So wife's grandmother is going the assisted living route and we discovered her home has a former bank lien (not sure said bank is even still around) on it due to some shenanigans from her now deceased husband. This summer it will come upon ten years since the lien was placed on the home.

In Texas, doesnt these type of liens "fall off" after ten years unless the lien holder renews it? I assume it is pretty tough/impossible to sell a house if there is a prior bank lien on it?

Interesting problem. I know that it works that way for a legal judgment but not sure on a bank lien.

My Mom's house turned up an old bank lien from a short bridge loan they got when they moved into their "new" house before their "old" house sold. When it did, they had paid it off but Dad didn't know he had to go to the county to record it. Dad passed away years ago & we couldn't find the original paperwork, only handwritten "journal" where Dad had recorded every payment. I researched & the original bank had been sold to Prosperity. They had no record of it & were sure it would have come up back when they bought the small bank that held it. After a few affidavits and back and forth discussions, they released the lien but it had been in place for more than 10 years.


edit: Yes - it was uncovered by the title company & holding up the sale on her house. Everyone (but Mom) was calm and knew we could remedy the issue & the sale went thru. It helped that this was small town BCS with people that knew my parents & "knew" they had paid it off. I tracked down their old loan officer at another bank in town & he was helpful, too.

BoDog said:

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So wife's grandmother is going the assisted living route and we discovered her home has a former bank lien (not sure said bank is even still around) on it due to some shenanigans from her now deceased husband. This summer it will come upon ten years since the lien was placed on the home.

In Texas, doesnt these type of liens "fall off" after ten years unless the lien holder renews it? I assume it is pretty tough/impossible to sell a house if there is a prior bank lien on it?

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Depends. If it is a twenty year note, it hasn't even matured yet and could still be enforceable. The ten year limit you're thinking of is for judgment liens from a lawsuit. Limitations on real estate liens used to be 4 years after maturity, but the feds forced a 6 year limitation on real estate loans after the 80's S&L fiasco, if I remember correctly.

If the bank doesn't exist anymore, it's assets and liabilities had to be taken over by another financial institute. They would be able to sign a release. There is a website, (maybe through FDIC?) where you can track a bank's history.

Martin Cash said:

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BoDog said:

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So wife's grandmother is going the assisted living route and we discovered her home has a former bank lien (not sure said bank is even still around) on it due to some shenanigans from her now deceased husband. This summer it will come upon ten years since the lien was placed on the home.

In Texas, doesnt these type of liens "fall off" after ten years unless the lien holder renews it? I assume it is pretty tough/impossible to sell a house if there is a prior bank lien on it?

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Depends. If it is a twenty year note, it hasn't even matured yet and could still be enforceable. The ten year limit you're thinking of is for judgment liens from a lawsuit. Limitations on real estate liens used to be 4 years after maturity, but the feds forced a 6 year limitation on real estate loans after the 80's S&L fiasco, if I remember correctly.

If the bank doesn't exist anymore, it's assets and liabilities had to be taken over by another financial institute. They would be able to sign a release. There is a website, (maybe through FDIC?) where you can track a bank's history.

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The house itself is paid for. Apparently this lien was placed on it as a result of bad business deal and nothing that pertains to the home itself (I am still learning details). With that said, perhaps it is a judgement lien from a lawsuit...?

If it was a judgment lien against her husband, I would think that should have been settled with his estate.

BoDog said:

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The house itself is paid for. Apparently this lien was placed on it as a result of bad business deal and nothing that pertains to the home itself (I am still learning details). With that said, perhaps it is a judgement lien from a lawsuit...?

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If it was a bad business deal, I'm not sure how it could be a bank lien. Unless he had a personal or business loan that he didn't repay, the bank sued and took a lien. In that event, I'm pretty sure it could not attach to homestead property. Get a lawyer.

ok finding out more... It was a bad commercial loan that he could not repay which would make this a judgment lien and thus should fall off after 10 year, correct? I am still confused why this was put on their homestead though?

BoDog said:

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ok finding out more... It was a bad commercial loan that he could not repay which would make this a judgment lien and thus should fall off after 10 year, correct? I am still confused why this was put on their homestead though?

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Most personal property is exempt from judgments in Texas. You can't force someone to sell their house to satisfy a judgment, but you can put a lien on someone's homestead that will trigger the judgment when a homeowner goes to sell. As you're being made aware of.

But I think this should have been settled with his estate. You'd have to ask a lawyer.

I will indeed, however, since this is a judgement lien from a prior lawsuit it should expire after 10 years if not renewed, correct? Asking because if that is the case I would rather not have a lawyer reach out to them and stir things up.

Your title company will know for sure since they're the ones that will settle it and issue the policy.