Why would sellers take out this clause in the contract?

[Erik Benitez]

Just had a seller remove a line from the contract which states that the seller is responsible for all open or expired permits and any liens on the house. Went back and forth with them. Checked public records, all permits were closed. They would not leave the liens clause in. I even asked if they could tell me for sure that there wasn’t any outstanding liens and if there wasn’t I would sign the contract as is. They decided to cancel our transaction and select another offer. In this situation, do you believe they were trying to hide that fact and maybe pawn off any liens to the buyer? Never had this happen before.

[JD Martin]

Because the seller doesn't want to be responsible for a lien that gets discovered that they didn't know about. Were they trying to pawn something? Maybe, but a good title search ought to flesh that out. And if you knew about a lien and didn't disclose it that would be fraud, if someone could prove you knew about it.