what happens when a person dies and there is a lien on the house

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My husband and i own a house with no mortgage. let's say the house is worth 200k and there are 2 years arrears taxes. i don't want to lose the house before divorce is settled, and since he does not respond to summonses (ever) the divorce may drag on. also, the house needs septic system, sliding glass door, (broken) and about 2k worth of other repairs. house has been uninhabited for over a year. 1) if i pay taxes and can show proof i did, or if i let the tax assessor's office know i paid them and get a receipt for taxes in only my name, could i place a lien on my own house against ex's half and when the house is finally sold, get his half credited to me? 2) can i pay taxes and repairs, possibly put a lien on it, or not, but rent the house out while awaiting the outcome of divorce? house cannot be rented in current state. if i did pay tax and repair bill, i could make that back in a year though the renting of the house. 3) would it be possible for a relative of mine to lien the house and be repaid at sale of house in future? if so, could the relative lien for the full value of the house so we can invest the equity in the house in other avenues while awaiting outcome of divorce? -i want to put the money to use right now instead of it sitting in abandoned house, and taking the possibility of losing house to tax foreclosure in the next year or two. would be nice to rent the house itself or else use its equity to purchase a different rental property in this buyer's market, right? also it would be nice to know if i did pay the tax the credit from that won't go to him if house is split at divorce. it's not that i "feel entitled" to anything here, aside from the fact that i am raising his 3 children and he has not paid any child support except what judges have taken from his accounts. he is "self employed" so there is no paycheck to go after. it takes a year to get anything after filing violation, petitions and notices etc. i have gotten two child support payments so far: lump sum 1/09 for all of 2008, and lump in 1/09 for all of 07. there should be some source of income for his children. i will see what the lawyer says, just figured id see if anyone had any experience with this. thanks guys!

Suggest you contact your divorce lawyer. Since laws on community property vary by state.

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Seller of home has taken out property/material that belongs to new owner. seller's lawyer is holding money for his client in escrow account. can buyer put a lien on that account or do anything to prevent previous owner from claiming this money until the dispute over missing property/material is resolved? i know next to nothing about real estate matters, as may be obvious by the way i pose this question. i am asking for a friend. can anyone help with advice?...would you need more information?

If it is worth hiring a lawyer then hire a lawyer. If the items are so cheap it isn't worth hiring a lawyer then send an itemized list on a letter demanding return or payment immediately to both the lawyer and the seller. I would follow it up with a call. That might work... Without a lawyer your chances are fairly slim of getting the stuff returned-but the guys lawyer will probably let their client know that he is violating the contract (he probably won't confirm that for you so you will never hear that).

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I found a house online i fell in love with. it was listed for over 3 years so i asked the realtor if the seller would consider owner financing it. he did. i am now paying the owner directly. about a month ago a couple sent me a certified letter begging me for the house. they're willing to pay me double what i paid for it... wow! that's a remarkable profit for me so i agreed to sell. would this be considered a double title transfer? i mean, at the time of closing the seller i'm buying the house from would be paid in full and i would get the remaining money left over right? this is so new and unexpected for me. the seller i am owner financing this house from has a small lien to pay off before the title is considered clear. the lein would come out of his money right? the seller i'm owner financing from i really don't want to know about this deal until the actual moment we're going to closing incase he pulls a hissy fit and tries to end my owner financing contract. i've never ever been one day late since i've been buying from him but he always reminds me how he could of sold it and be paid in full instead of financing to me... he's anal.. anyway, i'm sure this would chap his hide if he knew i'm selling it for double what i'm financing it for.. any input is greatly appreciated. oh, ps. no, i wasn't advertising it for sale at all.. i was contacted by a passerbyer who fell in love with the house. my contract states there are no penalties for early pay off. the contract i have with my owner financed seller was drawn up through an attorney's office and filed at the court house. i pay taxes on this property and have insurance in my name. the new buyers will be paying cash.

If I were you, I'd be a little sneaky about telling the owner who's financing just how much you're getting for the house. There may be a little stickiness to it if he's still paying a lien on the house. If you could get the cash to pay off that lien before the new buyer settles with you, things will probably go much easier.

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I know the loan is a lien. i know if i were to sell it out right, i could just pay off the lien. but, what about owner finance? is this legal? thanks in adavance. then in order to eventually sell the home, i would have to have a rent to own contract?? or just use this house as a rental property untill it is paid off??is this correct?

Beverly is not accurate; you are the equitable owner of the home. YOU may sell it. KEEP in mind your note may state--any sale of the home will accelerate the note; meaning it is all due and payable. thus, it might be better to only offer a lease-option on the house-thus not changing the ownership of the home. Depending on the terms, a lease-option can be the same "in effect" as a land contract. I can guide you further

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Found a vacant house in our town. neighbors say owners moved, been vacant 3-5 yrs. found a mechanics lien on house. lienholder (home improvement company) has no knowledge of lien (lien is 12 yrs old now) and too old to be in their system. the mortgage company they sold it to is no longer in business. through research have found the mortgage company that took over the other company is no longer in business either!! anyone know how many yrs before a lien becomes worthless if unsatisfied in tx? cannot find owners listed on title (dont think they want to be found) and they are going on 3 yrs back taxes owed. is there any way i can buy this house? if so, what do i need to do/how do i go about doing it? the inside is quite nice and has had alot of remodeling. its a shame to let it fall in. thanks for any suggestions, advice, help.

