Lawyer will not address lien

[Honest law]

I live in Illinois and I'm trying to refinance my home and settle a divorce judgement lien that was entered on my property in Jan 2008. The title company discovered a second judgement lien (not revived) from the same lawyer from Jan 2015 for a lesser amount (not the interest on the first lien). The divorce lawyer, using another lawyer and after taking months to respond, will settle for the full amount, plus interest, of the first lien and will not address the second lien. This has been going on since January 2016. Please help me to understand how to proceed.

 

[latigo]

I live in Illinois and I'm trying to refinance my home and settle a divorce judgment lien that was entered on my property in Jan 2008. The title company discovered a second judgment lien (not revived) from the same lawyer from Jan 2015 for a lesser amount (not the interest on the first lien). The divorce lawyer, using another lawyer and after taking months to respond, will settle for the full amount, plus interest, of the first lien and will not address the second lien. This has been going on since January 2016. Please help me to understand how to proceed.

If the date of the judgment supporting the second lien is January 2015, it wouldn't require being renewed as it would remain in effect for seven (7) years and twice renewable.

Perhaps that is a misunderstanding on your part and is reflected in your offer of settlement. As it seems most odd that a lien holder would refuse to accept full satisfaction.

Could it be that you haven't offered full satisfaction and that is reason for the impasse?

 

[LdiJ]

I live in Illinois and I'm trying to refinance my home and settle a divorce judgement lien that was entered on my property in Jan 2008. The title company discovered a second judgement lien (not revived) from the same lawyer from Jan 2015 for a lesser amount (not the interest on the first lien). The divorce lawyer, using another lawyer and after taking months to respond, will settle for the full amount, plus interest, of the first lien and will not address the second lien. This has been going on since January 2016. Please help me to understand how to proceed.

Based on the fact that a judgment appears to be good for 7 years in IL, and 2015 was 7 years from 2008, it sounds to me like the second judgment was a renewal rather than a new judgment...perhaps with an error in not including interest in the renewed judgment and perhaps even entered improperly. Perhaps what you need is an attorney of your own to speak to the other attorney to clear this up.

 

[Honest law]

If the date of the judgment supporting the second lien is January 2015, it wouldn't require being renewed as it would remain in effect for seven (7) years and twice renewable.

Perhaps that is a misunderstanding on your part and is reflected in your offer of settlement. As it seems most odd that a lien holder would refuse to accept full satisfaction.

Could it be that you haven't offered full satisfaction and that is reason for the impasse?

The second lien (2015) is definitely marked as Rendered and not Revived and does refer to the same judgement date as the original first lien. The only difference is the (lesser) amount. Even if I satisfied the first lien, the second would still exist and I still would not be able to clear my title. It seems odd that the lawyer told me "I don't want to talk about it". If it was a legally placed lien you would think she would want satisfaction on this one as well. In a letter to the lawyer both liens were addressed with their amounts along with copies of the filed memorandum of judgments. Why would this lawyer then have another lawyer send the pay off letter for only the first lien? Do I have any rights or leverage in negotiation? What type of lawyer would I need to hire?

 

[Honest law]

Based on the fact that a judgment appears to be good for 7 years in IL, and 2015 was 7 years from 2008, it sounds to me like the second judgment was a renewal rather than a new judgment...perhaps with an error in not including interest in the renewed judgment and perhaps even entered improperly. Perhaps what you need is an attorney of your own to speak to the other attorney to clear this up.

A letter was sent to the lawyer addressing both liens. The response was a pay off letter for the original lien (amount +interest) from another lawyer on the original lawyers behalf. I'm just getting on my feet and I was not expecting the 9% interest on the lien. I would like to possibly negotiate, pay off a sum and continue with my home refinance. What type of lawyer would I need to hire and do I have any rights?