Montana Attorney General Opinion 15-360

Opinion No. 360 Taxation - Ta.x Uertificates De- Jiquent Ta.xes - Interest HELD: As to individuals who ob- tained tax certificates before the pas- sage of Chapter 176, Laws of W33, the attempt by the legislature to fix the rate of interest at 8 per cent is in- \'alid, and the certificates issued to private indhiduals before March 2, 1931, must draw interest at the ratc of 12 per cent per annum until re- demption is made. October 11, 1933_ You request an OpInlOn (relative to Chapter 176 of the La\vs of 1933) as to the rate of interest necessary to be paid after March 6, 1933, on delin- quent taxes where certif.ieates of sale are held hy private indh'iduals. This matter was discussed very fully in our opinion No. 201, in whieh we conclude that the interest on all tllxe» delinqnent and where certificates had issued was to be figured at the rate of eight per cent lifter ~farch 16, H)33. Our opinion in that case related to and shall be confined to those cases where the county held the certificates of sale at the time of the passage of the act. You now raise the question: "'here the certificate was assigned to an in- rlividual before the passage of the act, does not such a method of computing interest impair the obligation of eon- tracts (to draw interest at 12 per cent) where such .tax certificates are held by private individuals? There is very little law to be found upon that question. There are a few cases cited in 61 C. J. 1275 which ap- pear to indicate that that is the cor- rect conclusion. I would therefore conclude that as to such individuals who obtained sueh certificates prior to the passage of Chapter 176, Laws of 1933, the at- tempt ,by the legislature to fix the rate at eight per cent is invalid. In such cases the certifieates issued to private individuals prior to March 2, 1931, must draw interest at the rate of twelve per cent per annum until redemption is made. This conclusion would not apply where the certificates are held by the county at the time of the approval of the act on March 16, 1933.