Judgment lien requires some action before sale of a home
Q. My father passed away a few months ago and we are attempting to sell his house. Someone suggested we run a title report on the property to make sure there are no liens recorded against the property.
It turns out that a "judgment lien" was recorded against the property about five years ago by a former business partner of my father. That man died about two years ago.
How do we get this lien removed? Can we sell the property with the lien still on there? Any help would be appreciated.
A. Judgments are good for seven years and may be revived. If not revived, the judgment and the associated lien will lapse.
One strategy, depending on the size of the judgment, would be to simply wait two more years for the judgment to lapse and then sell the property. You may obtain the additional benefit of a revival of the housing market.
If you do not wish to wait the two years, you must first determine if an estate was opened in the name of the judgment creditor. If so, the next question would be is the estate still open? If so, contact the executor/administrator of the estate and resolve the judgment. If an estate was opened but is now closed, contact the estate executor/administrator about reopening the estate, resolving the judgment lien then reclosing the estate.
If no estate was opened, you could attempt to contact the next of kin (wife/child) and attempt to resolve the judgment. The problem with this strategy is resolving with the next of kin may not in itself satisfy the title company that must insure the claim is resolved. The title company would prefer the more formal proceeding of a written resolution by the executor/administrator of a pending estate.
Contact the title company and ask a title officer what they would require to insure over this lien. They may have other ideas I have not thought of.
Finally, again depending on the size of the judgment, it is possible you could sell the property with the lien remaining attached. The title company would probably require you to deposit at least twice the amount of the judgment in an escrow account pending resolution of the lien. Once seven years from the date of the judgment arrives, you could argue that they should release the escrow to you.
Q. I recently rented a condominium. Part of the lease was I got a space in a 12-stall enclosed garage, which had room for one car and some storage.
Upon moving in, I discovered the garage has had severe roof leak problems for the past two years. The garage has not been fixed because the association does not have the money to fix it and there is an ongoing court battle as to who is responsible to fix the problem. As best as I can tell, this will not be resolved soon.
This space was very important to me as I drive a vintage car that I want to protect and I needed the storage. I have been warned not to store anything in the garage that would get damaged if it got wet.
Can I get out of this lease? I have put up $2,800 comprising first month's rent and a security deposit. I would hate to lose the money, but this situation does not work for me.
A. Is the garage space noted on the lease? If so, I believe you have a legal basis to terminate the lease. Unfortunately, having a basis to terminate the lease and actually getting your money back are two different things.
If you are committed to leaving this property, send a letter to the owner via certified mail that you are leaving the unit and why. Presuming you stay for most or all of the month, ask for your security deposit back. If the owner refuses, file a pro se complaint in the county where the property is located. Also, next rainstorm, take lots of pictures of the water coming in. The pictures will assist you if you are required to argue your case before a judge.
• Send your questions to attorney Tom Resnick, 345 N. Quentin Road, Palatine IL 60067, by e-mail to tdr100@hotmail.com or call (847) 359-8983.