15-1-701. Warrant for distraint. (1) A warrant for distraint is an order, under the official seal of the department or of the department of transportation, directed to a sheriff of a county of Montana or to an agent authorized by law to collect a tax. The order commands the recipient to levy upon and sell the real and personal property of a delinquent taxpayer.
     (2) Upon filing the warrant as provided in 15-1-704, there is a lien against all real and personal property of the delinquent taxpayer located in the county where the warrant is filed. The resulting lien is treated in the same manner as a properly docketed judgment lien, the department is a judgment lien creditor, and the department may collect delinquent taxes and enforce the tax lien in the same manner as a judgment is enforced, except that the department may enforce the judgment lien at any time within 10 years of its creation or effective date, whichever is later.
     (3) A warrant may be issued for the amount of unpaid tax plus accumulated penalty, if any, and accumulated interest. The lien is for the amount indicated on the warrant plus accrued penalty and interest from the date of the warrant. The priority date of the tax lien created by filing the warrant for distraint is the date the tax was due as indicated on the warrant for distraint.
     (4) The accelerated priority date provided for in subsection (3) is not valid against purchasers, holders of security interests, judgment lien creditors, and those lienholders identified in Title 71, chapter 3, parts 3 through 15, whose interest is recorded prior to the filing of the warrant for distraint.

     History: En. Sec. 1, Ch. 439, L. 1981; amd. Sec. 11, Ch. 512, L. 1991; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 365, L. 1995; amd. Sec. 7, Ch. 529, L. 1995; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 108, L. 2001.