View Full Version : How can you sell land that has an IRS Lien attached to it?
Sno-byrd
Jan 9, 2014, 11:31 AM
My sibling and I have inherited property from our parents. The "property" has some IRS Liens (about $50,000) against it. The mobile home on the property does not have any Liens. Is there anyway for one of us to get a loan to purchase the other siblings half of the home. The bank we talked to said no loan because of the property having the lien against it. Can the IRS come in and do anything with the Mobile home? Could the IRS evict someone that is living there just because it is sitting on "the IRS property"? This property is located in Missouri and the Mobile Home lot that the house is setting on is not valued at anywhere close to the amount of the lien. To add to the confusion some of the liens were personal and some for a business that was owned by our Father. Please advise what can we do?
smoothy
Jan 9, 2014, 11:49 AM
The property can't be sold until the lien is satisfied. This is because you can not convey an unencumbered title to the property.
And yes the IRS can do this... they can in fact do almost anything they want... and just because someone dies their debts don't vanish... not unless they die owning no assets. Your late father had debts...the IRS did what was in their power to get back what was owed.
As far as the rest of the question... someone else will have to answer that. I can't.
joypulv
Jan 9, 2014, 12:09 PM
It sounds like the property in your case is the land only. The word 'property' does indeed mean real estate, in legal circles.
What is the value of the land? It should have been appraised at the time of your last parent's death, and the mobile home too.
Half of that is what you would usually pay the other sibling, because the IRS looks at the value family members charge each other, and they can tax you on the market value even if you paid less.
Whether you can get a loan is dependent on your ability to get a loan outside of ownership in this property, because you have to pay off the lien. The amount will keep increasing. The IRS charges high interest.
Let's say the land was appraised at $25,000 and the home at $15,000 = 40,000; half is 20,000. But you and he each owe the IRS $25,000. So he needs to come up with 5,000 for the IRS, and you need to come up with 45,000. You get the whole property and he gets nothing (because he had to pay his half to the IRS).
Can the IRS evict you? Yes, they can make you remove the mobile home, or move it for you and add the charge to your bill. But they rarely do that.
What I would suggest is contacting the IRS for a sit-down about removing penalties and reducing interest, to see what they might take that's closer to the original amount owed.
Sno-byrd
Jan 9, 2014, 01:25 PM
My sibling and I inherited a mobile home and I have been living in it for the past almost 2 years. I am paying all the utilities, insurance, upkeep of the house, yard maintaince etc. My sibling now says I have to move out so that we can sell the home. I do not want to sell the home, I got a bank loan to by their half of the house only to discover that there was an IRS lien against the property and then the bank would not do the loan. I am unable to work and am on Social Security Disability and have no where to move that I can afford. Can I be forced to move?
smoothy
Jan 9, 2014, 01:30 PM
They are part owner and under the law they can force a partition sale... which is what they call this situation.
You have the option of buying them out of their 1/2 of the current value. The lien does complicate things and you would be responsible for half of it if you planned to keep the property and clear the lien.
WIthout you being able to secure the money to do this....you will need to look for another place to live...because you can't stop a partition sale any other way. The lien would have to be satisfied before either of you saw a dime in proceeds of the sale.
Edit: I noticed afer this post that you asked another question earlier you left a lot of this information out of....I requested a moderator merge the two threads......The quality of advice is dependent on the quality and completeness of the information provided in the question.
joypulv
Jan 9, 2014, 01:49 PM
Forcing partition presents an interesting problem: the sibling who wants to sell would be a fool to do so, because you say the property is worth less than the 50K owed to the IRS.
I would wait. Forcing partition means going to court, and it takes time and costs a fee. Once he finds out that he gets nothing out of it PLUS owes on it, he probably will drop it.
Then your problem is waiting to see what the IRS does. You should get your ducks in a row and start applying for senior/disabled housing. There's usually a long wait.
AK lawyer
Jan 9, 2014, 01:57 PM
... To add to the confusion some of the liens were personal and some for a business that was owned by our Father. ...
Was your father's business incorporated? If so, was the land in the corporation's name, or that of your father personally?
ScottGem
Jan 9, 2014, 02:48 PM
I agree with Joy. If the IRS lien is greater than the equity in the property, then it would be foolish to sell since neither of you will get anything. See if you can work something out with the sibling to pay her a monthly amount for her share.