http://www.trulia.com/voices/Foreclosure/I_am_supposed_to_be_signing_on_a_house_tomorrow_I-14873finally sign. Today our realtor got a call from a creditor saying there is a lien on the property and that the sellers realtor was supposed to let our realtor know. The lien is for 44,000 dollars. The sellers realtor knew about this for 3 months and never said a word. What can we do about this situation? We got married a month ago and have been waiting to sign on this house to finally have a house of our own.en-ushttp://www.trulia.com/voices/profile/Real_Estate_Pro-Mountain_Lakes_NJ-120851/http://www.trulia.com/voices/profile/Real_Estate_Pro-Mountain_Lakes_NJ-120851/It seems to me this home is a pre-foreclosure based on your information. If that is the case there is an opportunity for a short sale to make up the difference. Your situation happened to me once(I am also an investor). How we solved the issue, was that we called the creditor and negotiated a lower payoff. Because the home is destined for foreclosure, both the bank and the creditor may be willing to negotiate to make the deal happen. Certainly knowing more details helps, but I think you get the general idea. Your agent should be able to guide you with those options. Feel free to email me for help if you need it. I've been there and it can be quite stressful. I can tell you that it sounds like you may be able to work this one out. Good luck. ian@exitrealtygold.comThu, 13 Dec 2007 09:12:19 -0800http://www.trulia.com/voices/profile/Real_Estate_Pro-Succasunna_NJ-29755/http://www.trulia.com/voices/profile/Real_Estate_Pro-Succasunna_NJ-29755/Ouch,,,,I have a similar situation where the sellers agent didn't disclose this information and we have been tied up for over 5 months on this deal. Our case may be a little different in that we also have a bankruptcy court involved too which creates too many layers and traunches of people and attorneys. I would recommend you contact your attorney and figure out your options here for either terminating the contract and any other legal ramifications. On the other hand you have other options for homes that could offer you a quick closing. Maybe KILLING the deal will help speed up the communication. I think your attorney/title company should of been able to find this lien.Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:11:18 -0800http://www.trulia.com/voices/profile/Real_Estate_Pro-Greater_Boston_and_the_South_Shore-55577/http://www.trulia.com/voices/profile/Real_Estate_Pro-Greater_Boston_and_the_South_Shore-55577/This is something that you should have known long ago by your attorney. Do you have an attorney? To be honest most attorney's drive me crazy as a realtor but they are always working for you the buyer. If I was an attorney, I would have had the MLC (municiple lien certificate) pulled before the P&S was signed. Jess,now you need to draw the line in the sand. Tell our agent that you still want the house but that the bank needs to pay the outstanding tax lien. Better yet. Find out who the contact is at the bank and YOU make the call. Don't be emotional because you are basically talking to a robot on the other end. Be calm and to the point. Have AMMO! Let the bank know that you are going to buy the xyz home around the corner. Same price but no tax lien.....Get the idea? Please feel free to call me and I will be happy to coach you. My/our number is located below my name. Oh, by the way, how much did you put down on the home at the signing of the P&S and the offer? If the owner (bank) does not agree to your demands, and you unknowingly signed a contract stating that you will be responsible for all tax debt...oops! You may lose that deposit....YIKES! You know the worst part of responding to these problems is that we rarely find out the outcome. Please let us know. Thank You! Keith Carberry www.ReNewsYouCanUse.com 866-294-0853Wed, 12 Dec 2007 22:50:01 -0800http://www.trulia.com/voices/profile/Real_Estate_Pro-Ramsey_NJ-103182/http://www.trulia.com/voices/profile/Real_Estate_Pro-Ramsey_NJ-103182/I am so sorry that you had to go through that. It's so tough when you get your hopes up and they get shot down w/ problems such as this. This is exactly the reason why if you are going to attempt to take advantage of the ever growing foreclosure market you really MUST have a Realtor who specializes in foreclosures. Your Realtor could have many years of experience and be wonderful ,however if they are not working in the foreclosure market day in and day out things like this happen all the time. One of the very first things a Realtor w/ foreclosure experience would have done was to look for any additional liens and know what an issue was and what wouldn't be. Usually, not every time but most often the last thing that people stop paying is their mortgage, the roof over their head. They often will stop paying their credit cards or even car payments before they'll let the mortgage get behind. However whatever is happening in their lives that brought them to this situation inevitably eventually affects their ability to keep current on the mortgage and they go into foreclosure. I hope the situation can be worked out and you get your home, however if you if I can help in any way feel free to contact me on my cell or via email: divanov@tocr.com. Congratulations on your marriage and Good Luck!Wed, 12 Dec 2007 22:13:29 -0800http://www.trulia.com/voices/profile/Real_Estate_Pro-Austin_TX-86206/http://www.trulia.com/voices/profile/Real_Estate_Pro-Austin_TX-86206/Foreclosure reality check.... Seasoned investors who buy foreclosures know the REO manager at the bank and get "off market" deals. They never have to bid or find a place to learn what's available. FOR ALL OTHERS: The only "sellers market" in america is the foreclosure market. Don't expect any deals from a foreclosure as the bidding process brings 20-30 people to bid on almost every deal. A deal that was already priced at market. It's easier to get a deal by going to a realtor, asking them to find the oldest property on the market and start dropping discounted offers. In addition, you won't have to wait 30-60 days to hear an answer.Thu, 29 Nov 2007 18:59:16 -0800http://www.trulia.com/voices/profile/Real_Estate_Pro-Succasunna_NJ-80278/http://www.trulia.com/voices/profile/Real_Estate_Pro-Succasunna_NJ-80278/Jess, I hate to say it, but you may have to find another house. A legal tie-up like this can be very complicated, and it may take some time to sort out. I guess the best place to start is your attorney to see if the deal can be saved. The good news is there are a ton of homes on the market, many at very good prices since the market is so slow. You might have to do some shopping and make some fairly low offers to get something similar to this opportunity. Good luck either way. It sounds like a nightmare Jess. -MarcThu, 29 Nov 2007 18:40:54 -0800http://www.trulia.com/voices/profile/Real_Estate_Pro-Hackensack_NJ-109503/http://www.trulia.com/voices/profile/Real_Estate_Pro-Hackensack_NJ-109503/Hi Jess: Sorry about the bad news, but as a real estate professional in the state of New Jersey we are forbidden to give legal advice, however if this is a foreclose property the bank that foreclose on this property would have been on a first position on the lien ladder and would have wiped off all junior liens. In our state when you enter into contract on a purchase of real estate you usually hire an attorney, the attorney orders a title search and would make sure that there are no liens on the property and would also get title insurance. Hope this helps you out if you have more questions please email me at mia@villonrealty.comThu, 29 Nov 2007 18:38:53 -0800