I want my son, to whom I owe money, to put a lien on my house, which is for sale. He will be paid when the house is sold, but the market is awful, and if I should die before it is sold, I want him to be a preferred creditor. Not the credit card companies.

Can this be done in a proper manner? Pennsylvania property involved.

Thanks for any guidance.

Bob

You could give your son a mortgage against the house in the amount you owe him. This could be considered full satisfaction of the current debt I believe, and he will now be a secured creditor against the house.

I also believe that this would give him priority over credit card companies unless they have already obtained judgments against you for the debts. Even then, it's not certain that they would have priority due to possible homestead exemptions.

Sounds like a good idea but I'm not an attorney and you should hire one if you want to play out several scenarios of what could happen. Plus you really need one to draft this paperwork anyway.

Thank you for your input. It was valuable. Since there are no judgments, yet, action now should indemnify my son against getting lost in a creditor feat day. I suspect a lien is cheaper to file than a mortgage, but I will find out.

Much appreciated.

To file a lien against a property there has to be a debt that the lien is meant to cover. You can't just file a lien. So Rick's idea of signing a note with the house as collateral then registering it with the county clerk is your best bet.

Thanks, Scott

There is a promissory note, I created and we both signed. Perhaps if I get a version of it notarized, it could be used to validate a lien/mortgage. The clouds are gathering with the other debtors, although I am current.

Thanks again

Bob

The promissory note HAS to list the property as collateral for the loan. Otherwise, the only way to get the lien would be to sue you for the unpaid balance, get a judgement and use the judgement to place the lien.

But if the propertry is listed as collateral, it can then be registered