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Don’t Lien On Me

By Kimberly Shane

Don’t Lien on Me

For the first thirty or so years of my life I thought there was only one way to spell lean; as such, L-E-A-N. But, let me tell you, I learned quickly how to spell lien; unfortunately, it was due to all the emails and conversations with our realtor. Here’s what happened; while house shopping with my now husband, I found the cutest little house in a great neighborhood that, this is the best part, it was listed $20,000 below it's last appraised value. Of course, we put an offer on it right away and the process started… until it stopped. It didn’t stop with a closing or a great story like, we came into a bunch of money and bought a horse farm. It stopped with a lien. The house was bank owned, as you can imagine with a price like that! They were just trying to get the home sold. However, due to the lien against the house, nothing and no one was moving.

dont lein on me blog.jpgSo, what is a lien? According to realtor.com, it is a legal notice that’s placed on file as a consequence of an unpaid debt. It’s a way for creditors to let you know that they are serious. Mortgage companies won’t finance a home until the lien is paid off (the debt is settled). So, that left us sitting. The bank who owned the home wasn’t the one with the unpaid debt. That person had to be tracked down and the lien had to be satisfied before we could move forward.

Long story short, we waited for 6 months for everything to get sorted out. It never did. Luckily, we could walk away with our earnest money and when we finally did, we found our current home. And thanks to our awesome mortgage banker and his team, we closed in 35 days! YAY! 

It was a nightmare. We were newlyweds who had to move in with my parents and because my younger brother still lived there, we didn’t have a bedroom to sleep in, just a loft. My recommendation to all homebuyers is to surround yourself with experienced professionals who care about your situation! Without the support from these people, I’m confident my husband and I would not have made it through the experience with the grace in which we did! Side note: Our family and friends were also very helpful. The mortgage bankers at Stockton Mortgage have over 500 years of experience all together; that is a lot of knowledge that can be brought to your situation! Do you have a question about home financing or ownership? Well that’s why we’re here! Give us a call 1-888-914-2276

Source: http://www.realtor.com/advice/sell/lien/

Tags: Mortgage, Home Loans, Home Buyer, home buying