Land · Montana tax lien guide

Gallatin County tax lien assignments, Montana

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Two pieces of local texture stand out. The City of Bozeman forwards its delinquent special assessments to the county for collection, and they become part of the county tax records collectible through this same lien and assignment process, so a parcel can carry a lien even when its county taxes were paid. The county also sends a courtesy notice after the first half goes delinquent, and its online tax site flags parcels whose status reads Current, Assignment Taken, warning owners to call the treasurer at once.

Selling office: Gallatin County Treasurer, 311 West Main, Room 103, Bozeman, MT 59715; phone 406-582-3033

Next sale: First day the newest tax liens can be purchased: Tuesday, August 31, 2027. The county timeline runs the same dates each cycle: preference lists are due August 30, the first purchases happen August 31, and the majority of assignments are issued September 1, with certificates sent by certified mail later. The delinquent parcel list is made available by the treasurer after the August attachment.

Plan around the end of August: notices out on August 15, preference list in by August 30, money ready for August 31. Holders of earlier assignments can pay the subsequent delinquent taxes into their liens from June 1 to July 31, before the new lien attaches.

Dates and deadlines

Sources: Timeline for delinquent taxes, tax liens, and assignments, Gallatin County Treasurer. Property tax search help, Gallatin County Treasurer. Confirm with the selling office before relying on any date on this page: sales move, terms change, and parcels are pulled up to sale day.

Research Gallatin County parcels before you bid

A sale list gives you the parcels, the date, and the opening terms. It does not give you the owner, the value, or the rest of the picture: liens, foreclosure status, and parcel history. PropertyRadar is the data platform for that layer. It carries owner records, assessed and market values, foreclosure and tax data, and property history for parcels across Gallatin County, searchable by address, owner, or county, including parcels that never reach a sale list.

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How Montana tax lien assignments work

• Taxes are due in halves, on November 30 and May 31. A delinquent installment draws a 2 percent penalty at once and interest at 5/6 of 1 percent per month until paid (MCA 15-16-102).
• The county warns, then attaches. The notice of pending attachment is published by the last Monday in June and mailed to the assessed person at least two weeks before attachment; the treasurer attaches the lien no later than the first working day in August, and the county itself is the possessor of the lien (MCA 15-17-122 and 15-17-125).
• A buyer takes the lien by assignment. The buyer mails the Notice of Pending Assignment by certified mail to the person the property was assessed to, not earlier than August 15, at least two weeks before payment and not more than 60 days before purchase, gives the treasurer proof of the mailing, and pays the full delinquency of taxes, penalties, interest, and costs. There is no bidding and no premium (MCA 15-17-323).
• Competing buyers are sorted by county policy, not by price. Treasurers publish their own rules for competing requests, from preference lists and lotteries to a card draw, and an assignee may later reassign the lien to another buyer for any consideration (MCA 15-17-323).
• Redemption runs three years from attachment. The owner, an occupant, the holder of an unrecorded interest, or another interested party may redeem by the first working day in August three years after attachment; a subdivided residential or commercial lot with delinquent special assessments and no habitable structure redeems in two years (MCA 15-18-111).
• The final year notice is mandatory. Between May 1 and May 30 of the year the redemption period expires, the assignee must notify the occupant and every interested party that a tax deed may be issued, and file proof within 30 days; an assignee who fails to give the notice has the lien and the assignment certificate cancelled (MCA 15-18-212).
• The deed issues, or the home is auctioned. For most property the treasurer grants the assignee a tax deed on payment of the deed fee and notice costs. Where the property is a dwelling occupied by its record owner, the treasurer instead holds a public auction whose opening bid adds half the assessed value of the land and dwelling, and that half value component and any overbid are paid to the former owner as surplus (MCA 15-18-211 and 15-18-219 to 15-18-221).

