Q: My 90 year old mother is a co-signer on my mortgage. How to take her off? Discovered tax lien her name.
When she migrated into skilled nursing, Going through her things discovered back tax notifications. Last year filled all her past taxes, one year had a problem. IRS won’t deal with me, asked my CPA to communicate, not very helpful. CPA said he would file something to at least stop additional penalties. I can’t refi ( I need to) or sell (don’t want). Is there a way for her to Quit Claim her interest to me?
A:
You should consult a tax resolution professional. Attorneys, CPA's and Enrolled Agents (EA's) are authorized to represent individuals before the IRS. But all of them do not practice in that area. You want someone that regularly handles IRS tax collection issues like this.
If there is already a notice of federal tax lien filed, it is likely too late to have your mom effectively transfer her interest in the house to you. It would still be subject to the tax lien, and you still wouldn't be able to sell or mortgage it without paying the lien.
A: You should consider hiring a tax attorney to review the facts surrounding your mother’s tax debt, whether the lien was properly placed on your property, and how to remove it. Transferring property to scrub a lien does not work. The lien follows the property until the tax is paid, generally by sale proceeds or other sources. If the tax debt is still outstanding, and if she does not have much in the way of assets to pay the debt, consider an offer in compromise for her.
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