Montana Title 77. State Lands § 77-2-332. Procedure in case of default

(1) If a purchaser or assignee of state land defaults for a period of 30 days or more in the payment of any of the installments due on the certificate of purchase, the certificate is subject to cancellation. The department shall mail to the purchaser at the purchaser's last-known post-office address a notice of default and pending cancellation. The notice must give the purchaser 60 additional days from the date of mailing the notice in which to make payment of the delinquent installment or installments with penalty interest.

(2) If the purchaser fails to make the payment within 60 days, the certificate of purchase from that date and without further notice is void, the duplicate of the certificate in the office of the department must be canceled, and the land under the certificate reverts to and becomes the property of the state to the same extent as other state lands and must be open to lease and sale.

(3) All buildings, fences, and other improvements placed on the land subsequent to the date of execution of the certificate of purchase must be and remain the property of the purchaser named in the certificate of purchase or of the purchaser's heirs, assigns, or devisees and may be removed from the land at any time within 90 days after the date of the cancellation. If the buildings, fences, and other improvements are not removed prior to the expiration of the 90-day period, they become the property of the state.

(4) In case of cancellation of certificate of purchase or surrender of certificate of purchase and when the land is again open to lease, the former lessee has the prior right to lease the tract at the existing rate or at the rate set by competitive bidding if bidding occurs.