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tax lien
- Thread Starter mmclendon
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fredrikklaw
Moderator
Liens may be paid, but evidence of it never removed!
Were you not informed by the bank (or the seller) that there was an encumbrance on the property to the tune of a Federal Tax Lien? And more to the point, didn't your attorney discover the lien on the property when conducting the title search? And it's obvious you did not purchase the property by way of a Tax Lien Auction which would have been self-explanatory.
But you have to keep in mind that once a tax lien or any other encumbrances are recorded, the evidence of the recording will remain on the books till ever after and will never be erased even when the tax lien is paid off, in which case a Release of the tax lien is recorded.
In any event, first and foremost, you can do a quick and easy title search of the property yourself by going down to the local County Recorder' Office where all marriages, deaths, births, titles, deeds, conveyances, and tax liens are recorded and can be viewed as a matter of public record. You will hopefully see a Release of Federal Tax Lien recorded with the county right next to the line evidencing the initiation of the lien which means that the tax debt has been paid to the I.R.S.'s satisfaction.
If not, then I'm afraid you are lumped with the tax obligation and are now responsible for its payment to the relative agency which issued it. Tax liens are encumbrances that are said to "Run with the Land" and a federal tax lien is no exception to this rule. So if the previous owner/tax payer somehow managed to dodge the payment of his tax obligation in the sale process and it remains unsatisfied at the time title changes hand, then the lien stays with the land and attaches itself to the new owner.
If you had a real estate attorney helping you with the purchase, contact him/her and ask why the lien was not discovered, or if it was, why you were not informed, all of which means not a whole lot at this stage when a deed is done, but it will mean that the attorney stands liable for this mess and will have to remedy it or a Legal Malpractice lawsuit should be the order of the day.
The same principle applies to the lender or the seller who had a duty to make certain disclosures but failed to do so, in which case you will have to consider legal action to put matters right. Unless, and only unless, the property was sold hugely undervalued and you were dully informed of the reason why the property is being sold for a song and you promptly forgot this little tid-bit. And that reason would have been that the buyer would be responsible for the lien since the combined (low) selling and the tax lien was still way below the properties actual market value.
So I would start with the local county recorder office and go from there.
fredrikklaw
Were you not informed by the bank (or the seller) that there was an encumbrance on the property to the tune of a Federal Tax Lien? And more to the point, didn't your attorney discover the lien on the property when conducting the title search? And it's obvious you did not purchase the property by way of a Tax Lien Auction which would have been self-explanatory.
But you have to keep in mind that once a tax lien or any other encumbrances are recorded, the evidence of the recording will remain on the books till ever after and will never be erased even when the tax lien is paid off, in which case a Release of the tax lien is recorded.
In any event, first and foremost, you can do a quick and easy title search of the property yourself by going down to the local County Recorder' Office where all marriages, deaths, births, titles, deeds, conveyances, and tax liens are recorded and can be viewed as a matter of public record. You will hopefully see a Release of Federal Tax Lien recorded with the county right next to the line evidencing the initiation of the lien which means that the tax debt has been paid to the I.R.S.'s satisfaction.
If not, then I'm afraid you are lumped with the tax obligation and are now responsible for its payment to the relative agency which issued it. Tax liens are encumbrances that are said to "Run with the Land" and a federal tax lien is no exception to this rule. So if the previous owner/tax payer somehow managed to dodge the payment of his tax obligation in the sale process and it remains unsatisfied at the time title changes hand, then the lien stays with the land and attaches itself to the new owner.
If you had a real estate attorney helping you with the purchase, contact him/her and ask why the lien was not discovered, or if it was, why you were not informed, all of which means not a whole lot at this stage when a deed is done, but it will mean that the attorney stands liable for this mess and will have to remedy it or a Legal Malpractice lawsuit should be the order of the day.
The same principle applies to the lender or the seller who had a duty to make certain disclosures but failed to do so, in which case you will have to consider legal action to put matters right. Unless, and only unless, the property was sold hugely undervalued and you were dully informed of the reason why the property is being sold for a song and you promptly forgot this little tid-bit. And that reason would have been that the buyer would be responsible for the lien since the combined (low) selling and the tax lien was still way below the properties actual market value.
So I would start with the local county recorder office and go from there.
fredrikklaw
army judge
Super Moderator
OP, you will never get the IRS to do anything.
I suggest you speak with an attorney.
This isn't something you can solve alone or on an Internet legal assistance forum.
1. Title insurance will pay for it.
2. I hope you had title insurance.
3. If the liens were addressed to someone at the house, that does not mean that the lien attaches. I.e. husband could have been sole owner of house. But lien was for wife. If so, lien is of no effect. If it is a cloud, you could request a certificate of no interest from the IRS
2. I hope you had title insurance.
3. If the liens were addressed to someone at the house, that does not mean that the lien attaches. I.e. husband could have been sole owner of house. But lien was for wife. If so, lien is of no effect. If it is a cloud, you could request a certificate of no interest from the IRS
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