2807

Room 113, John V. Ostlund County Administration Building, 2825 3rd Avenue North, Billings, MT 59101 (mail to P.O. Box 35010, Billings, MT 59107)

Official website

County notes

  • The Property Tax Department bills roughly 75,000 real estate parcels, 5,900 mobile homes and 1,050 personal property accounts each year and collects about 345 million dollars in property taxes.
  • Yellowstone County adds a 2 percent penalty and interest of 5/6 of 1 percent per month to delinquent taxes, and that accrued amount is part of what an assignee pays the county to take the lien.
  • Real estate taxes are due in two halves, November 30 and May 31, so the balances that reach the August lien attachment are the ones unpaid after the spring installment.
  • Tax deed auctions are noticed one parcel at a time on the Treasurer page and in the county News and Alerts, with the opening bid, deposit and payment terms stated in each notice.
  • The Treasurer property search covers one parcel at a time by address, tax code, owner name, geocode or legal address, and it does not produce a delinquent list. Ask the Property Tax Department for the delinquent roll it keeps on file.

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 Montana rules and every county →

Frequently asked questions

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

Yellowstone County follows Montana's tax lien state system.

When is the Yellowstone County tax certificate sale?

Montana runs no tax lien auction, so Yellowstone County has no lien sale date. The Treasurer publishes or posts the notice of pending attachment on or before the last Monday in June, and the county tax lien attaches no later than the first working day in August. An investor notice of pending assignment may not be mailed before August 15 and must precede payment by at least two weeks, which puts the earliest possible assignment purchase near the end of August. The sale is held in person. Always confirm the exact date with the County Treasurer before the sale.

How often does Yellowstone County hold tax deed sales?

Yellowstone County holds tax deed sales once a year. Held parcel by parcel, not on an annual calendar. 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 Yellowstone 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.

Where can I find the Yellowstone County tax sale list?

The recorded official list reference is at yellowstonecountymt.gov. Check whether it covers auction parcels, office information or Lands Available, then obtain the advertised parcel list for the sale you plan to bid on. Confirm every parcel against the county's legal advertisement.

Verified Oct 6, 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 office that runs the sale before you bid.

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Compare sale calendars, platforms, and rules across the state, or read the guides before you bid.

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Call Yellowstone County Treasurer