Question regarding judgment liens...

[seeker67]

What is the name of your state? KY. I am hoping someone or maybe many someones can help me with this question. My mother recently passed away very suddenly and unexpectedly and without a will. In trying to sort out her affairs, my siblings and I have found she has two judgment liens attached to a property she owned as a result of medical problems some years ago. When I contacted both of the creditors involved, they both told me they were no longer valid liens after 7 years and gave me numbers to the collection agencies they had used. I contacted one of the two agencies and was told the same thing; the lien was no longer valid after the 7 year period of time which was up in 2006. We have hired an attorney to handle a couple other things for us and we have discussed this with him and he seems to feel this is in error, thinking the time frame is 15 years as they are judgment liens. I have been in the KRS codes and found what he is referring to but do not understand why 3 of the 4 companies would have told me the same thing if it was indeed 15 years.

Now, I'm thoroughly confused and would love it if someone could provide some clarity! Is it the 7 years and the liens should indeed be cleared from this property or is the attorney correct in his thinking and it's a 15 year time frame on this? Yes, my sincere hope is that what I've been told is correct and we can have the liens removed from the property obviously. To have clarity on this situation would be wonderful. Can anyone provide insight on this? We have been waiting for well over a week for some word from our attorney and still haven't heard anything as of yet.

Thanks for any input.

 

[nextwife]

In my market, in this situation, an owner or their attorney would order a preliminary title commitment and have a title company search and examine the condition of title so they would know what the title insurer does or does not consider "attached to the real estate". That preliminary commitment can then be held open and applied toward the owners policy they will need to provide their buyer at closing. Perhaps you can arrange something similar with the title provider from whom your title commitment is ordered?

 

[seeker67]

And this would help to show if the liens are valid for the 7 year or the 15 year span of time? It seems to be a very gray area that is difficult to get a clear cut answer and I suspect that is why we haven't heard a definitive answer back from our attorney yet. If we do as you suggest, would this clear this answer?

 

[HomeGuru]

What is the name of your state? KY. I am hoping someone or maybe many someones can help me with this question. My mother recently passed away very suddenly and unexpectedly and without a will. In trying to sort out her affairs, my siblings and I have found she has two judgment liens attached to a property she owned as a result of medical problems some years ago. When I contacted both of the creditors involved, they both told me they were no longer valid liens after 7 years and gave me numbers to the collection agencies they had used. I contacted one of the two agencies and was told the same thing; the lien was no longer valid after the 7 year period of time which was up in 2006. We have hired an attorney to handle a couple other things for us and we have discussed this with him and he seems to feel this is in error, thinking the time frame is 15 years as they are judgment liens. I have been in the KRS codes and found what he is referring to but do not understand why 3 of the 4 companies would have told me the same thing if it was indeed 15 years.

Now, I'm thoroughly confused and would love it if someone could provide some clarity! Is it the 7 years and the liens should indeed be cleared from this property or is the attorney correct in his thinking and it's a 15 year time frame on this? Yes, my sincere hope is that what I've been told is correct and we can have the liens removed from the property obviously. To have clarity on this situation would be wonderful. Can anyone provide insight on this? We have been waiting for well over a week for some word from our attorney and still haven't heard anything as of yet.

Thanks for any input.

**A: ask your attorney for a copy of the statute. I would believe him more than the creditors.