Q: What is the statute of limitations on a judgment lien on property in the stare of CT?
The person who has a judgement lien against them sold the property 3 years before the lien was placed. Now it’s showing up 17 years after judgement lien was placed on a title search for the new owners. The new owners are told by the bank they need to pay the judgement that is on the previous owner. What do we do next? What is statute of limitations and why did this not show up at original purchase?
A: Judgment liens on real estate in Connecticut are good for twenty years. In your situation if the judgment lien was recorded three years after title was transferred than the lien is outside the chain of title and does not need to be released since it secures no interest in the real estate. Only exception is if an attachment was recorded prior to transfer of title which this judgment lien relates back to. If there was no attachment than judgment lien would not have shown up on title search since it was recorded after purchase based on timeline in your question. If there was attachment and this was missed in title search than if new owners received owner's title insurance policy when they bought property they can file claim with title insurance company.
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