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rkim291968 · Feb 8, 2006, 11:02 PM

Help.

A lawyer placed a lien against us by mistake. He mistook my wife to be another person (identical name) who lost a judgment in California Superior court. The judgment's original + interest is in 6 figure numbers. I found out when I received a notice of renewal of judgment via mail. When I contacted the lawyer in the notice, he admitted that it was a mistake and said "call him when [I] sell [my] house." At the time, he did not tell me that he placed a lien on us so I thought it was an odd statement but hung up the call. The next day, I've received a notice from Office of the County (Alameda, CA) that someone has placed a lien on us and only the person who placed a lien can remove it. Unfortunately, my attempts to contact the lawyer back is going unanswered.

First question:

What is my liability?

2nd question:

Even if the lawyer calls me back and assure me that he will remove the lien, should I be contacting a lawyer to be on a safe side?

RickJ · Feb 9, 2006, 05:34 AM

Document all of this in a timeline fashion
1. when you discovered it
2. when you've made calls to the attorney and what he's said
3. etc...

I'd give that attorney 24 hours to fix the problem and deliver the documentation to you that 1. the lien is removed, 2. the judgment is expunged from your court record, and 3. letters have been sent to the 3 major credit reporting agencies that it should be removed if it's on your credit reports.

If he does the right thing, don't worry about getting an attorney.

If he does not get it done, call your State Attorney General the 25th hour to file a complaint, then call around to local attorneys asking them if you've got a good case they'd like to take - and one you can afford to shell out the bucks for up front.

... just my angle on it.

Fr_Chuck · Feb 9, 2006, 08:45 AM

RickJ is right on, I would send the notice to him overnight and certified mail.

And you may be surprised how common this is, I got served and my pay garnished for child support for someone with the same first and last name last month.

Note since they did not check the social number on the paper work, they agreed to pay me some money for my time and trouble also.

But this is a lot more common than you would believe

rkim291968 · Feb 9, 2006, 08:50 AM

Thanks for the replies. Would I be liable to lose money/house because of this guy's mistake?

RickJ · Feb 9, 2006, 09:23 AM

Generally, no. Liens can sit forever - and only get paid when the house sells... unless the lienholder does something else to collect on the judgment; like a wage or bank garnishment.

We'll assume for now that it will be taken care of on the Court end of things without costing you anything but heartache of having to stay on it to be sure it gets done, but I would be more worried about the potential credit problems resulting from it since the credit reporting agencies typically get info from the public records (which the lien certainly is).

rkim291968 · Feb 9, 2006, 09:13 PM

Originally Posted by rickj

Generally, no. Liens can sit forever - and only get paid when the house sells...unless the lienholder does something else to collect on the judgment; like a wage or bank garnishment.

We'll assume for now that it will be taken care of on the Court end of things without costing you anything but heartache of having to stay on it to be sure it gets done, but I would be more worried about the potential credit problems resulting from it since the credit reporting agencies typically get info from the public records (which the lien certainly is).

I've got more info from the lawyer who made the mistake. The information is from my wife who called the lawyer (I was too busy during daytime). He is saying that all paperwork was done with the real intended person's social security number and not ours. In effect, he said that I don't have anything to worry about. He would send me a signed letter stating what is going on.

He also said that he cannot take the lien off. My wife didn't delve it into further and left it to me to follow up with the lawyer.

Comments? Advices?

LisaB4657 · Feb 9, 2006, 09:18 PM

Send this lawyer a certified letter. In the letter tell him that you want the following: (1) a Discharge of Lien filed immediately, in the same office where the original lien was filed; and (2) a letter on his letterhead, signed by him, addressed to all three major credit reporting agencies, informing them of his mistake in having the lien filed and the fact that a Discharge was filed immediately, with an extra copy of the letter for you.

Do not let this drag out. Make sure that he does this immediately.

rkim291968 · Feb 9, 2006, 11:53 PM

Originally Posted by LisaB4657

Send this lawyer a certified letter. In the letter tell him that you want the following: (1) a Discharge of Lien filed immediately, in the same office where the original lien was filed; and (2) a letter on his letterhead, signed by him, addressed to all three major credit reporting agencies, informing them of his mistake in having the lien filed and the fact that a Discharge was filed immediately, with an extra copy of the letter for you.

Do not let this drag out. Make sure that he does this immediately.

I am sending the letter out tomorrow.

What if he does not comply? He is telling us already that there is nothing to worry about since the judgment & lien were done using the intended person's social security number and not my wife's. He claims, all the legal proceedings were against the "right" social security numbered person (i.e. not against my wife). Comments and advices?

CaptainForest · Feb 9, 2006, 11:58 PM

I'm sure you have realized this already, but I wish to point it out.

You are dealing with a lawyer. Lawyer's don't have the best reputation for being honest and sincere.

If I was in your shoes, I would get the lien removed from the property as soon as possible. I would even contact a lawyer of my own to combat this other lawyer who is obviously somewhat incompetent (or perhaps just lazy, or a greedy SOB).

RickJ · Feb 10, 2006, 03:35 AM

Originally Posted by rkim291968

He is telling us already that there is nothing to worry about since the judgment & lien were done using the intended person's social security number and not my wife's. He claims, all the legal proceedings were against the "right" social security numbered person (i.e., not against my wife). Comments and advices?

This may very well be the case. And that would be nice. You need to
1. contact the Clerk of Courts to ask if there is a judgment against you. They may even be online. In my county, court records are online.
2. verify that there is no lien with your local Auditor's office. Again, they may be online like they are in my county.

You first said "A lawyer placed a lien against us by mistake.". What is it that alerted you to it - or made you think it's the case?

LisaB4657 · Feb 10, 2006, 09:11 AM

If the attorney does not comply, send him another certified letter giving him a deadline of 5 days to file a Discharge and send you the letter addressed to the credit reporting agencies. Tell him in the letter that you will hold him responsible for any damages you may suffer as a result of his failure to comply, including but not limited to the inability to obtain a loan or any increased interest rates you must pay as a result of the lien appearing on your credit report. If he still doesn't comply, get yourself an attorney. This is not something that you should let go for too long.

rkim291968 · Feb 10, 2006, 10:01 PM

Originally Posted by rickj

You first said "A lawyer placed a lien against us by mistake.". What is it that alerted you to it - or made you think it's the case?

I've received a notice from the California Court Clerk stating that a lien was placed on "us."

Since then, we contacted the clerk and he replied to us to file a name clarification claim on the lien. My wife will bring all the relevant document to do just that on Monday.

rkim291968 · Feb 10, 2006, 10:03 PM

Originally Posted by LisaB4657

If the attorney does not comply, send him another certified letter giving him a deadline of 5 days to file a Discharge and send you the letter addressed to the credit reporting agencies. Tell him in the letter that you will hold him responsible for any damages you may suffer as a result of his failure to comply, including but not limited to the inability to obtain a loan or any increased interest rates you must pay as a result of the lien appearing on your credit report. If he still doesn't comply, get yourself an attorney. This is not something that you should let go for too long.

Yup. I will have to do that. Based on his behavior so far, he won't comply to the first notice.