How Long Does a Lien Stay on a Property

[Harold99]

It may not matter what it is worth.

It would also be helpful to know if an escrow company can pay an IRS lien and make it go away overnight so that the new buyer and bank has a clean title the next day when they take full ownership.

Sure, an escrow company can pay for broker fees, the termite work, property tax, the loan balance, etc. But can they satisfy a debt to the IRS instantly overnight? Would they want to get involved with that?

I would image that an IRS debt would have to be paid before a purchasing bank and title company signed on the dotted line for that property.

[stellac1776]

House is appraised at $175,000. debts are $90,000 (which also includes the mortgage left). Bank originally was going to let us remortgage at $120,000. Then they told us about the liens, which we did not know about, and said, no, they would not let us refinance. So far we have gotten the same response from all the other places.

If we could get refinancing I was going to call the credit card companies and see if they would settle for 1/2 or less to knock the liens down to $13-15K. But unless I can get a promise of refinancing it does me no good to do that as we don't have any money to give them and could only pay a small amount monthly, If we did that the bank was going to keep our monthly mortgage payment $500

[pg1067]

debts are $90,000 (which also includes the mortgage left). . . .

If we could get refinancing I was going to call the credit card companies and see if they would settle for 1/2 or less to knock the liens down to $13-15K.

This information conflicts with your other thread, where you wrote that the credit card debt is $10k and implied that the mortgage is $45k (and that there's a lien for $20k in unpaid taxes). That's $75,000 in total, but now you're saying that debts are $90,000.

Whether it's $75k or $90k, if the property is appraised at $175k, you should have no problem selling and paying off the debt and pocketing a good chunk of change, and the only possible problem you might have with a refi would be your ability to make the monthly payments. As more than one person has told you, liens don't prevent selling or refinancing because liens get paid and released as part of those things.

All that being said, I can only conclude that there is relevant information you haven't told us about (maybe because you're not aware that it's relevant). I therefore suggest you consult with a bankruptcy attorney. Try to find one who will discuss other possible options and who won't just shuffle you into and out of a bankruptcy as quickly as possible.