Lien on Property

[Allison Deighan]

My husband and I are in the middle of purchasing a property. We are due to close this weekend but found out today that the house has a lien on it and it’s looking like we will be unable to close this weekend. My husband and I are considering our options in the situation because pushung the closing back isn’t something that works with our timeline (he has a work trip coming up). We were wondering if this would be considered a breach of contract on the sellers part and if we were to pull out would we receive our earnest money back. The seller is claiming they have the funds to resolve the matter but are opting to try and negotiate with the state for a lower amount. We were told that this could take weeks and like I said above we don’t have weeks and need to figure this out ASAP. We are seriously consider backing out but we aren’t sure if we would have ground to stand on in regards to the earnest money. Thank you in advance for any advice you can offer. 

[Wayne Brooks]

@Allison Deighan While it may not necessarily constitute a “breach”, which has different legal ramifications….if the sellers can not produce clear title by the contract closing date, then yes, you certainly are entitled to terminate and receive your EM. But, read your contract as many contracts automatically allow the seller 10-14 days to resolve title issues.

As a practical matter, if the seller can cure it within a month, that’s probably quicker than you could  find another house, put it under contract and close.  And your doesn’t have to be present to close, documents mailed away, signed and notarized elsewhere are done every day.