If you have a lien on your Oklahoma City house, you may feel stuck if you can’t sell the house or pay off the lien. The good news is, you don’t have to feel stuck in your unwanted house any longer. Learn more about how to sell a house with liens in our latest post.
What Is A Lien?
According to Bankrate, a lien is a claim made against a property in order to satisfy or guarantee a debt. It is a way for a lender or creditor to recoup what is owed to them. Having a lien on your Oklahoma City house doesn’t mean you can’t sell it. It simply means you need to satisfy the lien before doing so.
Why Do You Get Them?
The most common types of liens are mechanic’s liens, judgment liens, and tax liens. Mechanic’s liens come from contractors who work on your house. They will often issue a lien on your house to ensure they are paid. Some put a lien on your house right when they start work just to be safe. Others only do it if you don’t pay them. A judgment lien comes when you lose a court case and need to pay someone else for a loss. A judgment lien will be filed against your assets until the payment is received in full. A tax lien is issued when you do not pay your state or federal income taxes. These are pretty serious and need to be addressed before or during closing. A lien can even be filed in the case of unpaid alimony or child support. If payments aren’t being made as directed by the court, the receiving party can file a lien against the owing parties property.
Check Your Title
Check out the local Oklahoma City county clerk to search for liens on your property. The website is here – County Clerk Website. Go to that site, type in your name (last name first name) and see what comes up. A title company will check for liens before the time of sale, but you want to be prepared before this. It is not uncommon to find a lien in your name you weren’t aware of. It might have been put in your name by error or filed without your knowledge. We’ve seen banks file mortgages against the wrong house just by mis-typing the block or lot numbers. This is an easy fix but can give you a tiny heart attack when you find out about it.
Effects On Your Credit
A paid off lien will stick around on your credit report for up to 7 years. An unpaid lien will hang around for 10 years. These can be big red flags to future creditors when you are attempting to borrow money for a car or house or other loan. Having liens on your credit report will make you appear to be a risky borrower and lower your odds of being approved for any loans.
Remedy The Situation
The fastest way to remedy the situation is to simply pay off the lien. This is often easier said than done depending on the type of lien. If you weren’t able to pay off the debt in the first place, you might still have trouble doing so now. Many lenders will work with you as long as you make a plan for repayment. You can always call and see if the lien holder or lender will take payments or even a reduced payoff to be done with it. We’ve negotiated liens down from $5,000 to $1,500 with one phone call. Many lien holders will accept repayment upon the sale of the house. This means you can sell your house and just pay the debt at closing from the money the buyer brings so there is $0 out of pocket for you. Other creditors will demand payment before the house is sold. Mortgage liens, filed against your property by your lender, won’t affect the sale of the home. Talk to an attorney if your situation is complicated or if you are unsure about what to do to satisfy a lien.
Sell As-Is
A great way to sell a house with liens in Oklahoma City, is to sell your house to a direct buyer. Many home buyers will opt to take financial responsibility for the lien, thus enabling you to sell the house. W Properties will help you pay off your lien and buy your house for cash. We can help with liens or any other difficult challenges you are facing when trying to sell your Oklahoma City home.