Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in New York

Re: Property Lien for Personal Debt

Your best approach would appear to be to get the debtor to sign a promissory note which would consolidate all of the various loans which you've made to her over the years and which would include a defined periodic schedule of payment which she would be obligated to make and which would include a provision for what's known as a "confession of judgment" in the event that she defaults.

If she were to default, then you would then be in a position to take the note into the general district court to have it entered as an enforceable judgment from which a lien could then be recorded in the land records section of the circuit court against the property owned by the judgment debtor.

Re: Property Lien for Personal Debt

Michael's response is ok...but there is a time limit for confession judgments (three years) after which the confession would be unuseable. You would be best served to get a lawyer to compose an agreement that identifies all the loans by amount, sets forth the terms of the loan (how much interest is accruing on the unpaid principal (if any) and when the money should be repaid (on the sale of the house--???Maybe it will never be sold) ...what if the owner dies and the house is transferred by a will or by statute? who pays then? GO see a lawyer who will be able to predict all the possible (forseeable) quirks and write you an agreement that would provide you the most protection possible.