Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California
Lien on Property That Was Sold
A vacant lot owned by my mother was put up for bail for her son in 1984. He had two legal issues pending. The bail bond company filed a lien a month later without any loss occurring in 1984. It is not clear if a loss occurred since my mother records are not complete . Her son died in 1986 while case on appeal. The bond company did provide a court document from the Municipal Court of Los Angeles, Claim Notice of Filing of Remittitur and Notice To Appear. The date of the order to appear was Dec. 10,1986. Her son died on Aug. 22, 1986. The document was the only document provided by the bail bond company after the sale of the property since my mother had no records avaiable. Based on that document she felt this was an error. The property was sold in 2006. The title company withheld $2000 believing this would clear the lien. It turns out after the sale the bail bond company advised the title compay that the lien (with interest) was $15,310. The bail bond company would not provide proof of loss or documentation for calculations. They indicated that title company should have withheld sale and they will demand money from them. What are my mother's (86 years old now) legal recourse should the title company demand return of the money?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Lien on Property That Was Sold
It sounds like you have two types of bonds at work here. The first issue was the security placed for the bail bond, and the second was a $2000 withholding to "bond" around the cloud on title created by the bail company's lien.
The title company would not demand an additional $15,000 from you. The purchaser of the property should have had title insurance. During escrow, the escrow agent should have sent a demand to the bail company to release the lien to clear the title.
You are going to have to obtain a copy of the escrow file, before determining if you need to take any further action. If the bail company requested $2,000.00 in release of their lien, and did not clear the lien, they can be liable for slander of title for allowing the lien to remain in place.
There are many issues that cannot be resolved without looking at the escrow file and the underlying transaction. I suggest you get a copy of the escrow file and contact a knowledgeable attorney for a consultation.
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