I have owned a piece of property for over 15 years. It is vacant land and want to put it into a self directed IRA. How do I do this? Also, I have an abstract of judgement recorded against me but no lien has been placed on the property. Once placed in an IRA will the property be safe from having a lien placed on it? California

You can't just move property you already own into an IRA - you have to purchase the land using funds that are in your IRA, and have an IRA custodian willing to work with you. Here's a good overview:

Invest Your IRA in Real Estate? - Kiplinger.com (http://www.kiplinger.com/magazine/archives/2005/03/IRA.html)

Whether property within an IRA is protected from lines or judgments depends on the state and the details of the IRA. For example, most states protect traditional IRAs, but some don't protect Roths, and some make an exception for cases of fraud. I suggest that if you want to pursue this, talk with whichever custodian you are thinking of investing through.