Recently while applying for a home loan my bank uncovered a little gem on my TU report, a $10,600 Federal Tax Lien dated Oct 1, 1993. I know this sounds common but I simply don't owe the Feds any money. In an attempt to resolve this I called just about every IRS office I could and found that they all state that I own them nothing. But according to the IRS advocate's office they could not remove the lien unless I had a copy of it. I have no way of knowing where it was filed as it only shows "circuit court" on the report. Since I believe this isn't mine I really have no idea where to find a copy of it. During my last phone call with the IRS I was trying to explain this, I was told that they thought it was a state tax lien even though it clearly states Federal Tax lien. So without knowing what to do next I filed a dispute with TU today as "not mine". BUT after reading much of the archives on this board I'm scared as hell that the IRS is coming after me! I just don't understand how I could owe them. I was in the military from 79-87 and 89-95 and now work for the Navy as a GS. I even recently sold a home I've owned since 84 and even gotten federal returns every year since I got my first job. I'm confused and feel unjustly accused. Is there anything else I can do short of hiring a lawyer? If TU removes the record and the IRS says I don't owe them anything am I done with it? BTW, because the lien could not be backed up by the IRS or court records the threw it out for loan purposes and granted the loan. Thanks for any help.
Last year I had a couple of unpaid IRS liens. One was just over 10 years old, the other was 8 years old. I made arangements to have them withdrawn by paying what I owed. That part has nothing to do with you...the following part does. The IRS DID NOT COLLECT the one that was over 10 years old. I was ready to pay it, but apparently they only have 10 years within which to collect unless they renew the lien and they hadn't. So they told me they were only collecting the 8 year old one. In your shoes, I'd sit tight until November. If TU verifies it, I wouldn't further pursue getting it removed until after those 10 years have expired. Especially since it isn't going to be a factor in you getting your mortgage. If they haven't come looking for you by now, they probably aren't going to. Worst case scenario, if you owe the money and they do renew the lien (highly doubtful) you can set up an installment agreement and negotiate for them to withdraw the lien (important--not release it, but withdraw it) as a part of the agreement. Hope this helps. DemPooches
