The Montana records that decide what a home really costs and what the seller has to tell you: disclosure law, property-tax reset, the official registry, and the FEMA flood map — sourced, with the county offices that hold the files.
Check the records behind the address before you offer.
Check any address — free previewThe legal standard: Under MCA 70-20-502 (enacted 2023), a seller of residential real property must provide a disclosure statement, before or contemporaneously with execution of a contract, disclosing adverse material facts concerning the property of which the seller has actual knowledge.
Get the disclosure before or at signing — unless you and the seller agree otherwise in writing, a contract is not effective until 3 days after you receive the statement, and you may withdraw without penalty in that window. The statement covers title, water, wastewater, utilities, structure, hazards and other adverse material facts the seller actually knows. Montana also has separate mold and agent-disclosure duties, so ask about both.
Sources: codes.findlaw.com · nolo.com · revenuefiles.mt.gov · bozemanrealestate.group · dojmt.gov · policygenius.com
Montana reappraises on a two-year state cycle, not at the moment of sale, so your bill tracks the Department of Revenue's market value for the cycle rather than your purchase price. Your rate class matters as much as value: if you do not enroll a qualifying principal residence for the homestead rates, the property can be taxed at the higher non-homestead rate the seller may not have paid.
Homestead: Starting in tax year 2026, an enrolled principal residence occupied at least 7 months a year (or a qualifying long-term rental) gets tiered homestead tax rates, while second homes and short-term rentals are taxed at a flat 1.9% rate under the 2025 homestead overhaul.
Montana Sexual or Violent Offender Registry (SVOR) is run by Montana Department of Justice, Division of Criminal Investigation. Search it by the home's address before you offer — and search again before closing, because registry data changes as people move.
Open the official Montana registry
You can also search every state at once through the federal National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW). A CurbFacts report shows the registry count for the home's ZIP — the same public data, organized for the decision.
The only flood map that decides a lender's insurance requirement is FEMA's — the National Flood Hazard Layer behind the official FEMA flood map viewer. Listing sites license private models that can and do disagree with it; when they conflict, the FEMA map is the one your lender and insurer use.
Check the exact parcel, not the ZIP code: flood-zone boundaries cut through streets, and two houses side by side can sit in different zones.
The 2026 tiered homestead rates (0.76% to 1.9% depending on value versus the statewide median) apply only to enrolled principal residences and qualifying long-term rentals; second homes and short-term rentals pay a flat 1.9%, so a buyer who misses enrollment can pay materially more than an owner-occupant seller did.
MCA 70-20-502's disclosure list expressly includes water service or source and the wastewater treatment system, and Montana transactions separately address water rights — verify well, septic and what water rights, if any, actually transfer with the land before closing.
What the Montana disclosure does and does not cover, section by section, and the questions it never answers.
Read the guideHow to run an address through the official Montana registry, and how to read what comes back.
Read the guideRecords live at the county level — assessor, recorder, permits. Pick the county for its records checklist.
Every CurbFacts report pulls the public records behind an address — flood determination, registry, tax reset, price history, permits, and what's planned nearby — and shows its sources.
Check any address — free preview