15-17-323. Assignment of rights -- form. (1) A tax lien sale certificate or other official record in which the county is listed as the purchaser must be assigned by the county treasurer to any person who, after providing proof of mail notice to the person to whom the property was assessed, as required by subsection (5), pays to the county the amount of the delinquent taxes, including penalties, interest, and costs, accruing from the date of delinquency.
     (2) (a) The assignment made under subsection (1) must be in the form of an assignment certificate in substantially the following form:
     I, .........., the treasurer of .......... County, state of Montana, hereby certify that a tax lien sale for tax year 20..., in the county of .........., was held on .......... (date), for the purpose of liquidating delinquent assessments, and I further certify that a property tax lien for delinquent taxes in the following property .......... (insert property description) was offered for sale and that there was no purchaser of the property tax lien. Accordingly, the county was listed as the purchaser as required by 15-17-214, MCA. As of the date of this certificate, the delinquency, including penalties, interest, and costs amounting to $ .........., has not been liquidated by the person to whom the property was assessed, nor has the delinquency been otherwise redeemed.
     Because there has been no liquidation of the delinquency or other redemption, I hereby assign all rights, title, and interest of the county of .........., state of Montana, acquired in the property by virtue of the tax lien sale to .......... (name and address of assignee) to proceed to obtain a tax deed to the property or receive payment in case of redemption as provided by law.
     Witness my hand and official seal of office this .......... day of .........., 20...
     ......... County Treasurer
     ......... County
     (b) A copy of an assignment certificate must be mailed to the person to whom the taxes were assessed, at the address of record, together with a notice that the person may contact the county treasurer for further information on lien assignments and property tax lien sales.
     (3) An assignment made by a purchaser other than the county, by an assignee of the county, or by a previous assignee may be made for any consideration whatsoever. An assignment so made is legal and binding only upon filing with the county treasurer a statement that the purchaser's or other assignee's interest in the property has been assigned. The statement must contain:
     (a) the name and address of the new assignee;
     (b) the name and address of the original purchaser of the tax lien sale certificate;
     (c) the name and address of each previous assignee, if any;
     (d) a description of the property upon which the property tax lien was issued, which must contain the same information as contained in the tax lien sale certificate or assignment certificate, as appropriate;
     (e) the signature of the party, whether it is the purchaser or the assignee, making the assignment;
     (f) the signature of the new assignee; and
     (g) the date on which the statement was signed.
     (4) If the certificate described in subsection (1) or the statement described in subsection (3) is lost or destroyed, the county treasurer shall, upon adequate proof and signed affidavit by the assignee that loss or destruction has occurred, issue a duplicate certificate to the assignee.
     (5) Prior to making a payment under subsection (1), a person shall send notice of the proposed payment, by certified mail, to the person to whom the property was assessed. The form of the notice must be adopted by the department by rule. The notice must have been mailed at least 2 weeks prior to the date of the payment. The person making the payment shall provide proof of the mailing.
     (6) The provisions of this section apply to any sale of land for which a treasurer's deed was not issued on or before March 5, 1917, or for which a tax deed was not issued on or before April 23, 1987, and the holder of any certificate described in subsection (1) has the same rights, powers, and privileges with regard to securing a deed as any purchaser of land at a tax lien sale may now have.

     History: En. Sec. 11, Ch. 587, L. 1987; amd. Sec. 27, Ch. 51, L. 1999; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 472, L. 2001; amd. Sec. 14, Ch. 110, L. 2007; amd. Sec. 28, Ch. 2, L. 2009.