| The worst form of lien that is rare, but you still may | | | | disastrous, so do look out for them. |
| find, is an IRS lien. IRS liens don't go away; they attach | | | | Let me clarify something: |
| themselves like glue to the property of the delinquent | | | | I think HIGHLY of the need for a very detailed title |
| taxpayer. It does not show up very often, but it does | | | | search. I would NEVER purchase a property without |
| happen. The property owner, the seller, did not pay | | | | having done a detailed title search and being |
| their income taxes and the IRS slapped a lien on their | | | | comfortable that I have uncovered and am aware of |
| property and recorded it in that county. Now anything | | | | any and all skeletons in the closet of that particular |
| that person owns in that county has that lien attached | | | | property. |
| to it, and the lien follows the property wherever it goes, | | | | However I do NOT think very highly of title insurance. |
| meaning even if you don't see this lien, the lien still | | | | What is the difference? |
| comes with it. So if you buy a $10,000 property with a | | | | Title Insurance is issued by a Title company AFTER |
| $50,000 lien, guess what? The Lien came with the | | | | they have run their title search and have satisfactorily |
| property and now whenever you want to sell that | | | | identified and removed any clouds on title that they |
| property any sales proceeds would go to the IRS to | | | | found. Until this point, I am all for it and I LOVE it. |
| help settle that debt, and you would get NOTHING!!! So | | | | However once they have satisfied these requirements |
| that's something you want to look out for! | | | | they then agree to, for a fee, issue Title insurance on |
| If you do find an IRS lien, see if it still makes sense to | | | | this property. |
| proceed, it might. Let's turn this around: if you find a | | | | I recommend learning how to do your own title |
| property worth $50,000 that you only pay $10,000 for | | | | searches. This can be easily done if you know what |
| with a $5,000 IRS lien against it, that's probably worth | | | | to look for and most counties nowadays store |
| buying whether you pay $15,000 outright or you get | | | | property records online, so you can even do your |
| the seller to accept $5000 in light of the lien and you | | | | research from the comfort of your own home. If a |
| pay $10,000 total. So play it case by case. What I | | | | county does not provide online access to their |
| want to say mainly is that these do not happen very | | | | database you will then need to actually go to the |
| often but when they are present, they can be | | | | county courthouse and do your research there. |