Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Washington

Re: property purchase

I think you might be in West Virginia, and if so, you will need to ask an attorney licensed there the answer to this question.

Here in WA, a lien or judgment is of record on the title to the real property of the debtor.

Here, when a loan is assumable, you take it subject to whatever encumbrances are of record unless or until those encumbrances are cleared off the title.

That means that the liens are against the real property you are buying, and thus they operate against your interest.

The way to fix this is to make the seller re-finance the property to pay off the liens.

But again, I'm in WA, not in WV.

But I cannot think the principle is a lot different.

Hope this helps. Elizabeth Powell

Re: property purchase

Under Washington Law, much depends on what type of lien is on the property. If it's a contractor's lien, the contractor has to take the owner to court with 8 months or the lien drops off. DSHS liens are another matter and must be satisfied before the property can be conveyed. I'd be very carefull and look for traditional financing, title search and commitment and a licensed real estate agent. You can get in a lot of trouble buying a home being sold by it's owner.