I have an outstanding judgment from a few years ago. It pertains to a dispute over credit card debt between the X and myself. After the judgement happened, I had wages garnished and money removed from my checking account for a period of about 6 months. Since the judgement happened around tax time, I expected my return to garnished but it was not. Around a year later, there was a deposit into my checking account which turned out to be the funds removed the year prior. Time goes by and no garnishment of wages or tax returns. I remarry and buy a house with my wife. We are now expecting our second child and we need a larger house. The selling of the house is going great. The credit report came back and even though the scores were not the best, we still got the loan. Now the title company is checking into judgements and I am sure that they will find the one in question. The amount of money that we will be making on the sale of the house will not cover the judgment amount. So the question is a multiple part one. Why is there not garnishment on wages or tax returns for years and I am able to not only buy a new car, but a house, but with the sale of a home, everybody comes out of the woodwork? Why was the judgement not addressed with the credit report? What happens to the judgment balance since the sale of the house will not cover the balance? Thanks in advance

Why would a Title company check judgements? A Title company is only concerned with encumbrances on transfer of title. It does NOT matter whether you have a judgement against you as long as no lien was filed against the home. And most states do not allow a lien against a residence for unsecured debt.

Well that is the question that I have. They have asked for addresses and employment records for the last 10 years.

Unless there is a lien placed against the property, the title company should not have even known or seen this, the title company does not do credit checks.

The rules on getting income tax garnished is different in various states and often they don't go after that.

If there is a lien on the home when it is sold any money from that is going toward the lien.

If there is no lien, you get the money and hope they don't catch it in the bank.

Why would there be a lien against the property and if there was would we not know it since we have lived here for 3 plus years??

If a company gets a judgement, they can easily put a lien on any house or property you own. That is what they do often to get larger amount of money, they let the lien hold and then when you sale they get their money. This would show up in a title search that a lien was placed.
While you should have been notified, some companies try to do it without notifing you by using tricks in the system

So in other words, there might be a lien on this property and it could have been in place for a long time and the simple fact that we are selling, the judgment has raised its ugly head. I am more concerned at this point about being able to sell this house and move to the new house since the offer has been accepted and we are ready to move. Everything was going so well and now this major hurdle!!

so in other words, there might be a lien on this property and it could have been in place for a long time and the simple fact that we are selling, the judgment has raised its ugly head.

That's what the buyer pays a Title Company for. Title Insurance is a warranty that there are no encumbrances on the title of a property you are purchasing. Generally the BUYER purchases an insurance policy from a title company. Before issuing the policy, the company researches the title to make sure it can be transferred cleanly.

Its not a given that the judgement has come back to haunt you. Contact the County Clerk's office and have them check for any liens. Or hire a Title company on your own to check the title.


well that is the question that i have. they have asked for addresses and employment records for the last 10 years.

WHO has asked? There is no reason for a title company to ask. Your lender would ask, but not the title company. I suspect there is something else going on here. And you need to ask THEM these questions.

What's the "major hurdle"? Has your new mortgage been approved? Has the buyer got his financing set? Is there a problem coming from his Title insurer? I think you are getting mixed up as to what's really going on. Do you have a real estate atty handling your closing? You should and you should be asking him what's going on.

We have asked the title company these questions and they have not answered our questions as of yet. I am just trying to gather information so that we might be better prepared for what is coming. I would like to know what they know!! LOL!! The facts in this case are - the buyer of our house is ready to close and we are approved for the house that we are buying and we were close to closing until this matter came up. The paperwork that we got stated that there were several people with my name (common) and they had judgments against them. Anything that would cloud or impede the transfer of title is another statement in the paperwork.

I'm still confused. YOUR title company should be researching title on the house YOU are buying. The buyer's title company should be researching the title on the house you are selling. The only thing I can think of is that they want to make sure the judgement holders will not file a lien against the property between now and closing.

Sorry for the confusion. Yes it is the title company for the buyer who is doing the research. If there is a lien put against the property and the proceeds of the sale do not cover the judgment, will we still be able to move or will everything fall through??

If there is a lien against the property then the lien would have to be satisified before the property can be transferred. It doesn't matter how it gets paid, but, at the closing, a check has to be written to pay the creditor.

Thanks!!