Missoula County tax lien assignments, Montana

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Missoula is one of the few Montana counties that posts its entire competing request policy on its website, including the snake draft example and the refund mechanics for unspent funds. Its tax questions page adds local texture: delinquent tax notices are mailed in late June and early July, a $75 tax lien certificate fee is charged to the property when the lien attaches, and the taxpayer has two to three years from attachment to pay or risk losing the property. The county tells investors plainly to hire an attorney before investing in tax liens.

Selling office: Missoula County Clerk and Treasurer, Missoula County Courthouse Annex, 200 W. Broadway, Missoula, MT 59802; Taxes and Vehicles 406-258-4747; Property 406-258-4752

Next sale: Lien attachment: Monday, August 2, 2027, the first business day in August. Delinquent tax notices go out in late June and early July, liens attach on the first business day in August, and third party assignments follow in late August under the priority policy posted on the county delinquent taxes page. Watch that page and the tax questions page for the season's submission details.

Plan around late August: build the parcel list and mail the certified notices in mid August so the list, the proofs, and the funds reach the treasurer together when assignments open. Electronic lists beat paper, so the Excel or CSV route is the one to prepare.

Dates and deadlines

Next sale	Lien attachment: Monday, August 2, 2027, the first business day in August
Tax halves due	November 30 and May 31
Delinquent tax notices mailed	Late June to early July
Lien attached by the county	First business day in August; Monday, August 2, 2027 in the next cycle
Assignments to third parties	Late August
Earliest Notice of Pending Assignment mailing	August 15, at least 2 weeks before payment and not more than 60 days before purchase
Redemption deadline	First working day in August, 3 years after attachment
Notice that a tax deed may be issued	May 1 to May 30 of the final redemption year
Format	Third party investors may purchase outstanding tax liens and take an assignment in late August, after liens attach on the first business day in August. The county publishes a full Real Property Tax Lien Priority Policy for competing requests: Electronic Submissions, an Excel or CSV list of parcels in order of preference sent with proof of the mail notices and verifiable funds, take first priority and are awarded by an automated program that gives each investor a random priority and then runs a snake draft. Manual Submissions are processed after the electronic group for that day, again in random priority order. Every request must include a W9 to be considered.: The Clerk and Treasurer's office in Missoula, with lists and materials submitted by email to missoulatax@missoulacounty.us or delivered in person or by courier.
Selling office	Missoula County Clerk and Treasurer, Missoula County Courthouse Annex, 200 W. Broadway, Missoula, MT 59802; Taxes and Vehicles 406-258-4747; Property 406-258-4752

Sources: Tax Questions, Missoula County Clerk and Treasurer. Delinquent Taxes and Real Property Tax Lien Priority Policy, Missoula County. 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 Missoula 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 Missoula 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 Missoula County

Send the statutory Notice of Pending Assignment by certified mail and keep the proof of mailing for each parcel. Submit the parcel list with the proof of notices, sufficient verifiable funds for every assignment sought, and a W9; requests without a W9 are not considered. An Excel or CSV list in order of preference qualifies as an Electronic Submission and takes priority over paper submissions received the same day.

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

Deposit, Missoula County	Montana assignments have no bidder deposit, but Missoula requires the money up front: sufficient funds to purchase all assignments sought must accompany the request, in verifiable form. Funds left over after assignments are issued are returned by refund check.
Payment, Missoula County	Verifiable funds means a cashier's check, a money order, a personal check with a letter from the bank verifying that sufficient funds are in the account to cover the check, or a credit card. The treasurer deposits only what the issued assignments cost and refunds the rest.
Redemption period	Three years from the date the county attaches the lien, ending on the first working day in August of the third year, with a two year period for a subdivided residential or commercial lot carrying delinquent special assessments and no habitable dwelling or commercial structure (MCA 15-18-111).
Interest the assignee earns	On redemption the treasurer pays the assignee back the amount paid for the assignment and any subsequent taxes the assignee paid into the lien, plus interest at 5/6 of 1 percent per month from the date of payment until redemption, the same rate the delinquency itself carries (MCA 15-16-102 and 15-18-114).
Penalty on delinquency	A delinquent installment draws a 2 percent penalty at once, then interest at 5/6 of 1 percent per month until paid. The penalty is part of what an assignment buyer pays at purchase and part of what redemption repays (MCA 15-16-102).
The final year notice, and the cancellation risk	Between May 1 and May 30 of the year the redemption period expires, the assignee must send the statutory notice that a tax deed may be issued, in the statutory form, and file proof of notice with the clerk and recorder within 30 days. An assignee who fails to give the notice has the lien and the assignment certificate cancelled (MCA 15-18-212).
The owner occupied auction	Where the property is a dwelling occupied by its legal titleholder of record, the tax deed goes through a public auction instead of a direct grant. The opening bid is the full redemption amount plus half the most recent assessed value of the land and the dwelling; the high bidder posts a deposit of 5 percent of the bid or $200, whichever is greater, and pays in full within 24 hours, and the half value component and any overbid go to the former owner as surplus (MCA 15-18-219 to 15-18-221).
Subsequent taxes	An assignee may pay later delinquent taxes on the same property into the assignment, and those payments are repaid with the same interest on redemption (MCA 15-18-112 and 15-18-114). Counties run a set window for these payments each summer, and each county page states the window that county publishes.
Tax lien certificate fee	$75 charged to the property when the lien attaches
Priority policy	Real Property Tax Lien Priority Policy, adopted and effective July 15, 2017
Submission email	missoulatax@missoulacounty.us

Liens nobody takes

A lien nobody takes stays with the county as possessor and remains assignable while the redemption period runs. The county pages do not publish a separate sale program for untaken liens, and a tax deed to the county itself requires a resolution of the county commissioners under state law.

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.

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