ok--here is a tough one!!--my babys mama,owns a home,a lien was placed on it for 15k due to her moms failure to tell anyone the taxes were unpaid for a while!!--jeeze!-anyway, thats another story,,,,well my parents have a friend in real estate,his boss purchaced the lien to avoid the lien being exercised and them loosing the house for 15k--he gave them the stipulation that the house would be listed with them and sold --lien paid off everyone is happy!--(he gave her6 mos to either have the house sell OR satisfy the 15 k lien)--well they are kind of relucktant to sell due to her mom being ill and 86 years old --to have to move out of the house would most likely have devistating results,,yes i understand the latter also- the lien could be exercised,tough luck,get out,lien holder just would aquire a 120,000 piece of realestate for a mear 15k--there is NO mortgage on the house --it is free and clear--please, she has tried to get loans,i know doctors that are having a rough time getting mortgages now!!----my question is
can i purchace this house for say 20k--thus satisfying the lien?--not thru the listing broker though, i think because they are a lienholder they would have a say??--please-helpful answers only--her credit sucks as does mine--thank you Richie

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 Tags: real estate, tax lien

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Brett Ehart    January 15, 2011

First, make sure you are talking about a tax lien and not a tax deed. I will assume that you live in a tax lien state, and that the lien was purchased by the broker. There is now interest and fees due on the lien, and if it is not paid within a certain period of time, the lien-holder can foreclose. Contact your county clerk or assessor for allowable interest and redemption periods.

Can you redeem the lien for $20,000? Maybe, it depends on the interest and penalties that are owed. How much did the broker pay for it? Tax liens are usually sold at auction. The county usually controls the lien, even though it is owned by an investor. Payments are usually made to the county. So contact them, and find out what it takes to redeem the lien. After it is paid off, there will be nothing more owned on the house.

If you pay off the current owner will still own it. You are not buying the house, just paying off a debt. Can you buy the house for $20k? Yes, if the owner is willing to sell it to you for that. The lien would have to be paid off through escrow, so if the lien is worth more than $20k, you would still have to pay it off to buy the house.

I don't think there is any obligation to sell the house through the broker that owns the lien.