Sheriff's Sale property: Judgement amount significantly higher than Liens

[Jude Welsh]

All,

I'm planning on bidding on a property at Sheriff's sale in September that has the following liens:

$540,000 senior mortgage

$21,000 unpaid municipal taxes.  There were several other tax sale liens, second mortgages, and a federal lien, and all were paid off/discharged.  

However, the judgement/upset amount published in the sheriff's website is $853,000, and the judgement posted in the newspaper is higher at $990,000 - significantly higher than the open obligations I found.

I've done a thorough job about checking the title at the county clerk's and statewide judgment database.

What could I be missing here?  I'm worried that I'll be stuck with some other lien.  I know this guy had been in federal court years ago, and had significant fines to pay.

Is there a Federal lien system I can check?

I'm assuming I should be able to find all liens that total close to the upset/judgement amount.

Any help is appreciated!

cheers