Mechanics Lien Nightmare

[John Horner]

I am going to try to keep this short.  

We are in contract to buy a property for $20k, it is probably worth $60k as-is and $120k after rehab.  The current owner was quit claimed the property by a "friend" who had racked up a great deal of debt on the property.  The owner was unsuspecting until he started getting notices of delinquency and distress.

The handshake arrangement was that the current owner would take ownership of the property but the "friend" was suppose to keep up the property and pay the taxes.  In 4 years the "friend" did neither of those.

When the "friend" found out that the current owner was selling to us she shifted into high gear, contacted her lawyer, put a mechanics lien on the property for "materials purchased and work performed" on the property so that he would have a hard time selling it.

The biggest problem is that we cannot close on the property due to some sign offs that we need from the old owner.  We aren't even able to get the full amounts of the liens on the property without the old owners signature.

Is there any way around this besides a quiet title action which can get expensive and take 6 months (according to our attorney.)???