Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Iowa

I certainly would need to know more about the situation to give you any suggestions. When you say "real estate company," I am guessing you mean the real estate agent's office? If that is the case, why the real estate company is contacting you is a true mystery, since they should have absolutely nothing to do with title clearing activities.

Generally, an abstract is updated, and from that a title opinion is prepared by an attorney who may or may not have anything else to do with the transaction. Whether the abstracter missed it, or the attorney, or the closing agent is impossible to say without more information.

I am also guessing you are in one of those parts of Iowa where attorneys are not actually involved in the real estate transactions, but just "prepare documents." This is unfortunate, because this is exactly one of those times where the suggestion to talk to the attorney who represented you in the transaction makes the most sense.

If, for example, this lien was based on a judgment that was entered while your mother in law resided in the property, there may be a pretty easy fix. If this was a mortgage that someone missed, it is going to cost someone some money. Without knowing the nature of the lien and when it came about, who erred, and whether this was your mother in law's residence, the best suggestion I can offer is contact a real estate attorney.