For Montana real estate professionals & rural property owners
A title policy doesn’t cover water rights.This does the homework.
A per-property screening of Montana’s water-rights, well-log, and cadastral records — delivered as a plain-English PDF, typically within 2 business days.
The problem your rural listings have right now
Title insurance excludes water rights
Nobody at the closing table is checking whether the well that serves the house has a recorded right — and very often it doesn't.
The rules just changed
Since January 1, 2026, Montana requires DNRC authorization before a well is drilled, and the old after-the-fact fix is gone. The state's 45-year adjudication is hitting its final deadlines — paperwork that sat quiet for decades is starting to matter.
The defects are everywhere
In our first six property screenings: wells that ran 20+ years with no right on file, rights still recorded to owners two sales back, and a six-figure permit exposed by an upcoming decree. Only two of six came back clean.
What you get
A per-property report, in plain English, typically within 2 business days:
- Every well and water right tied to the parcel — a statewide sweep by owner name, prior owners, parcel geocode, and legal description across the state's three databases (DNRC water rights, well-log registry, cadastral). If the owner holds rights on other parcels anywhere in Montana, we'll see them.
- A clear status for each well — documented right, orphaned right under a prior owner, or nothing on file — with record numbers and official abstract links so anyone can verify.
- The standard cure path and current state deadlines, ready to hand to the client, their attorney, or the other side's agent.
It is a factual screening of public records — not legal advice and not a title product. It tells everyone at the table what’s actually on file before it becomes a closing-week surprise.
Where it earns its fee
Listing appointment
Walk in knowing the water status. An all-clear is a marketing point; a defect found now is fixable for a few hundred dollars instead of a price concession later.
Buyer side
Order during due diligence like an inspection. An unfiled well or orphaned right becomes a negotiating item — or a condition the seller cures before closing.
Your file
A dated third-party report in the transaction file shows the water question was surfaced and disclosed — protection you don't currently have on rural deals.
“Title insurance doesn’t touch water rights, and Montana just changed its well rules. For $200 we get a records check that tells us exactly what’s on file for the well before anyone else finds out the hard way. If it’s clean, we advertise that. If it’s not, fixing it now costs a few hundred dollars — finding out at closing costs the deal.”
$200 per property — flat.
Every report includes a statewide sweep of the owner’s name. Delivered as a clean PDF you can share with your client, with verifiable record numbers and official links throughout. Turnaround 2 business days; rush available.
Own more than one parcel? Additional parcels under the same ownership are $100 each — ranches, estates, and multi-parcel holdings over 5 parcels get a custom quote.
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