Lien?

Discussion in 'Credit Talk' started by almostdone, Jul 6, 2003.

  1. almostdone

    almostdone Active Member

    I am in the process of selling my house and heard from my real estate agent yesterday that they discovered "something" during the title search. When I asked what that meant she said that it was some sort of lien but that it would be a day or two before they had more information.

    How could this be? I've had some credit troubles in the past but have either paid in full or settled on all of them (including my dh's that I got stuck with).

    Doesn't it take a court order to be able to file a lien? How could this happen without my knowledge? I don't have, and have never had, any sort of judgements that I've known about.

    I know that I'll find out more in a couple days but I'm going crazy trying to figure this out - anybody got any thoughts or helpful words?
     
  2. GEORGE

    GEORGE Well-Known Member

    Hopefully it is a FORGOTTEN one BEFORE YOU BOUGHT IT...NOT YOUR PROBLEM...

    OR NOT EVEN THE RIGHT PERSON OR ADDRESS...

    The SERVICE DESK ASSOCIATE at my store had a LIEN on her property from a contractor THAT NEVER GOT RECORDED AS RELEASED...(THEY PAID IN FULL AT CLOSE~~NO MORTGAGE)

    If they had not gone for a loan against their house (COLLEGE FOR DAUGHTER AND A NEW TRUCK and CAR)...THEY WOULD HAVE NEVER FOUND OUT ABOUT IT...AND NEITHER WOULD THE OTHER 20+ PEOPLE ON THE SAME STREET...
     
  3. almostdone

    almostdone Active Member

    The thing that's really driving me crazy is that a person can have a lien put against thier house and not even know it! Isn't there some sort of legal notification process that's required?

    Has anybody ever had a CA put a lien on their house (I'm not asking about the validity of them doing it, just whether it's been done)? If so, how does it get removed if the debt has been settled?
     
  4. jlynn

    jlynn Well-Known Member

    There are all sorts of liens. Before you drive yourself crazy you need to see what it is. Did you ever have a contractor do any work on your house? In TX, if his sub-contractors aren't paid, they can put a mechanic's lien on your house.
     
  5. almostdone

    almostdone Active Member

    jlynn, I guess you're right about settling down. I'm supposed to close on the sale of my house next Tuesday and I'm afraid that I might somehow get bullied into paying somebody money that I don't owe them just to get the lien cleared. I really need to close on my current house so that I can close on the sale of the one that I'm buying a few days later.
     
  6. jlynn

    jlynn Well-Known Member

    This is when you need to stay in close contact with the closing company. If you find out that it is something you think you have paid - and assuming all of your financial records are packed up ready for the big move :) see if the closing company will escrow the amount of the lien until you can get to the bottom of it. That is assuming it is not some ridiculously high amount of money!

    Keep us posted.
     
  7. almostdone

    almostdone Active Member

    Thanks for the advice.

    Since I haven't read much about this subject I assume that it isn't a standard tactic that CAs use. I'll post more as info is available.
     
  8. Why Chat

    Why Chat Well-Known Member

    Go on the internet,look up your County's recorded documents, put in your name, see what's there.
     
  9. lbrown59

    lbrown59 Well-Known Member

    Click here: CREDITNET | Straight Talk | | Lien?
    =======================
    Any new developments?

    THE END ** *** ** LB 59
     
  10. almostdone

    almostdone Active Member

    No definitive info yet but it appears that we may be Ok. I did as Why Chat suggested and looked for recorded documents in my county. It showed somebody with my last name and same first initial that has a judgement outstanding against them.

    Apparently the title companies do searches a number of ways to determine clear title. I think that somebody told me that one of those ways is a search by name only.

    Adding to the confusion is that our real estate agent misinterpreted a statement in the preliminary title report. It showed the lien associated with our mortgage and then in a summary section said that there was a lien on the property. She interpretted that to mean that there was a problem when it wasn't.

    Bottom line is that I haven't heard from the title company that all is well but have gotten enough info fragments to allow me to sleep at night. I'll really be glad when the sale of this house and the purchase of the new one is over - the whole process is causing a huge amount of stress!
     

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