Buying property with a Lien on it

[Michinori Kaneko]

Hi, I am in contract to close on an apartment building, but while closing we found that there was a lien on the property. Basically it's a lien stating that the service company (lets just call them company A) gets exclusive right to the laundry room in the building.  The lease stats the lease term is 7 years starting from final installation of the laundry unit.  There is a clause that any person who takes over the possession is tied to the lien as well.  There were no coin operated laundry machines installed (actually there is a free washer and dryer in the apartment building) so technically the lease has not started yet.  I have no intention of installing a coin operated machines in the apartment.  One concerning point is that the contract states the number of units in the apartment, and that the lessor shall not reduce the number of living units without prior written consent.  The number of units on there is way more than actual number of units that the building currently has, so I assume the current owner has combined some of the units (but most likely without a written consent).  This is a very great deal from the numbers perspective, but should I be worried about this Lien? I know i will most likely have to go through the same issue when I sell the property but should I be worried otherwise?

[Wayne Brooks]

Just me, I’d have no concerns whatsoever. From a practical point if they ever pursued it....they have not done anything with the space, obviously they are not paying any royalties to the owner, so I’d confidently argue they have abandoned the agreement/space.