Delinquent Taxes
Real property taxes are due on or before the last day in November and May each year (if that day falls on a weekend or holiday, than the due date is the next business day), unless you have applied for and received certain forms of taxpayer assistance through the Montana Department of Revenue.
You have the options of making the payment online, in person at the Treasurer's Office, or by mail. If paying by mail the payment must be postmarked on or before the due date. If payment is not posted in the Treasurer's Office or postmarked on or before the due date you will be assessed penalty and interest per MCA 15-16-102.
Please note: Real property tax assessment notices will not be forwarded by the Post Office. It is your responsibility to notify the Montana Department of Revenue if you want to change the address to where your assessment is mailed. Notice must be received sufficiently in advance of when the statements are prepared and mailed.
Taxes are delinquent after the date and time listed on your October/November tax bill. Delinquent taxes incur a 2% penalty and interest at a 10% annualized rate.
Late June/Early July: Delinquent tax notices are mailed to property owners.
First business day in August: Tax liens are attached. Delinquent real estate property taxes are a lien on real property. A $75 tax lien certificate fee is charged to the property. A taxpayer has two to three years from the date the tax lien was attached to pay the delinquent taxes or risk losing the real property.
Late August: Third party investors may purchase outstanding tax liens and take an assignment on the property. Missoula County assigns multiple requests for the same tax lien according to a priority policy (see below). Before investing in tax liens, please hire an attorney.
The policy was adopted and effective as of July 15, 2017:
Real Property Tax Lien Priority Policy
In accordance with Mont. Code Ann. § 15-17-323(1 )(b), the Missoula County Treasurer's Office ("Treasurer") must formally develop a policy for assigning a tax lien when more than one person seeks the assignment and provides proof of mail notice to the person to whom the property was assessed. As a combined office, the Clerk and Recorder's input is incorporated by virtue of the fact that the Treasurer and Clerk and Recorder are one and the same. The Missoula County Attorney's input has been sought and provided as demonstrated by the execution hereof by a representative of that office. This policy is adopted effective as of the date set forth below.
Missoula County will establish priority for assigning a tax lien by classifying each request in one of two categories. The first category shall be known as "Electronic Submissions", as defined below. The second category shall be known as "Manual Submissions", as defined below. First priority will be granted to Electronic Submissions, with any remaining tax lien assignments being granted to the Manual Submissions.
ELECTRONIC SUBMISSIONS
To be classified in the Electronic Submission category, the investor must submit, in excel or csv format, a list of all parcels for which a lien assignment is sought. The list must contain a column with parcel identification numbers in order of preference. The electronic list must be accompanied by appropriate proof of mail notices for each such parcel as well as sufficient funds to purchase all assignments sought. Funds must be in verifiable form (i.e. a cashier's check, a money order, a personal check with a letter from the banking institution verifying that sufficient funds are in the account to cover the amount listed on the check, or a credit card).
Electronic Submissions will be grouped according to the day all relevant materials (i.e. the electronic list, the proof of notices, and the verifiable funds) have actually been received by the Treasurer. A day shall be defined as midnight until 11:59 p.m. on the same calendar day.
Submission date shall be determined by the date actually received for items physically delivered during normal business hours, specifically including but not limited to delivery via postal or courier service, and by the time stamp on any electronic correspondence, such as email. All emails shall be directed to [email protected].
As soon as is practicable after the submission deadline for any given calendar day, the Treasurer shall process all requests for that calendar day utilizing an automated program. The program will first assign a random priority for each investor; the program will then utilize a snake draft style automated selection to determine the assignments given to each investor.
An example is provided below for reference:
Ex. Six investors submit their materials as part of the Electronic Submission group. Each investor is randomly assigned a draft position of one through six. Investor 1 will be issued the first assignment on their list if it is available. If the first assignment is not available, they will be issued the second assignment on their list. This will continue until Investor 1 is issued one assignment. The same process will be repeated for Investors 2-6. After all six investors have been issued one assignment, the process will be inverted and repeated. In other words, Investor 6 will go first, followed by Investor 5 down through the list until Investor 1. The process will again be inverted and repeated. In this manner, Investor 1 receives the 1st and 12th pick, whereas Investor 6 receives the 6th and 7th pick. The process is repeated until no further assignments are requested or available.
Upon completion of the automated selection program, the Treasurer will process the assignments in the taxing software and deposit sufficient funds to pay for all of the assignments actually issued. Any remaining funds will be returned to the Investor via a refund check. Unless special instructions are included, refunds are typically issued to the responsible party listed on the payment instrument.
The adequacy of paperwork and sufficiency of funds is not verified until assignments are processed in the taxing software. In the event that an assignment may not be issued due to inadequate paperwork or insufficient funds, those parcels will be put on a separate list and the automated program will be run again with the offending investor(s) removed from the process.
MANUAL SUBMISSIONS
All submissions not included in the Electronic Submission category are considered Manual Submissions. Nonetheless, the investor must submit appropriate proof of mail notices for each parcel as well as sufficient funds for all assignments sought. Funds must be in verifiable form (i.e. a cashier's check, a money order, a personal check with a letter from the banking institution verifying that sufficient funds are in the account to cover the amount listed on the check, or a credit card).
Manual Submissions will be grouped according to the day all relevant materials (i.e. the proof of notices and the verifiable funds) have actually been received by the Treasurer. A day shall be defined as midnight until 11:59 p.m. on the same calendar day. Submission date shall be determined by the date actually received for items physically delivered during normal business hours, specifically including but not limited to delivery via postal or courier service, and by the time stamp on any electronic correspondence, such as email. All emails shall be directed to missoulatax@missoulacounty.us.
As soon as is practicable after the submission deadline for any given calendar day and after the Electronic Submissions for the applicable calendar day have been processed, the Treasurer shall process all requests for that calendar day. Investors will first be assigned a random priority amongst the other investors submitting Manual Submissions. After the priority is assigned, the Treasurer will process all assignments requested for the investor with priority 1, then all of the assignments requested for the investor with priority 2, and so on, and so on until all assignment requests have been processed for that day.
Unlike the Electronic Submissions, the adequacy of paperwork and sufficiency of funds is verified as assignments are processed in the taxing software and issued. Accordingly, no separate process is required if paperwork or funds are insufficient as the error will be caught at the time of issuing the assignment. Any remaining funds will be returned to the Investor via a refund check. Unless special instructions are included, refunds are typically issued to the responsible party listed on the payment instrument.