MR. SELLER DO YOU HAVE PROOF THAT YOU PAID THE $13,000 IN BACK CHILD SUPPORT LIEN?
We were at the one yard line ready to close escrow and fund on my listing deal Thursday morning. Then, I received an Email at 9:28AM in the morning from the escrow title officer. The subject line read "WE HAVE A PROBLEM CALL ME NOW!" It is standard practice for title to run one more title search on the property to check if there are any outstanding liens against the property. Well, we had a BINGO. The escrow title officer asked me if the seller paid off his $13,000 in back child support dated in 2008. We had a five minute discussion. I informed her that I will call the seller immediately to get this problem resolved.
DO YOU REALLY WANT TO SELL YOUR PROPERTY AS FOR SALE BY OWNER IN THIS REAL ESTATE MARKET?
Mr. Seller we have a little problem. There seems to be an outstanding lien on the property from 2008 in the amount of $13,000 in back child support. The seller went on to explain that him and his wife were divorced. Yes, this amount of money has been paid in full. I have documentation at time to show that I satisfied this lien. Can we still close on this property? I will get back to you.
I called back the escrow officer that the lien has been paid in full. However, she informed me that we need to get the lien released officially on the record to proceed with closing. Buyer needs to close today to move into the home. What do we do? I informed the escrow officer to hold back sellers proceeds and go on to close and fund the deal so we do not upset the buyer. Then, we will work on releasing the lien on the sellers side.
The DES sent paper work to be filled out and signed by other half. However, this paper work was never completed. The recorded the lien the first part of January. Hence, it did not come up on the Prelim Title Reprot. I informed Seller to take care of this problem NOW so we will not have this issue in future deals.
STEPS TO RELEASE A CHILD SUPPORT LIEN IN ARIZONA
- Obtain all documentation showing lien has been paid in full including court notes and copy of cashed check
- Make an appointment with a DES officer to explain the situation to release the lien
- Other party comes into the office to sign lien release form showing that oustanding lien has been paid in full
- Lien release form sent to DES lawyer department to review and bless the lien release
- Recorded as paid in full and lien has been released
- Copy sent to seller to give to escrow title officer
- Check records to see it has been recorded
- Sellers proceeds released
DONE DEAL WITH DELIA
Make the Call, Set the Plan, Do the Deal$!
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Harry: Excellent post with such good information! Thanks
Jim learning with each transaction
Great information
Thanks Harry. I had a similar surprise yesterday and am now researchng solutions. Your post was very helpful. Cheers! Kevin