How do you remove a house lien?

Have you recently discovered that your house has a lien on it?

Mechanics liens are really easy to put on a property. It is easy to file and is a very effective way for contractors, or anyone, to put restrictions on a property to try and get paid. Depending on how they do it, someone might not even know that there is a lien on their property until they try to sell it or refinance.

If you don’t want to pay off the lien, there are a couple of options available to you. It is highly recommended to hire a real estate attorney to help you through the process. These are the options they might guide you through from easiest to hardest. 

1)      File a Notice to Commence Suit

This is a “put up or shut up” maneuver. This means that the person who put in the lien has to either file a law suit or the lien goes away. This works a lot of the time, because while filing a lien is very easy, the law suit process is more complicated. Most contractors won’t bother with this and the lien will go away.

2)      Deposit a Bond with the Court of Common Pleas

Basically, this immediately gets rid of the lien, and the contractor has to file a claim, or a law suit to get paid from that money in the bond. They will have to win this law suit to get that money. This gives you the opportunity to prove that it is unjustified.

3)      Sue for Quiet Title and for Slander of Title

This is a more complicated process. This is only done if the other options didn’t work. It is a true lawsuit to not only remove the lien but also have them cover the court costs that you have gotten along the way. This is typically a very long, complicated, and costly procedure that might or might not end in your favor.

If you have a mechanic’s lien on your property or have more questions please reach out to us at N.P. Weiss Law at (216) 417-5111 to schedule an appointment with one of our real estate attorneys to discuss your concerns.

 By: Nicholas P. Weiss, Esq.