Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Washington

In a manner of speaking yes. When you pay for the home, whether via cash or through financing, the proceeds go to the creditors and lienholders first, and anything left over goes to the owner. The title insurance company and escrow company see to this. You pay for title insurance and part of that means you are covered in case they make an error in searching the title for judgments against the property. That way, if anyone ever comes along after the sale goes through claiming a superior right to title or a lien against the property that was not paid at the time of sale, if it turns out they are correct, your title insurance should take care of the problem. Note: this is really rare. I've only ever read about it, and not experienced it nor do I know anyone who has had this happen. That's simply because the title companies and county recorders offices do a pretty good job of systematically recording all this information.