The Simple Facts

by Ken Marshall

There are thousands of properties in Montana each year that fall behind on property taxes and become delinquent.
The County Treasurer is required to hold a Tax Sale each year on every property in the County that has delinquent property taxes.
If no one purchases the tax lien offered for sale at the County tax sale, the lien is struck off to the County, which then holds the assignment.
If no investor purchases the assignment, the County can, after three years of delinquency and proper notification, issue a tax deed and become the owner of the property.
If an investor purchases the assignment from the County, the County relinquishes all interest in the property to the assignee.
An investor can, after three years of delinquency and proper notification, ask the County Treasurer to issue a tax deed so that the investor then owns the property.
In either scenario, the original owner of the property loses the property either to the County or to an investor.
The original taxpayer, current occupant, or an interested party? can pay all of the delinquent taxes, penalties, interest, and costs to redeem the property at any time until the final redemption date has been reached. The investor is paid 10% interest from the date of the assignment in addition to any permitted costs incurred about which the County Treasurer has been made aware.
If a tax deed is acquired on a property, it will probably be difficult to obtain title insurance. This is because the courts in Montana have consistently ruled in favor of the original property owner in tax deed disputes. For this reason, we recommend contacting an attorney after a tax deed has been received to quiet the title of the subject property.
Once the quiet title process has been completed (a procedure that can take anywhere from 6 to 18 months or more), it is much easier to purchase title insurance and provide a warranty deed when selling the property.
If an interested party shows up at any time during the quiet title process we generally recommend settling the case immediately for all costs and a reasonable return on your investment before additional attorney fees are incurred.
TaxLien Pro software breaks down the entire procedure of acquiring a tax deed in the State of Montana into a simple, easy to understand, step by step process.

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