Tax Lien, Medicaid Lien, Credit Card Lien

[Adam Hays]

I found an absentee owner property today while driving for dollars. I managed to make contact with one of the owners and its complicated. 

In a nutshell: 
mom signs a beneficiary deed in 1995 listing her 3 kids
mom signs new beneficiary deed to just her two sons  in 1999
mom signs POA listing both sons and requires joint approval of any actions

The son I made contact with lives in Florida andsays their is no mortgage on the property but there are liens. He is cooperative and hates that the house is sitting empty as an eye sore for the neighbor. Its the other brother that is the problem. He says the house goes to auction for tax liens in a few months. Liens being about 6K in property tax, unknown amount for Medicaid, and 30K credit card lien in brothers name.

my questions:

1. Will the junior liens be wiped out by the tax lien sale?
----if not ------
2. Are credit card liens easily negotiated?

3. How do you find more info on Medicaid lein?

[Boyd McClean]

What you need to do is go to the recorder of deeds site or in person and see what liens are recorded against the property. Or if you have not done this before order a title report. I can tell you from experience the Medicaid lien can take the longest to resolve. When you look at the liens recorded you will find burried in the lien a contact person or company that filed the lien. Also verify who has legal title to the property. Don't suppose know for sure.

It would be to your advantage to get the brother with the 30K credit card debt to work with you. If you try to contact the CC companies without signed permission from the brother to discuss with them on his behalf they will not co-operate.

In the tax sale file you will find that attorney who has filed for the auction. Call him/her and explain what you are doing and would they postpone tax sale for x days in order for you to resolve the issues. Verify with the attorney what date the tax sale is scheduled for. Don't accept what the brother says verify.

Find a law firm that handles collections and ask them what they would charge to negotiate a payoff for the CC's. You can get a company that specializes in credit restoration to negotiate for you, I have found law firms seem to have more leverage.

Taken excel spread sheet and put down what the time lines are for each issue so you have a picture of which one of your issues needs to be resolved first. Build a relationship with the law firm that filed tax sale as they are your life line. Why? Because they represent the municipality filing for tax sale, and if the lawyer tells them he recommends delaying tax sale as you are trying to solve some complicated issues they normally will go along with the lawyers request.

Also the tax sale file will tell you who filed the Medicare lien.

Before you move ahead look and see what the present liens are plus what the house is worth today "as is". Determine what equity you would have as of today. Ask the law firm what the penalties are and how much they accrue each month.

My guess is mother became sick and went into a nursing home and the home got her accepted by Medicare which then required her to list her assets, and Medicare then put a lien on the house. Medicare is a federally funded program through the State.

When you call the law firm filling the tax sale ask about your first 2 questions.

I gather you are trying to buy before tax sale. Also you need to know if your state has a right of redemption for tax sales. If so there usually 2 time lines. One owner occupied the other non-owner occupied. If you buy before the auction you do not have to be concerned about that issue.

I would consult legal counsel and ask how best to protect your interest before you do anything. You do not want to spend time and money and then have the carpet pulled from underneath you.

If you can not get both brothers co-operation then you are spinning your wheels.