Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in New Jersey

Re: $80,000 owed to me, how to place a lein

There are probably a few more facts that are rlevant to your case, but based on what you present, it appears that you made a loan on which a borrower has defaulted. Whether you can get a lien against property BEFORE obtaining a judgment will depend upon a number of factors, to include the likelihood of your success on the underlying claim.

In any event, unless your loan was secured by a lien against poperty (personal) or a mortgage on real estate, you will need to initiate a suit to recover the monies that are owed to you. I recommend you obtain the services of an attorney who is experienced with debt collection, property liens and executions to recover assets. If you wish, I can refer you to two different law firms in your area who have experience and expertise in this type of matter. Please feel free to e-mail or call if you would like this or if you have any further questions. Best of luck and a Happy New Year.

Re: $80,000 owed to me, how to place a lein

You have heard of a Mortgage and Note I assume.

A Note is an instrument reflecting a debt. The Mortgage is a separate instrument connecting or linking the Note to a piece of real property.

You have a loan, but you do not have a Note. Generally, you can not access the equity in a property without the mortgage. Conversely, a mortgage is 'empty' or useless unless it is linked with a note. A mortgage is necessary for you to foreclose. There are some cases where you can access the equity on a property through a lien. Note that all these instruments must be filed/docketed, to preserve your priority (place in line) when trying to access the property equity by forcing the sale of the property. This is so a party lending money to th eproperty owner can check to see who will be in line before them if they ever have to foreclose/sell off the asset. This is only fair.

You have made an unsecured loan. You must file suit to get a judgement before you have a legal right to try to collect on the debt. Even if you get a judgement, you may not be able to foreclose on the property, as there are many variables to consider, and you have to talk a judge into it.

Not to be cruel (you may have just been trusting, or being a good samaratian/friend) but next time, put everything in writing, and 99.9% of the time, you are much better off consulting with a lawyer first! You may be responsible for your own health (and you should be) but you don't do your own surgery when you need it!

Happy New Year to you & good luck.