You can acquire the property through adverse possession. It is accomplished by acquiring title to property through continued possession and payment of taxes. There are five requirements. 1. The possession must be by actual occupation, and be open and notorious. 2. It must be hostile to the present owner’s title and wishes. 3. It must be under a claim of right or color of title. In other words, there has to be some reasonable right to a claim of adverse possession. 4. Possession must be continuous and uninterrupted for five years. 5. Claimant must have paid all real property taxes for five continuous years.

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Im looking to attend the upcoming auction here in ca and and saving up to buy a couple properties. but there are these other tactics investers can use which is to buy from owner before the house gets sold in the auction. i was thinking if the home owner does decide to work with me,i the invester will pay off the lien and offer owner an extra $1,000 if they decide to do it. any how if their not going to pay their taxes on home then they might as well take my deal right? plus extra money. what i need to know is what papers is necessary so that i make sure i end up with the house once you do the deal? one more thing..there is not mortage. but how do i make the deal with owners?

u need to know one more very important thing; before the house goes to auction, the lender has a right to cure the tax debt. thus, if you want to 'save the house', you will need to both pay off the taxes AND make sure the mortgage is up to date and that any IRS liens are paid off. Available to guide further

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I found a for sale by owner piece of property. i contacted the owner and ask if they would be willing to do a contract for deed with me. i offered 25k for the land, 2500 down, at 5% for 5 years. i met the lady at a local restaurant and she had the contracts already with her which was the first sign to me that something wasn't right. we don't know each other from eve. she agreed to my terms but at the end of the payment period, she wanted to "gift" me the land so she didn't have to pay taxes and so the income didn't affect her social security disability. she also wanted me tmake my payment checks out to her boyfriend so ssd wouldn't find out about it. second, third and fourth light bulbs going off in my head. she claimed she had been to the courthouse the day before to make sure she had the title free and clear and she claimed she did. something was telling me wait and i told her we had to wait until we got our taxes back then we would finalize the deal. the next day, i called the county and found out there are 3 liens on her property. one from 2003 for 15k from the irs, and two more liens from the home owners association the property is located in for about 5k. the property is worth about 25k and i don't mind paying what it is worth. what i do mind is someone trying to rip me off so i don't think anything is wrong with legally getting back at her. she is the property owner. the home owner association president identified her. how can i buy that house and get out of paying the irs lien? i want her to pay her own bills. i was right to wait. so, she blatently tried to rip me off. i get that. there are people out there who will sell their own mother's for a buck. what i want to do now is offer her 2500 total for the property. ideally, i'd like to settle with the irs for a much smaller amount and have them keep going after her for the rest. the home owners association will let me pay out what is owed and will even reduce the amount by removing the late fees and penalties but this thief of an owner doesn't need to know that. i don't know how the irs liens work. if i buy this land am i responsible for the entire lien? can the irs still go after her for the amount as well? i've already spoken to the hoa. they are willing, in writing, to settle with me. i'm just wondering if i go ahead and get her to sell to me for 2500 or so, will the irs immediately come after me and demand i pay in full or confiscate the property altogether? does it make any difference knowing that i also am on ssd so could the irs even come after me?

Run from any deal like this. Any real estate purchase you make should be handled through a title company and title insurance purchased on it to ensure that all existing liens are paid in full. You are asking for trouble by asking for a contract for deed without legal protection. Do not attempt to deal with the IRS or HOA on someone else's issues.

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I recently finished building a house and sold it to another person. i am not the builder, but i was the investor and owner of the home. my question is this: once i have sold it, can the builder or other subcontractors place a lien on the house? and if so, what good does it do if i have already sold it? aren't they just hurting the new owners? i have paid my builder in full -- but i am afraid he is not paying his subcontractors and therefore they could place liens. just want to know what possible liability i have, even after the sale. i wouldreally appreciate advice from builders, other investors, and attornerys. thanks!

First, it is not your property after you sold it. that said, you can't legally sell it unless you have a clean title. If the property is subject to liens because subcontractors have not been paid, you did not have a clean title. the buyer would have a claim against you to clear any liens they filed. I would have thought the title company would have looked into this possibility before closing . Most lender require title insurance, which would not be issued if the title company had reason to believe liens may be filed. I am not an attorney of a real estate professional. My answer is based on what I believe should be common sense. Few people seem to have that these days.

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I am in escrow in a house in la, it is a foreclosed home owned by freddie mac. i know that in other states you normally do a title search to make sure there are not any liens or back taxes on the property. since there will be title insurance when purchasing this house, will i need to do any thing else to make sure i am protected against any possible liens on the house? is there a way to do a search myself? it says in the paperwork that everything that there are no liens on the property on public record for the property, should there be anything else to look out for? i just imagine if the previous owner did have the property foreclosed on they probably had a second mortgage on the house and other bills unpaid tied to the house.

Freddie Mac will guarantee the transfer of legal title, but you will still be required to purchase title insurance if you finance the property. Title insurance will cover you if any liens or claims arise after you purchase the house. Generally speaking any previous lien-holders will be wiped out by the foreclosure process. Normal title insurance policies cover most types of claims but they do not cover any encroachment should part of your property is encroaching on any neighboring land . To cover that you must purchase an ALTA policy and is expensive but is not required by the lender.