When you buy a home, you’re not just buying the house. You can also inherit whatever is legally attached to it. That’s where liens on property come in, and they’re the kind of surprise nobody wants to discover after they’ve already got the keys. The good news is that catching them is exactly what a title search is built to do.
What a lien on a property actually is
A lien is a legal claim against a property, usually tied to a debt the owner owes. The important thing to understand is that many liens attach to the property itself, not just to the person who ran up the debt. So if a lien isn’t cleared before you buy, it can follow the home to you, the new owner.
The kinds of liens that surface most often
A few show up again and again. An old mortgage the previous owner thought was paid off but that was never officially released. A contractor’s lien, also called a mechanic’s lien, for remodeling or repair work that never got fully paid. Past-due homeowners association dues. And court judgments against a former owner that quietly attached to the property. Any of these can sit on a title for years without the current owner realizing it.
How a title search finds them
This is the quiet, behind-the-scenes part of a closing. We dig through decades of the property’s history in the property records, looking for anything attached to it. When we find a lien or an unreleased claim, our skilled examiners assess the effect of the lien, then we work to clear it up before closing so it doesn’t become your problem. The goal is simple: get you to a clean title.
Where owner’s title insurance comes in
A thorough title search catches the vast majority of issues. But records aren’t always perfect, and occasionally something surfaces later that nobody could reasonably have found, like a forged document in the chain of ownership or an heir who shows up after the fact. That’s what owner’s title insurance is for. It protects your ownership if a covered problem turns up down the road.
The takeaway
Liens on a property are the part of a closing you hopefully never have to think about again, because someone handled them before you ever moved in. If you’ve got a purchase coming up in the west metro, we’re happy to be the ones sweating those details.
(This is intended as general, educational information, not legal advice.)
