wolfeshunt
Junior Member
State of Virginia. I purchased land ten days ago. Deed has been recorded. At closing, my attorney advised that he found a judgment lien on the property. He advised to proceed with closing, saying that he and the sellers attorney would research the lien further, and if it was valid, it could be paid off from the purchase funds that were held in escrow, with the balance of the fund then being released to the seller. The judgment was not against my seller, but was against the man that she bought the property from 8 years ago. Neither she, not her mortgage company discovered the lien and she was not aware of it until my attorney found it. The lien has been researched by both attorneys and is valid. I want to pay it off, as discussed with my attorney at closing. The seller was not present at closing. She had previously signed the closing documents and forwarded them to my attorney. Now seller does not want to pay off the lien. The statute of limitations on the lien should expire in about 18 months. Seller wants to enough funds in escrow to cover the lien if lien holder attempt to collect it. If it is not collector after the 18 months, then lien should not longer be valid and she will keep the escrow funds set aside. I'm not happy about this plan as I don't get a clear title to the property for 18 months. My attorney says he believes seller will sue if we don't go along with the plan. I see all kinds of things that could go wrong. I bought title insurance but policy has not yet been issued. Lien was not included in commitment letter as it hadn't yet been discovered. My attorney wants to advise title insurer of the lien and ask them to affirm coverage of the lien. He says we will then be "doubly" protected by the escrow funds and the title insurance. Any thoughts or advice?