How buying works in Gallatin County

Mail the Notice of Pending Assignment by certified mail to the person to whom the property was assessed, at least two weeks before payment, not earlier than August 15 and not more than 60 days before purchase, and give the treasurer proof of the mailing; a certified mailing receipt lacking either an address or a postmark is insufficient proof. By August 30, submit a list of all tax codes in order of preference, by email to treasurer@gallatin.mt.gov or in person at the office.

• There is no bidding on a lien An assignment is not won by offering more. The price is fixed by statute at the full delinquency, and where more than one buyer wants the same lien, the published policy of that county treasurer for competing requests decides who is served first.
• What is due at assignment The full delinquency: taxes, penalties, interest, and costs from the date of delinquency, plus any assignment fee the county charges. Each county page carries the fee and payment forms that county publishes, or says plainly that the county does not publish them.
• Reassignment An assignee may assign the lien on to another buyer for any consideration, by filing the statutory statement of reassignment with the treasurer (MCA 15-17-323).

Terms: what a bid actually costs

Liens nobody takes

A lien nobody takes stays with the county and remains assignable while the redemption period runs. If the taxpayer pays the delinquent taxes, the county files a redemption certificate with the Clerk and Recorder releasing the lien. The county publishes no separate sale of untaken liens.

Before you bid

• The notice is the first deadline of the deal An assignment bought without the certified Notice of Pending Assignment, mailed inside its window (not before August 15, at least two weeks before payment, and within 60 days of purchase), is not a valid assignment. Counties examine the proof of mailing closely, and receipts missing the address or the postmark are rejected.
• Calendar the third year notice on day one The May notice in the year the redemption period expires is the step that kills assignments: miss it and the lien and the certificate are cancelled. The treasurer mails a reminder in January of that year, but the duty and the risk belong to the assignee.
• Know which deed path the property is on A vacant parcel or a rental ends in a direct tax deed to the assignee; a home occupied by its owner ends in an auction where the assignee can be outbid and repaid instead. Price the assignment with both endings in view before paying the delinquency.

Every Montana county in this set

One page per county, each verified against the county's own publications and the current text of MCA title 15 chapters 17 and 18. Montana assigns its county held liens county by county through each county treasurer; this set is the 10 largest counties.

• Yellowstone County tax lien assignments
• Missoula County tax lien assignments
• Gallatin County (this page)
• Flathead County tax lien assignments
• Cascade County tax lien assignments
• Lewis and Clark County tax lien assignments
• Ravalli County tax lien assignments
• Silver Bow County tax lien assignments
• Lake County tax lien assignments
• Lincoln County tax lien assignments

Keep going

Once a deadline puts you in a sale, the Land Investor Due Diligence Toolkit is the checklist and bid worksheet to run on each parcel before you bid. The same desk runs Florida tax deed sales, Texas tax sales, Pennsylvania tax sales, Georgia tax sales, North Carolina tax foreclosure sales, Ohio tax foreclosure sales, Illinois tax lien sales, Michigan tax foreclosure sales, Arizona tax lien sales, California tax defaulted property sales, Colorado tax lien sales, South Carolina tax sales, Indiana tax lien sales, Tennessee delinquent tax sales, Wisconsin tax deed sales, Missouri tax sales, New Jersey tax lien sales, Maryland tax lien sales, West Virginia tax sales, Virginia tax sales, Oklahoma tax resale, Kansas tax foreclosure sales, Arkansas tax-delinquent land sales, Alabama tax sales, Kentucky certificate of delinquency sales, Mississippi tax land sales, Nevada tax deed sales, New Mexico delinquent property tax sales, Iowa tax lien sales, Nebraska tax certificate sales, Minnesota tax-forfeited land sales, Utah final tax sales, Washington tax foreclosure sales, Oregon tax foreclosure sales, Connecticut tax sales, Massachusetts tax title sales, Rhode Island tax sales, Vermont tax sales, New Hampshire tax lien sales, Maine tax lien sales, Delaware tax sales, Louisiana tax sales, Idaho tax deed sales and Montana tax lien assignments, and the proven New York season, with the live membership, sits in the NY tax sale hub.