city lien?

[Jpony]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Fl
I was selling my house to the tenants, they were supposed to keep it up, they didn't, I wasn't notified of city violations until it had already gone to their kangaroo court & were fining me $200/day for 6 months. Tenants quit paying & left. I was so underwater, I decided to let the bank have it. I was going to do a deed in lieu but there form says they only do that if there are no other liens, so it looks like they are just going to foreclose, which will wipe out the city lien on the house but can the city come after me personally. City wouldn't call me back as to what was wrong with the place, the draught had killed the yard, along with a lot of others.

 

[nextwife]

You sold a MORTGAGED house to irresponsible tenants and then walked away because they created fines? YOU continued to have responsibility to make certain the property was maintained and no fines were accrueing until your mortgage was paid off.

Your mortgage agreements also likely made your sale to the tenants a violation of your mortgage terms.

If the bank decides not to foreclose, you will remain liable, so you may want to be more proactive to get this squared away. I have seen situations in which banks decide to let the owner stay on title and be allowed to remain responsible for the repair orders that accrued under their watch.

 

[NC Aggie]

Well any violations and fines should have been sent to the property owner, not the tenant. And whenever a fine is involved, they would have to send citation certified to confirm you received it? So you're saying you never received notices of violations or did you choose to ignore them?

 

[nextwife]

Well any violations and fines should have been sent to the property owner, not the tenant. And whenever a fine is involved, they would have to send citation certified to confirm you received it? So you're saying you never received notices of violations or did you choose to ignore them?

Many communities do not send violation notices certified. I manage the portfolio of default loans for an entire state, and none of the communities send the violation notices certified. They are sent USPS.

However, if he did not file his current address, or, as some communities requires, a non-owner occupied registration, they may not have been able to send him notices at his current location.

The bottom line is that this poster retained liability for the property, it's condition and any fines until they paid off the mortgage.

 

[NC Aggie]

Many communities do not send violation notices certified. I manage the portfolio of default loans for an entire state, and none of the communities send the violation notices certified. They are sent USPS.

However, if he did not file his current address, or, as some communities requires, a non-owner occupied registration, they may not have been able to send him notices at his current location.

The bottom line is that this poster retained liability for the property, it's condition and any fines until they paid off the mortgage.

I don't disagree that the O.P. was still responsible for the property and liable for any violations on the property. However, I do believe that in most jurisdiction that before a violator can be served with subsequent fines/fees AFTER an initial violation that they have to be served or sent the violation via some certifed means especially prior to a lien being placed on a property for unpaid fines. That's not a matter of opinion, it's a matter of law.

 

[HomeGuru]

Good posts.

 

[Jpony]

thanks for the lecture but all of that was irrelevant to the question, which is simply, does the city have the right to come after me for outstanding fines if the house is foreclosed on. I have had 2 different opinions by 2 lawyers. One says yes they can sue me for the fines and the other says no, they can only collect on the sale of the house and if it's foreclosed they are out of luck but can start the fining again with the new owner, the bank.

I did not receive any notices. The tenants got a noticed posted on the door but never told me.

As for the rest, I hadn't 'sold' the house, I was "selling" it, BIG difference, which is NOT a violation of my mortgage. I didn't think the details were that important, I had a purchase agreement with a 2 yr lease, in the lease they were responsible for all of the upkeep as if they owned the house. The first year was perfect, they made major improvements at their expense and maintained the property. Then they had problems when the construction industry tanked, he went out of town for months and she couldn't keep the place up as well as the city expected, they also were spotty on paying and then promised to catch up and starting paying again. I know it was my responsibility to assure that it was maintain but I had my own problems and was out of town and incapacitated. The people never notified me of the hearing. Yes I could sue them because they breached our contract by not maintaining the place and it was in a written agreement that they would but you can't get blood from a stone, they have no money.
I tried working with the bank but no matter what paper work I sent them it was never enough and they would claim the didn't get it or it was lost, after months of trying I gave up. I know it's wrong and I'm paying for it with my credit score. I held out for 3 years maxing out my credit cards and family loans to keep the house but I moved back in with my father and have no more money and the bank got $700 billion bailout. This is the one and only thing I have ever defaulted on.

I have also tried to work it out with the city and they won't return my calls.

 

[kbewell]

To answer your question, the foreclosure does not wipe off this lien. This lien sits in front of the mortgage, but behind property taxes. Your best option is to short sale the home and get the buyer to payoff this lien as part of the purchase.

 

[Jpony]

Thank you for your help