Yellowstone County, Montana

Frequently Asked QuestionsEmail the Department

General Questions

Q:	I filled out all the boxes - why didn't anything come up?
A:	Unless all the information you entered matches the database record exactly, it will often result in "no records found". Entering less information (ex. "2400" instead of "2435" for a property number) will often result in a more successful search. Using only one search type (just Property Owner rather than owner and Tax Code) will normally work better than using multiple search types.
Q:	The information on my tax record or cama record is wrong. Who can correct that?
A:	The Montana Department of Revenue (DOR) maintains all the tax and assessment data. They should be able to correct any inaccuracies in your record. Call 896-4000.
Q:	I recently bought/sold a house - why aren't my records updated yet?
A:	Yellowstone County receives updates from the DOR approximately every 6 months. The date of the most recent update is shown at the top of each tax and cama record.

Search Types

How do I search by Tax Code?

A Tax Code is a 6 character code, usually a letter followed by five numbers (A01234).You must enter 6 characters into the search box, or no records will be found. The search will return the record for the code entered first, followed by all subsequent records. For example, entering "A01234" will bring up that record, then A01234A, A01234B, etc.

How do I search by Property Owner?

To search by the owner of a property, you must enter at least three characters. The last name is entered first, followed by a comma and the first name (or first initial). If the property is owned by more than one person, only the name of the person listed first in the record will return results. Use a broad search (ie, last name only) to find the most matching records. If you are unsure of the spelling, enter the first three letters of the last name, and more records will be returned. You may also search by the name of a company in this field.

How do I search by Street Address?

To search for a specific address, you must enter either a street name or number. Enter the number of a house, building or addressed lot into the "Property Number" box. For the street, there are several options, but you must enter at least a street name or number into the second box. When entering a numbered street, enter only the number - for example, 24th Street would be entered into the street name box as "24". To narrow the search, you may enter directionals (N for North, S for South, etc) in the boxes either before or after the street name, and the type of street using common abbreviations (Ave, Cir, Dr, Ln, St).

For example, to search for 100 N. 24th St. West, you would enter "100" into the Property Number box, "n" into the first directional box, "24" in the Street Name box, "st" into the Street Type box, and "w" into the last directional box. Or you could simply enter "100" into the Property Number box, and "24" into the Street Name box for similar results.

When searching for a lettered street, enter the complete name into the Street Name box (ie, "Avenue B").

If you are unsure of the property number, enter a rounded number instead (ie, "2400" instead of "2439"). This will return all records on the 2400 block of that particular street.

How do I search by Legal Description?

The subdivision name is required when searching by legal description. The block and lot numbers are optional (you must use leading zeros - ex. "003"). Due to potential human errors, entering only the first few letters of a subdivision name will return the most results. You must enter at least three letters of the subdivision name to search by legal description.

How do I search by Geo Code?

A geocode contains 17 digits. For a reliable search using the geocode, use only (but no less than) the first 8 digits of the code.

The first 2 digits identify the county, so any geocode for Yellowstone County will start with "03".

The next four digits identify the township and range, for example: Township 1 North, Range 26 East would be identified as "1033" in the geocode. You will find the four digit geocode number listed below the township and range on the following map.

The following 2 digits identify the section number. (Section 21 is identified as "21") All single digit sections must have a preceding zero. For example, Section one would be identified as "01".

The remaining 9digits are not reliable to find property geographically.

In order to search for property in T1N, R26E, section 21, you would enter "03103321" in the Geo Code box of the search form, and depending on the area, you could get from 1 to several thousand geocodes returned with your search.