Hi everyone.

I will try to be as clear and concise as possible.

My sister and I inherited a property when our mother passed not to long ago.
Our mother had a property in NJ that her father had conveyed to her by quit-claim deed apparently for reasons of keeping it from his wife whom he was divorcing, or so he told our mother.

Unbeknownst to any of us she passed before anything could be done with it.
Our grandfather has several judgement liens against his name that came as a surprise a couple of days before the property was to be sold to satisfy probate. I will try not to bring up probate matters here as that is an ordeal in and of itself.

These were a surprise because we had initially checked with the county and everything was clear. It was only when we hired a title search company did the judgement liens become revealed as these were filed and docketed with the Superior Court of NJ.

The dates these were docketed is prior to him acquiring this property when his mother passed. He was also going through a bankruptcy at the time. He later withdrew the bankruptcy the same month he conveyed this property to our mother. He also still owns two other properties in NJ now.

What I'm not understanding is if these liens affect all properties he owns or will acquire from the date they were docketed? From what I have read they may.

What also befuddles me is why there has never been a writ of execution to sell any of these properties to settle his debts with his creditors?

We have to either sell this property, deed it to ourselves, which were not so sure we want to do, or not pay the taxes and let the state take it. The latter would be a shame as my sister has had to pay the taxes and other expenses out of pocket.

My sister and I are both relatively young and inexperienced in these matters.
We have no money and there isn't any in my mother's estate either so any insight or advice into this would be greatly appreciated.

First, the quit claim deed to your mother may have been illegal, since the liens were already in place. A property cannot be legally transferred until all liens are satisfied.

As to whether the liens cover specific properties, that depends on how the judgement liens were filed.

Bottom line is you sell the property, at the closing a representative of the creditor is there to take the amount of the liens out of your proceeds of the sale.

Ok, is there physcial liens filed at the court house on that specific property. Attached to the deed of record.

OR is this merely a judgement with a right to place a lien??

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Originally Posted by Fr_Chuck

Ok, is there physcial liens filed at the court house on that specific property. attached to the deed of record.

OR is this merely a judgement with a right to place a lien ???

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That's what I'm still trying to figure out.

I do know there were no liens whatsoever filed at the county courthouse where this property is located when we first started this process almost two years ago. That is why it came as a surprise to us.

@ScottGem

Thank you for your input.

I have no clue about the legality of the quit-claim deed. You are the first person to indicate such. Of course our probate lawyer has no knowledge of real estate law in NJ. We don't live any near there. I'm really not sure how my grandfather managed to do these things but somehow all his properties are still intact and apparently he still has credit. Go figure.

My sister's husband was recently hired by a law firm. He's not a lawyer, he has a degree in communications. One of the lawyers he spoke to on Fri. who is licensed in our state and NJ has not indicated anything about the legalities of the matter but did mention we may be able to sue our grandfather. I don't really want to do that of course.

Thank you both for your responses.

I should add our grandfather obtained this property in late '05.
The first lien of concern is from '93 and the second one is from '03, he filed for Chapter 13 that same year but I'll have to go back and look to see if it was before or after that second lien. He did later withdraw the bankruptcy however. Again I'll have to go back and look but I believe he withdrew two weeks before the quit-claim deed. I don't know if that has any bearing.

There is a lien on the properly only if there is a physcial lien at the court house where the deed is recorded, on that specific property.

So you go to the recorder of deed and see if there is a lien filed here o the property

OK, so the grandfather is still alive?

The purpose of a lien is prevent a property from being transferred until the lien is settled. Therefore, if someone transfers the property, knowing there is a lien against it and does not satisfy the lien that may be fraudulent. However, it is unlikely that the transfer would be overturned.

But, again, the bottom line is that, the inheritors of the property can sell it as long as the liens are satisfied at the sale.

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Originally Posted by anomolous1

...
These were a surprise because we had initially checked with the county and everything was clear. It was only when we hired a title search company did the judgement liens become revealed as these were filed and docketed with the Superior Court of NJ.
...

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by anomolous1

I should add our grandfather obtained this property in late '05.
The first lien of concern is from '93 and the second one is from '03, he filed for Chapter 13 that same year but I'll have to go back and look to see if it was before or after that second lien. He did later withdraw the bankruptcy however. Again I'll have to go back and look but I believe he withdrew two weeks before the quit-claim deed. I don't know if that has any bearing.

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It appears that the title company may be giving you too much information. The New Jersey law should specifiy exactly how a judgment lien is perfected, but it's basically a matter of recordng the judgment in the correct office. I suggest you have a look and find precisely how this is supposed to be done.

Also, if the judgments were entered in 1993 and 2003, you should check with the judgment creditors and determine whether these judgments were satisfied. It could be that your grandfather somehow paid them, but satisfactions of judgment were never entered.

Thanks for your reply AK lawyer. I looked into the matter a little further and found this on a NJ attorney's site.

"Under New Jersey law, a judgment lien is a lien obtained as a result of a monetary judgment. Judgment liens can be recorded against property such as a house or a car. This is done in New Jersey, by docketing the judgment in Trenton."

It doesn't say anything about perfecting the lien but I believe that is what is implied here.

ScottGem, yes the grandfather is still alive.

Unfortunately for us the lien is clouding the title so the prospective buyer's title company isn't willing to issue title insurance or transfer the title at all for that matter. No buyer in their right mind is going to buy this property without a title search and title insurance. I've read that it may be possible to come to an agreement with the creditors and title company at closing but right now they are indicating to us we have to satisfy these liens and are also saying something about paying them with an escrow account, something I know even less about. Secondly we only know the principle of the judgements ordered. We have as of yet to see the full extent with the interest added on. The principle is almost the value of the property itself so I'm sure once the interest is added together it will be well beyond the value.

On Friday we will obtain more info from the creditors about the debt that is owed and we may be able to negotiate with them.

We truly need a lawyer but at present simply cannot afford one.

Thank you all for your help.