If the judgment has expired and not been revived, it shouldn't have impact on title. So, unless you are embarassed by its being reported or unless you are dealing with a title agent who thinks its an issue, just ignore it.
I review title reports all the time that have issues reported in the abstract that do not impact the title. I like to make a note on the abstract so an auditor knows I saw the issue and why I passed. This note is not required but it's useful if there are questions later on.
If you are a seller and the buyer's title agent is giving you grief over an expired judgment I suggest you tell the buyer to find another title company. You can't be expected to resolve title issues that are not real.
On the other hand if you have a judgment that IS impacting title and you can't find the party to whom payment is owed, you might offer to place funds in escrow with the title company so you can close and work on a resolution over time. If the issue isn't resolved, the title company can eventually escheat the money to the Commonwealth of PA showing the judgment holder as the owner of the funds. This is one way to create an official audit trail of attempts to resolve a problem should it ever rear its ugly head.
2 comments:
Thanks so much for this information! I really like the relaxed way you explain this. We are trying to purchase a house in Texas. Do you know if the same thing applies there? (as far as banks getting fussy over an expired lien)
Hi, Anon. Thank you!
Federal judgments are the same all over. Other judgments are governed by the rules of the state. I'm not familiar with TX rules.
As for banks getting fussy, people are people and they make them fussy the wide world over. ;) The best way to handle a lender whose concerned over an invalid or expired lien is to have your attorney or the title agent explicitly state in writing the the lien does not impact the title and the lender's position is fully insured.
Good luck!
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