Who Can Put A Lien On Your House?
You know what is the truest answer to “who can put a lien on your house”?
Yourself.
We’re not trying to be smart here; it’s the truth. Failing to pay up a debt is what gives way for a lien to be put on an asset like a house, so, a broad answer to who can put a lien on your house is “almost anyone”, but if you pay up everything correctly the answer becomes “no one” – doesn’t that mean that, in the end, the person responsible for putting the lien on the house is yourself.
But yes, we know what you mean by “who can put a lien on your house”. You’re not interested in knowing that the person who puts (assigns) a lien to the house is a judge either; you want some specifics of the most common people that sue and obtain a judgment lien, right?
The IRS is a big lien holder. And their lien is statutory (automatic). No need for your consent or a lawsuit; if you fail to pay a lot of taxes, they can record a lien to recuperate the value owed.
Contractors can put your house on a lien if you don’t pay in full. And here’s a scary thing: maybe you did even pay in full but the contractor skipped one payment to the subcontractors. The subcontractor can put a lien on the house even though you did your part!
Ex-spouses typically put liens on the house as a way to guarantee the money they are owed if you fail to pay for child support and alimony.
And, of course, mortgages. But this one is voluntary; you agreed to have a lien put on your house when you signed the mortgage papers – and they weren’t even fine lines…
Now that we answered who can put a lien on your house, let us say this: if you’ve passed the “who” and is wondering “how to stop a lien on your property”; get a real estate lawyer! You won’t stand a chance without it.
Popular Real Estate Questions
Popular Real Estate Glossary Terms
Property owned and held jointly and equally shared by each spouse. It is purchased during their marriage, regardless of the wage-earning situation of either spouse. A spouse may not make a ...
Unable to sell an investment to obtain cash in the short-term without incurring A significant loss. Real Estate is typically not liquid because of the inability to sell property to raise ...
Blockbusting is a despicable and illegal racist business practice. Here’s how Blockbusting happens: a real estate agent, or someone posing as one, comes to a homeowner and instills ...
Ability of a large group of retail stores or shopping center to take business away from other smaller or more distant shopping stores. ...
A real estate professional’s job is to represent their seller’s or buyer’s best interest in a real estate transaction through an agency relationship. This means that the ...
Court order to seize and sell property because of the nonpayment of taxes, or foreclosure of property. ...
Money set aside for a possible loss, such as from a fire. ...
Portion of a construction loan withheld by a lender from a contractor until all construction work is satisfactorily completed or sufficient space is rented in a floor loan. The holdback ...
An actual location’s elevation defines the height or space below or above an established reference point. We call this point geoid, a math model of our planet’s sea level. ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.