Wondering how to find out if our home has a lien on it for work.?

Question

We live in Texas. We hired a man to update our home a couple of years ago when we purchased it. We paid in full. 7 Months later he gives us a new bill for backsplash. Contract states 2% of it is backsplash. We never paid that bill because our contract already includes the backsplash. We are selling the house now and closing on in 4 wks. This just occurred to me this could be a problem and the man may try and get more money from us. How do you find out if you have a lien anyway. We have all the invoices say paid in full. Would we get notice of it being filed in the first place.... I hope everything is okay. Just thought someone could help me.

Answer 1

Liens are filed under your name at the County Recorders Office.  Go in and they will help you locate the file.  Or try online.

Answer 2

If there is a lien on your property, it would have been recorded at the county courthouse. Your real estate company will be having a title insurance policy issued in order to sell your home with a clear title, and so any liens will show up on there (including any mortgages, unpaid taxes, etc.). I would strongly recommend giving your real estate agent a flag on this issue so that he/she  can put a rush on your title policy. That way, if a contractor's lien does show up, you'll have enough time to clear it up and not effect the closing on your house. Otherwise, if it doesn't show up on the title policy, you're good to go.  

Answer 3

Liens are perfected by recording with the County Recorder's office. When you buy or sell real estate, what the title company does is do a search of the Recorder's records for that property. If any liens show up, the escrow cannot close until the lien is resolved and a satisfaction is recorded. You can go the the recorder's office yourself and do a search to see if a lien was ever recorded. Depending on the system in place, it can be easy, or it can be tedious, but you can usually find out in a day if any liens have been recorded, and get a copy of any such lien.

Note: The title company will NOT clear it up, if they find a lien, it will be up to you to get it resolved. All a title company does is search the records, and if clear, issue a title insurance policy that reflects that, and then protects you in case they were negligent and a lien or other cloud on the title should show up at a later time, causing damage to the purchaser of your property.

Edit to Add re Ed Atun - Real property liens are not "filed under your name". They are not filed at all, they are recorded, and the original lien is returned to the lienholder. And, they are recorded under the legal description of the subject real property, not under any person's name. Do not confuse this with a judgment obtained by prevailing in a civil lawsuit, where the judgment is recorded and becomes a lien against the judgment debtor.

Answer 4

This may help:

http://www.allbusiness.com/accounting/34...

I'm a builder. If you never received anything other than the bill, it is highly unlikely that a lien was filed. there are procedures that must be followed before a lien can be filed.

He could have went down and tried to file, but probably would have been stopped when he didn't have all the required documents. But if he did, it prolly wouldn't stick.

Go to the county clerks office, they will show you how search it, or ask the title company to look for it. They will HELP you to resolve it if it is there.  

Answer 5

The title company where you are closing will be able to pull up any and all information regarding this.  I would contact them sooner rather than later in case the contractor did indeed place a mechanics lien against your home.  If he did, it will take the title company a few weeks to get it cleared up.  You don't want any last minute surprises right before you close!