Assignment Priority Policy
Real Property Tax Lien Assignment Priority Policy
In accordance with § 15-17-323(1)(b), Montana Code Annotated (MCA), the Gallatin 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. The Gallatin County Attorney's and Clerk and Recorder’s input has been sought and provided as demonstrated by the execution hereof by a representative of that office. This policy is formally adopted effective as of the date set forth below. This policy supersedes all prior policies issued in accordance with § 15-17-323(1)(b), MCA
Gallatin 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 submissions, whether by electronic or manual means, to those interested parties whose submission is complete as outlined below, including required proof of notices and payment, and received by noon on the last working day before the sale date. Any submissions received after the due date, but no later than the sale date, will be considered the following day, and then in priority according to acceptable receipt thereafter.
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.
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
To be classified in the Electronic Submission category, the investor must submit via email, using the form provided by Gallatin County, a list of all parcels for which a lien assignment is sought and the priority for each. The electronic list must be accompanied by appropriate proof of mail notices for each such parcel, as required by §§15-17-323(5) and 15-17-125(3)(MCA), and full payment of principal and interest owed as of the date of sale, and the required fee per parcel. All emails shall be directed to treasurer@gallatin.mt.gov
Electronic Submissions will be grouped according to the day all relevant materials (i.e. the electronic list, the proof of notices, copies of notices, and the verifiable funds) have actually been received by the Treasurer. Submission date and time 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.
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 required by§§15-17-323(5) and 15-17-125(3) (MCA), and funds sufficient to cover principle and interest owed as of the date of sale, and the required fee per parcel.
Manual Submissions must follow the same format type as the electronic format, and include the full name of the company or individual requesting consideration, the total number of parcels requested, the total amount of funds required to pay for all parcels requested, and a listing of each parcel, by parcel number, requested in order of priority.
In order to include manual submissions with electronic ones during the assignment priority selection, Treasurer Staff will input the required information into the same format submitted by interested parties using the electronic form.
Submission date and time 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.
VERIFICATION OF ADEQUACY OF NOTICES AND FUNDS
The adequacy of paperwork and sufficiency of funds will be reviewed prior the sale date. In the event that required paperwork is not complete, or required notifications or funds are found to be insufficient for any parcel, the request for consideration of that parcel will be disqualified.
ASSIGNMENT PROCESS
At 7:30 AM on the date of the initial sale, a complete list of all available parcels will be printed from Gallatin County’s TaxWise system, showing the total amount of principle, interest and fees owed on each. Only those parcels listed will be subject to a possible assignment.
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 through 6. After all six investors have been issued one assignment; the process will be inverted and repeated. 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.
This policy is adopted effective as of the 23rd day of September, 2021.
Gallatin County Treasurer