If you are getting ready to sell your house, a quick search of public records can uncover an existing lien. A lien can undoubtedly throw a wrench into the whole transaction. Let’s take a deeper dive into home/property liens.
What Are The Types Of Liens On A House?
A lien is a legal notice attached to a property title due to an unpaid debt, meaning the unpaid party can make a legal claim to a portion of your property. The portion will typically come from the property’s sale, and you most likely will be unable to sell or refinance the property if the lien has not been cleared. Here are a few types of liens listed below.
Voluntary Liens
Mortgages are prime examples of a voluntary lien. Here, the property owner—or debtor—voluntarily provides a financial institution—or creditor—a legal assertation to the property pending that mortgage has been repaid.
Involuntary Liens
Many creditors, on the other hand, can file liens toward your property without your approval. Known as an involuntary lien, and in a lot of cases existing due to an already existing law presents a creditor a lien on your property when you defaulted on a debt.
Judgment Liens
A creditor can also take you to court, win a judgment toward you and file the judgment through the county records department. Filing that judgment results in a lien on your home.
General Entities That Might Place a Lien On Your Home:
- Attorney fees.
- Creditors.
- Contractors.
- The IRS.
- Child support/alimony.
- Real estate taxes.
How To Find Out If There Is A Lien On Your Property
It’s quite simple to find out if there is a lien on your property because these are a matter of public record. In most states, you can generally conduct a property lien search by address with either the county clerk, recorder, or assessor’s office online.
A search for a lien is free, but you might have to pay a small fee for a copy of the report, which varies based on county. It is also possible to hire a title company to find the lease. However, this will cost money. If you are looking at a property, it’s always wise to conduct your own search for a lien to ensure there are no surprises.
Removing A Property Lien
However, what happens when you are ready to put your home up for sale, but a title search exposes that there is a lien against it?
Following a title company discovering the lien, the transaction is going to usually be put on hold and the closing postponed. After there is a resolution to the lien, the closing for the sale can be rescheduled. Take into account that if a buyer is getting financed, the buyer’s new mortgage provider is unlikely to agree to finance the property until an acceptable resolution to the lien is established.
Similarly, if a buyer is concerned that a seller cannot fulfill the lien, subject to their agreement, they could choose not to buy the property. The wonderful news is that you could still sell the home, however, a resolution to the lien must be cleared in advance of the sale.
Dar Liens Offers Lien Processing and Filing in Arizona
Dar Liens Offers Processing and Filing of the following types of Liens: Pre-Liens, Notices to Owner Medical Liens, Construction Liens, Mechanics Liens, HOA Liens, 20 Day Preliminary Lien Notices, and more.
