Montana Property Tax Liens
Has anyone dealt with purchasing tax liens in Montana? Our county assessor is making a good impression with her "boss" via my hard work...I have to send out a certifies letter to the owner giving notice and 10 days notice that we are going to purchase back taxes. these people run in and get the taxes paid up. I could understandd giving notice on back taxes owing 1-3 years but some of these a 10 years in arrears and you still have to have proof that you gave notice before they will let you purchase them at the sale...does that seem a little odd to anyone else? I have only known 1 person who has actually gotton a piece of property in montana this way.. I would really like to get some advice on this as so many people don't pay there taxes out here ( why pay em' if now one will ever take your property from you)? thanks
Kim :-?
I don't know the rules in Montana. Are you sending notice to the owners as a strategy or is it required.
Thanks
How it "works" in our county is: you go in and find a delinq. tax property that you are interested in, you must then send the property owner a certified letter telling them that you are planning to purchase the back taxes and they have ten days to pay them. I have sent out approx. 100-125 certified letters (some were to people who hadn't paid the taxes in over 10 years!!!) every single person has gone in and paid up.., The last piece of property the county foreclosed on just happened to be a property that the highway department "needed" to stock pile road sand. that was 13 years ago...any how, I can't beleave you would have to send a certified letter to a person before the fact, when it is being offered up for tax sale by the county...I should think that you would go in the day of the sale, purchase the back taxes THEN send a certified letter telling them "Hey, I just purchased your back taxes, you have to pay $$$$ plus ??% interest with in this amount of time to get your property back. I can't be positive that this is the way it is supposed to go but it is the way the treasurer is making me do things..I was hoping that someone had a little better insight as to how it REALLY should be done in MT.
thanks,Kim
krabj--KIM--(MO)------------------
I suggest reading the state law on this topic.
However, even at that, most treasurers/tax collects have a lot of lattitude in how they runs things.
Why do you not like this approach? It seems good to me. You don't have to put out your money and then get it back.
Maybe you don't like paying that certified letter cost?
What I would do is send a letter ordinary first class to the property owners first. Then, if they did not get in and redeem, I'd send the same letter certified.
Cuts down the costs. You might find that properties are owned by deceased people who don't respond to the letter and then you will actually get the property. Or are you just after the investment return?
Good Investing*************Ron Starr************