Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Maryland

We are in the process of selling our house and a title search revealed a lien for a home equity line of credit form 2004, which was paid off in 2006 but apparently the lien was never removed by the county. I do not have any paperwork proving we paid off the loan. The title company is asking for proof that the loan was paid off. The bank that issued the lien was bought out by Capital One. I have sent a request for a release. We refinanced our mortgage in 2010 and I do not understand why this did not come up then. Is there anything I can do to expedite the release of the lean. I have been advised that I may have some recourse with the title company that did the refinance. Any help would be greatly appreciated.


Asked on 9/04/14, 9:48 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Robert Sher Wagshal and Sher

This is not an uncommon occurrence. If you have the loan or account # for the HECL, Capital One should be able to locate the paperwork in their release department and provide you with an accord and satisfaction for release in the land records. Sometimes the lender will take care of the recording directly; other times they will send it to you to do so. In a HECL, just because you paid the balance down to zero doesn't automatically result in a lien release because you can always borrow against it until the loan period expires. So you should have continued to receive monthly statements indicating a zero balance.

Read more
Answered on 9/05/14, 6:02 am


Related Questions & Answers

More Real Estate and Real Property questions and answers in Maryland