Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: lien or judgment

The answer to your question depends a lot on the timing of several key events. The entry of a judgment, per se, does not automatically make you liable for the judgment. The key dates are when an abstract of judgment was recorded (if one has yet been recorded) with the County Recorder's Office in the county in which the property is located, and when the Quitclaim Deed was recorded. The the Quitclaim Deed preceeds the recording of the Abstract of Judgment, then you may be okay. If the Abstract was recorded before the Quitclaim Deed, then the property may be subject to attachment by the judgment creditor. You need to determine these dates before you can determine what your rights are. One additional note; even if your Quitclaim Deed was recorded before any Abstract of Judgment, the creditor may still come after you - to them, this will appear to be a fraudulent transfer, intended only to avoid the attachment of the judgment to the property. You may wind up defending a fraudulent convenyance action. Better to foreclose when in this situation, or to at least get a policy of title insurance for the transfer to you.

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Re: lien or judgment

Have no idea what you are talking about and what you question is.

Re: lien or judgment

Are you the judgment creditor, or someone else? That is the main missing piece of information. If you are not the judgment creditor, you can follow Mr. Gibbs' advice, and I would add that you should discuss the situation with the judgment creditor and/or its attorneys. If you are the judgment creditor, you are in effect your own creditor and in a position to release the lien in favor of anyone to whom you sell the property in the future.