Q: I recently sold a house that had a lein on it from a previous owner. The buyers lawyer took 5000 put in escrow
I recently sold a house that had a lein on it from a previous owner. The buyers lawyer took 5000 and put it in escrow to pay the lein. However he told me it is up to me to get ahold of the previous owner to get papers stating final amount owed for the lein. I can't find the previous owner. The only thing I found was judgment papers at the courthouse. But the lawyer will not accept these. What can I do? Judgment says previous owner owes 1500lawyer took 5000.
A:
You must not have purchased title insurance when you bought the house. If you didn't, it was a big mistake, and the new buyer's lawyer is correct that it is your problem to get the lien satisfied, either by getting the prior owner to pay it off or by paying it off yourself.
In addition to the face amount of the judgment there will be interest and costs. You will need to (1) contact the person holding the judgment to get an exact pay-off figure; (2) arrange to get a cashier's check or certified check for the amount owed; and (3) exchange the check for a judgment satisfaction. If the judgment is in favor of a bank, the bank will satisfy automartically. If the judgment creditor is other than a bank, you may have to actually meet at the courthouse to have the creditor execute the satisfaction in exchange for the check. You will need a lawyer to prepare the satisfaction document and handle the transaction. If you simply mail a check to a non- bank creditor, you run the risk that the creditor will take the check and not satisfy the judgment.
Once the judgment is satisfied, you can get a certified copy of the docket entry reflecting the satisfaction and give that to the buyer's lawyer. He should then release the escrow to you.
You need a lawyer to handle all this.
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