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player ready...Q: I lost my husband last year and I am trying to sell one of the rental houses we had in California. My real estate agent found out about three liens on the house, which also are on the other rental property and on my primary home. Apparently, this is because they use your Social Security number when the lien is filed. The problem is these liens are old, going back to 2004.
I have been unable to find out who the creditor is on only one lien, so I can’t offer a settlement. I can’t sell the house, for which I already have a buyer and a 15-day escrow. I was able to reach settlement agreements with the other two lien holders. We are at a standstill because of one lien holder. My agent and title company have been unsuccessful in the search. My agent said our hands are tied without resolving these liens. She said the title company would withhold double the amount shown on judgment and hold those funds in an escrow account, but they need to know who the creditor is to be paid.
We are unable to even do this because we can’t find who placed the lien. If I had this information, I wouldn’t put the money in the escrow account. I would settle with the creditor. My agent said there is nothing we can do. That means I would never be able to sell my home or my rentals or refinance my house. There has to be something in the law that I can legally do about the liens so I can sell my home or the two rentals.
I am in my 70s and need to supplement my income. Social Security is my only main income. My rentals do not provide extra income and that is why I need to sell one of the rentals.
A: I don’t mean to sound cynical, because I understand your concerns, but that is what lawyers are for and that’s what we do. We attempt to, and often succeed, in solving problems and issues such as yours. Immediately retain an attorney.
The first thing an attorney should do is determine if those liens are still valid. They may be stale and beyond any applicable statute of limitations.
And the second thing that should be done is to file in court an action to quiet title. This is a lawsuit specifically designed for situations such as yours. You would file the lawsuit and the defendant would be the name on the lien or the lien itself. Your attorney would make a good-faith attempt to find the holder of the lien. After a certain period (spelled out in the court rules, which is usually 30 or 60 days), your attorney would ask the court for permission to publish. This means that a notice would be filed in a newspaper of general circulation in your area, putting the world on notice of your lawsuit.
After publishing for the period spelled out in the rules (usually once a week for four weeks), and if no one shows up in court in response to the publication, the court will issue a decision canceling the lien. The theory is that if you really have an interest in the lien, you will monitor the local newspapers.
This will cost you a few thousand dollars in legal and publication costs, but it will ultimately allow you to sell.
Get yourself an attorney immediately to start the process.
Benny L. Kass is a practicing attorney in Washington and Maryland. No legal relationship is created by this column; [email protected].