Does placing a Lien for a sale?

Question

Hello,

Little over two years ago I went to court and won a lawsuit. I was granted a Judgement paper. I have been trying to locate the persons bank account, however they closed the account they deposited the check in. I was told I can hire someone to locate any and all banks the person may have, but it would be pretty costly.
The Judgement paper also grants me permission to place a lien on any house, cars, boats, etc. to help collect money.

I am new to this. But I know of two houses this person owns.
Can anyone tell me, if I were to place a lien on one of these houses, would it FORCE a sell? Would I be able to get my money back that way?.. I tried to avoid this route, thinking that if I place a lien on it, the person would be more aware that I am on to them, as I have been really hoping to find their bank account and just have the money taken back out without them knowing. Surely, placing a lien on property they will be given a notice of some sort.. But is this my best route to take? If so, how long might the process take? And will it FORCE a sale?

I'd appreciate any and all advice. 
Thank you!

babyboomer1001 · Answer

A lien on one of their homes means that they cannot sell it without paying you/your lien off first.  If there are no other options, then this is what you should do.  Realize that it could be years before you are paid.  Perhaps, they intend to pass the house down to family.  Legally, the homeowner is supposed to be notified of a lien placed on his house.  In reality, that does not always happen, and there is nobody to enforce it.  Through a garnishment, the person would definitely be notified.  Banks follow the law because they don't want legal red tape to follow.  Individuals do not always follow the law.  A lien never forces a sale.  It just means that they cannot sell the house without first paying off the debt - if the debt is legitimate.

StephenWeinstein · Answer

A lien does not force a sale.  A lien means that whenever a sale does happen, you get paid out of the money the would have gotten -- if any.  But it they still owe on the mortgage, the bank has priority over you; if they are underwater and it's a short sale, you don't get anything.

Slumlord · Answer

A lien does not force a sale but they won't be able to sell the house or take out new financing until the lien is paid off, and additionally you can probably charge them interest on the debt (how much varies - state to state) and charge them costs for placing the lien on the title (if you have a lawyer handle it).

You do have to renew the judgement every 10 years (or so) or it just falls off the title.  Just put the lien on their title and wait for them to pay it.  Attach it to the title of both houses, if you can.

Get a lawyer to handle it all, if you need, especially if their costs can be included in the lien (so if the lien if for $1000 and they charge you $200, you could place the lien for $1200, if it works that way).

Also, if the lien is more than the equity in the house, then they might just let the house go into foreclosure at some point.  This would wipe out the lien (unless you bought the house by paying off any more senior debts - probably not something worth doing, but at least you get the satisfaction of helping drive them into foreclosure)

Slickterp · Answer

A lien does not force a sale, no.  You just get paid when it does sell.  That could be 30 years from now.

Christin K · Answer

You'll have to consult an attorney about placing a lien on the property. Liens do not automatically force a sale of real estate. You only get paid from a lien when the property IS sold. If it's foreclosed on, you may not get anything.

Hire a collection agency. Or write it off as a bad debt on your taxes. You are most likely never going to collect from this person, whether they are "onto" you or not.

Maxi · Answer

Placing a lien on a property just ensures 'if they sell' the lien is paid out........ it doesn't force a sale.

If you won in court and have a judgement then, you need to enforce that judgement, where I live that is normally done by going to high court along with the previous court award and getting a judgement for collection of the debt  so via court  bailiffs/sheriffs... who attend the debtors property and collect the money owed either in cash or confiscate their goods/cars etc and sell them at public auction and you then get your money

Tavy · Answer

Placing a lien on a house does not force a sale. It just means whenever they decide to sell ( next year, 20 years , 30 years ) in the future, you get your money back.

realtor.sailor · Answer

What about garnishment of his wages?

Coffee Drinker · Answer

Placing a lien on the property won't force them to sell it. It just means that IF they sell it someday, you would get paid before they could collect profits. If there are mortgages or tax liens on the property they would get paid first, so there's still no guarantee you'd ever get paid. They might also just not sell it for a long time.

Depending on the amount of the judgement its probably worth it to hire an attorney or debt collector to track down all of their bank accounts or see if you can find where they work and file a wage garnishment (if your state allows this as a method of collecting private debts).

Anonymous · Answer

You really should speak to a lawyer.it won't cost you anything just to ask a few questions.It's only when they start working for you that you will have to pay.Where i live a lien on said person's property will not force a sale but when that person tries to sell the property the lien will have to be paid first before they get any money which is done by a lawyer when the ownership changes hands.

Does placing a Lien for a sale?

10 Answers