Lincoln County tax lien assignments, Montana

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The office keeps Libby hours of Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed on legal holidays. Its online database lets anyone search tax records by name, address, date, and tax ID, which is the research tool the county offers in place of a published delinquent list. Card payments run through Montana Interactive and Official Payments, with the county's phone payment jurisdiction number published on the treasurer's page.

Selling office: Lincoln County Treasurer, 512 California Avenue, Libby, MT 59923; phone 406-283-2400; email lctreasurer@libby.org

Next sale: Lien attachment: Monday, August 2, 2027, the first working day in August. The county publishes no assignment dates, so the state calendar controls: attachment on the first working day in August, and the Notice of Pending Assignment cannot be mailed earlier than August 15. Research starts in the county's online tax record search, and assignment practice has to be confirmed with the office at 406-283-2400.

Plan entirely around the state calendar: attachment on the first working day in August, certified notices from August 15, and a three year redemption clock from attachment. Use the online tax record search to build a target list, then confirm everything with the Libby office.

Dates and deadlines

Next sale	Lien attachment: Monday, August 2, 2027, the first working day in August
Tax halves due	November 30 and May 31
Notice of pending attachment published	On or before the last Monday in June
Lien attached by the county	First working day in August; Monday, August 2, 2027 in the next cycle
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	The treasurer's home page describes tax collection, an online tax record search, and card payment channels, and says nothing about assignments: no delinquent list, no assignment calendar, and no local policy is published. Taking an assignment here means working directly with the treasurer's office in Libby under the state statute, after the county attaches its liens in August.: The treasurer's office in Libby, in person, by mail, or arranged by phone and email.
Selling office	Lincoln County Treasurer, 512 California Avenue, Libby, MT 59923; phone 406-283-2400; email lctreasurer@libby.org

Sources: Treasurer Home, Lincoln County. Department directory with treasurer phone and email, Lincoln 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 Lincoln 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 Lincoln 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 Lincoln County

The county publishes no additional local requirements beyond the state statute. Under MCA 15-17-323 the buyer mails the Notice of Pending Assignment by certified mail to the assessed person, at least 2 weeks before payment, not earlier than August 15 and not more than 60 days before purchase, gives the treasurer proof of the mailing, and pays the full delinquency.

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, Lincoln County	Montana assignments have no bidder deposit. The full delinquency, meaning taxes, penalty, interest, and costs, is due at the moment of assignment. The county does not publish an assignment fee or the payment forms it accepts for assignments.
Payment, Lincoln County	For property taxes the county takes Visa, MasterCard, and Discover over the counter with proper identification, and phone or online card payments through Official Payments, with added fees. It does not publish payment mechanics specific to assignment purchases, so confirm forms with the treasurer before mailing notices.
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.
Office hours, Libby	Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Phone payment jurisdiction number	3612, for Official Payments

Liens nobody takes

A lien nobody takes stays with the county as possessor and remains assignable while the redemption period runs. The county publishes no tax deed sale notices or leftover lien program on the pages read, and a deed to the county itself requires a commissioners' resolution 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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