My ex and I own a house that has a mortgage on it. When I left my ex he decided not to pay on his credit cards because he felt that I had a part in using them, i.e for income tax payments, sometimes the car payment,etc.

Two credit cards in my ex's name have put a lien on our house, so that when we sell, we have to pay them out of the proceeds.

However, I understand that in the state of North Carolina, a person has to go to court to sue, but if the one being sued does not show up, there is no case and nothing can be done to the one being sued. We were never made aware that we were being sued and natually we would not have showen up.

Will this lien have to be paid or is the credit card company just bluffing, if so, how did the credit card company manage to put a lien on our house without taking us to court?

Thanks to anyone who can answer this.

Are you sure you have it right about the one being sued not showing up puts you in the clear? If that is the case nobody would show up if they were being sued.

I have been hearing of credit card companies getting judgments against people without taking it to court.
I have at least two on me and I have never been notified of any court dates.

I really don't see any way for you to get around them taking the money if the house gets sold.

I don't know where you got your info but default Judgments ARE granted in North Carolina and if the Plaintiffs don't appear, that's what happens - a default Judgment is granted. Otherwise the secret to NEVER having a Judgment against you would be to NEVER show up.

If you were not properly served, that's another question and the Judgment can be set aside.