Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Ask the title company to bond around the lien. They will charge you to do so and will place a significant part of the escrow proceeds in a retained account. While this is expensive, it will allow you to close and complete the trans cation to give you time to resolve the lien issues. This does NOT fix the problem, as you will still need to get an effective release or reconveyance, it just buys you time to correct the difficulty. If you can't get a release, you may need counsel to solve the title problem.

Mr. Christian is exactly right. I used to work for the parent company of Fidelity Natl. and Chicago Title companies and that is how we handled this issue for customers regularly.