How to put a lien on a house?

What is the name of your state? Hawai'i

What's the process to place a lien on a house?

Who/what office do I contact?

Thanks for your help.

BE CAREFUL - you can not put a lien on a house for just ANY reason. If you do, you will be in big trouble.

That's a valid statement, but doesn't answer my question. I'm reluctant to relate the boring details, but maybe they will help.

Two people borrow hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy property and build a house on it. There is no written agreement for the partnership. They intend to sell the house ans share in the returns. One person begins acting strangely and proposing various arrangements that would be less than equitable.

I do realize there are many ways this situation could be avoided, but they didn't ask me what I thought until things started looking bad. If someone can help, great. If not, I'll be calling around for information sometime in the near future anyway.

This sounds like an example of how you should not use a lien. Please re-read IndianaOwner's advice and see and attorney before doing anything.

What would be a valid reason?

Taresa said:

What would be a valid reason?

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Mechanic's lien.

Google that term for one example of a valid lien.

Your reasons are not reasons to file a lien; there is no such thing as an automatic lien.

If you think there is a violation of some kind of agreement, you need to file a lawsuit and let the court settle it. The court may wind up selling the place and deducting all the costs and then (if there is anything left) give you the dough that you deserve (in the court's viewpoint).

Ok, I know a little more about mechanic's liens. It doesn't sound too far off from what I'm talking about. Both partners have taken out loans greater than $200k to build this house. One partner is threatening to not sign for a sale and live in the house instead. The other partner thinks it very unlikely that the first partner will even find the money to pay his own expenses, let alone afford to buy the first partner out, even solely based on expenses.

It's a big tangle, and I'm having a hard time finding really solid information on what the next steps would be.

What questions/answers should I ask to determine whether this is an appropriate use of a lien?

If it IS, then how do I go about starting the process? What's a roadmap through the whole ordeal? How long does it take? What's if the property's sold before the lien goes through?

I can see that at first blush, the general consensus is that I'm barking up the wrong tree. So what tree should I direct my efforts toward?

How is ownership held?

Q: I can see that at first blush, the general consensus is that I'm barking up the wrong tree. So what tree should I direct my efforts toward?


A: If you think there is a violation of some kind of agreement, you need to file a lawsuit and let the court settle it. The court may wind up selling the place and deducting all the costs and then (if there is anything left) give you the dough that you deserve (in the court's viewpoint).

Both partners names are on the title of the property.

Both partners names are on the title of the property.

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The purpose of a lien is to protect the lienholder's rights in case the property is sold. Here, one partner *can't* sell the property without the other's consent so protection is complete. If one partner wants to sell but the other doesn't, the process to force this is called a partition lawsuit. SeniorJudge usually puts out a cut and paste on such matters.

Negotiate hard. You don't want to go through the court if you don't have to as it will be time-consuming and expensive.

Now THAT is a useful response! Thanks, Tranquility.

Initially there were 4 people involved, two married couples. The wife of my relative partner died last month. The house is just about done, and the major loans are coming due in January.

The other wife has decided to become a real estate agent and represent the house so that they can get an agent's fee on top of their cut. I don't suppose it matters who gets the RE agent fee as long as the house sells. They've also mentioned moving into the house and living there for two years to avoid capital gains.

The house isn't likely to sell for more than 1M. There are easily documented loans of $600k on one side, and $350k (lived with relatives while building the house) on the other side.

Can the one set of partners move into the house without the other's permission?

Are there conversations we could initiate now with some state/county/city offices that would put my relative in a better position to protect himself?

OK - facts do help...LOL

This was a joint venture (i.e. probably a partnership by default) to build a house and sell it.

It is time to have a sit down and put in writing where this is going. I can understand the desire to avoid capital gains...however, you BOTH own the house so I don't know how that would work regarding the capital gains thing with one party living there...I'm not up on the tax specifics on that.

The parties need to have a serious sit down to clear up any misunderstandings and to preserve their relationship with one another...otherwise this could get really messy really fast...

My goodness, another example why *no* "advice" in a forum like this can be relied on. We start with question on how to place a lien on a house and end up with facts like this. I've know my best friend for (depending on how you count) 35 years. I trust him with my life. If we were to go into a million dollar deal together--I'd make sure we wrote it up. To not do this in a situation like here is stupid beyond belief.

What is the situation we find ourselve in now? Who knows? Realistically we have a partnership.

Can a tennant in common live in the house? Yes. That's one of the rights of property ownership, possession. That's what property law tells us. But, what about a partner's fiduciary responsibility? We're not really co-owners, but in business together. Not selling in order to live there does not seem to meet the business needs. Further, if we are a partnership, the "individuals" are not really owners in the sense envisioned by Section 121 (regarding the exclusion of capital gains on sale of personal residence).

See an attorney. Try to establish some facts and work out the agreement with your partners. Failure to do so now will cause substantial problems later. Because of the nebulous nature of the relationship, people are going to start thinking. I think some of the thinking will lead to some super-genius tax fraud ideas. Do you want to be a co-conspirator?

If worse comes to worse, you could always be the first to move in and live there!!! LOL

You need to put it all in writing---work it out now before greed among the partners takes over...