I Discovered Tax Lien!

[[email protected]]

I signed a purchase agreement in our small town. I decided to check the property records in town and discovered the seller is two years behind in his local property taxes. He is also the real estate agent for the house.

Perhaps he was planning on having us find out at the last minute and pressuring us to pay his taxes. Fortunately it is very early in the process and he does not yet know that I know.

I want to use this opportunity to make sure he pays all the property taxes before we give him any further deposit. Are there any standard forms I can use without hiring a lawyer?

 

[HomeGuru]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by [email protected]:

I signed a purchase agreement in our small town. I decided to check the property records in town and discovered the seller is two years behind in his local property taxes. He is also the real estate agent for the house.

Perhaps he was planning on having us find out at the last minute and pressuring us to pay his taxes. Fortunately it is very early in the process and he does not yet know that I know.

I want to use this opportunity to make sure he pays all the property taxes before we give him any further deposit. Are there any standard forms I can use without hiring a lawyer?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Make sure you use an escrow company to close the transaction. The escrow company will order a title report and do a lien check. It will be discovered from the real property tax records that the taxes are in arrears.
Under your circumstances, it is very unwise of you to not use a real estate attorney. Especially when the Seller is the real estate agent and you do not understand the language in the purchase contract. You have no one to represent you. And you do need the services of a real estate professional. What are the conditions of the sale? Who will be following up on the survey, staking, real estate appraisal financing, checks for clear title and liens, encumbrances, easements, rights-of-way, home inspection, termite inspection, default clauses, sales commission, closing costs, extension of time, binding arbitration.............,
What other payments could he be behind on? His mortgage, contractors that could file mechanics liens etc.

Just do the right thing.