Useful Tips That Will Make Selling a House With Liens Easier

A lien is a legal claim made against one’s property by a debtor, administered because of large debts. The lien is issued so that the creditor can reclaim the money that is owed to them. In some cases, unpaid liens can result in one’s property being repossessed or claimed by the creditor. If you are a property owner and want to sell your house, then a lien can complicate things. Thankfully it is possible to have a lien removed, giving you complete ownership over your property again. There are also some ways that you can sell your property with a lien attached. Here’s everything you need to know:

Home Buying Companies

The most effective way of selling a house when it has a liens against it is to go through a specialised home buying company. A home buying company will explain how to sell your house with liens and will more often than not make an offer on it themselves. These companies pay off the debt that’s outstanding on your property so that the property can then legally be sold. While the lien’s out against your property, you cannot legally sell it. It has to be removed or paid off first. If you intend upon working with one of these companies, then make sure that you do your research and find the one that’s going to offer you the most money for your house. Despite the lien, you should try to make as much money as possible.

Pay Off the Lien

The other option available to you if you want to sell your house is to pay off the lien yourself. If the lien is very large, then this might not be an option. It depends largely upon the savings that you have and your willingness to put them all into repaying the lien. If you are challenging the lien in court, then you likely won’t want to pay anything toward it. This means that you cannot sell your house until your dispute has been resolved. As will be mentioned later on in this article, you may be able to arrange a repayment plan. If you are going to arrange a repayment plan, then you need to arrange to pay an amount that’s comfortable for you. A payment plan might allow your lien to be lifted, as long as the lienholder is happy with the amount offered.

Negotiate With Buyer

If you are selling your house privately, one effective way of paying off your lien is to list your house for more than it’s worth, then negotiate with any interested buyers and ask them to give you the lien’s amount upfront so that you can pay it off and then sell the property. Alternatively, once you have listed the property and you have interested buyers, you can pay the lien off out of your own savings. Negotiating with buyers can be difficult, so make sure that you have an attorney there to help you. Attorneys are experts in negotiations and can make the entire process much less stressful.

Statute of Limitations

Before a lien becomes a lien, it is a judgement. Judgements have a statute of limitations. If you are determined to not repay your debt, then you may just have to wait until the statute of limitations on it is up. This will then mean that you aren’t legally responsible for paying anything and can sell your house. The length of time that it takes for a judgement to expire depends upon the state that you live in, but most often is around ten years. The problem is that judgements usually become liens long before the statute of limitations expires. The only time that a judgement ever really expires is when the debtor has forgotten about reclaiming the money, which in today’s economic climate is very unlikely.

Negotiate With Lienholder

You may also be able to negotiate with the lienholder. It’s always good trying to do this. They may release you early or may allow you to pay a lesser amount. The only person that can really help you once a lien has been issued is the lienholder. More often than not, they will be receptive to negotiations, especially if it means that they are going to get their money quicker. You might want to hire an attorney to negotiate on your behalf.

Arrange Repayment Plan

A repayment plan is a very effective option, as already mentioned. If you remain faithful to your repayment plan, the lienholder might release your property. They will likely only do this once you have made substantial contributions toward repaying your lien. If you still have a large amount left, they will likely refuse to release you. This is so that they don’t lose out. It’s too risky for lienholders to release liens when they haven’t recuperated most of their money because once they have released the person, they might not repay them.

Contact An Attorney

Whenever a judgement is issued against you, you should always hire an attorney. This is so that you can do your best to counter the lien. At the very least, a lawyer will be able to negotiate on your behalf. Having a trained legal expert on your team, speaking for you is very useful. They might be able to negotiate the amount down or arrange a repayment plan for you before the lien is issued, allowing you to totally avoid having one taken out against you.

Repay Your Debts

If you want to avoid liens, then repay your debts. If you are ever struggling with debt, you need to speak to your debtors and explain this to them. More often than not, debtors are receptive to offers and will accept repayment plans, however small. They just want to know that you aren’t avoiding them. If you go out of your way to avoid debtors, ignoring their phone calls, emails, and messages, then they have no other choice but to apply for a lien to be taken out against you. It is in your best interest (and theirs) to get in touch and try to repay them on a monthly basis.

If you are a homeowner and have had a lien taken out against you but want to sell your property, then you only have a few options available. The most effective of these is to contact a specialist home buying company, who will be able to repay your debt for you. Before contacting one of these companies, do your research and make sure that they are experts and offer a reliable, helpful service.