Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Massachusetts
Liens
There are three people listed on the deed to my house and a creditor has filed a lien, can they take my house and put all three of us out on the street?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Liens & their impact on co-owners.
This does create a problem. It depends on the if there is a homestead declaration. It depends on the the how the property is held by the three people.
The lien holder can go court & take further action against the debtor. This could turn out to be a mess.
If you have more specific questions, contact me.
Re: Liens
It depends on whether the creditor has a security interest in the home, like a mortgage. If so, all 3 co-owners would be affected. However, from your description it sounds like this is not a mortgagee creditor but an unsecured judgment creditor or similar. If so, and the judgment is only against one of the three, the lienholder may not execute on more than the share owned by the debtor. Thus, the house may end up being owned by the two owners AND the creditor as the third. This is a tricky situation, could you provide more specifics on the lien and the type of ownership, ie joint tenancy, tenancy in common, etc?