If you are a new owner of a home, a vehicle, or some other type of property, you may not be aware of what a lien is. If you are lucky and careful with your debts, you’ll never have to find out. A lien is a legal claim to ownership that someone can put on your property if you don’t pay your debts to them. For example, if you don’t pay your mortgage on your house, the bank can put a lien on the house, and eventually take it back from you. We know this because we buy judgments, or liens, from those who are owed debts. It can be a little difficult to understand all the terms involved with a lien because the legal situation is very specific and unique. Here are some examples to help you understand what is a voluntary real estate lien or judgment, and what is a specific lien.
Voluntary liens are something that we often see at Mayflower Judgments. In fact, most people who own property have a voluntary lien without even realizing it. A voluntary lien is a debt taken out against the value of a property that you chose to accept – such as a home or car loan, wherein you chose to take on the debt based on the value of that property. If you’ve ever worried that your car would be repossessed because you couldn’t make your payment, you have a voluntary lien on your car from the loan company. A second mortgage is a type of voluntary lien because you are using the value of your home to get a large sum of cash.
This is different from a judgment lien, wherein the legal system allowed a person or entity to place a lien on a property without the property owner’s consent, due to outstanding debt. A good example of this might be a mechanic’s lien, wherein a mechanic can place a lien against a car if the owner doesn’t pay a repair bill. Another thing to note is that liens can be either general or specific and that just means that the lien can be for the debtor’s property in general (anything they own that can be sold to meet the debt can be), or it can be for specific property (such as a second mortgage on a home. This won’t affect the property owner’s car, for example). We buy judgments, and we pay in CASH, so if you are owed a debt, and don’t want the hassle of dealing with a lien, contact us at 303-388-6666.