topic Re: MY JOB IS AT STAKE, Need Federal Tax Lien Help! in Rebuilding Your Credit

MY JOB IS AT STAKE, Need Federal Tax Lien Help!

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Oct 2015 15:48:03 GMT

I have Federal tax lien which was filed August 2008 and released in August 2009 (I forgot a form, filed amended returns, and the lien was statisfied and released). I filed a FORM 12277 with the IRS to remove the public record of the lien since it will now cost me my 25 year job due to background clearnces now required for the division I work in <sigh>. After filing the FORM 12277, I recieved a letter from the IRS stating they have no record of the lien. I called the IRS an the rep said that the IRS doesn't keep data that long, so from their perspective the lien is essencially "gone". She suggested I go to the court (Cook County IL), for what I'm not exactly sure. I assume to ask them to stop reporting? I explained I no longer live in that state and she said to look it up online (doesn't exist online either - that I could find anyway).

Starting with Equifax, I tried to take the direct CRA route and ask for an EE. I spoke with a CSP and a supervisor who stated they could not EE public records. I explained that this 7.4 year public record (since filed), which is paid, which I could no longer DO anything about but wait (Aug. 2016 when it rolls off) - and that it will cost me my job of 25 years within 30 days. They simply repeaded that they "could not delete, it's the law".

Ultimately, I'm not sure what I supposed to be doing at the court level. Request a vacate? Do i need fly to Chicago, get a lawyer with POA?

My job is in the balance, HELP!

Re: MY JOB IS AT STAKE, Need Federal Tax Lien Help!

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Oct 2015 12:53:13 GMT

What a horrible situation! Contact a good financial attorney in Chicago and give them all of your documents. Maybe call the Chicago bar association for a referral. That's the only thing I can think for you to do and possibly make the 30 day deadline. Good luck.

Re: MY JOB IS AT STAKE, Need Federal Tax Lien Help!

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Oct 2015 15:26:04 GMT

I know it looks and sounds dire, but I can't imagine you'd need more than a letter of explanation for an adjudicator to mitigate that situation. If you aren't able to clear it prior to your deadline, just write up a letter of explanation including all relevant facts and dates, and steps you've taken to attempt to resolve it, and submit that to your security officer. I've seen adjudicators rubber-stamp situations far worse and far more recent than that.

Re: MY JOB IS AT STAKE, Need Federal Tax Lien Help!

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Oct 2015 15:49:48 GMT

Call the Clerk in Cook County, IL - sometimes you can order records over the phone - they may charge you - or ask you to fax a request. All counties are different - but I would think Chicago would have a way to order them without traveling to Chicago. It might be worth a shot ..... At least it would be an additional paper trail as to your attempts to locate/clear this up.

Re: MY JOB IS AT STAKE, Need Federal Tax Lien Help!

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Oct 2015 15:50:42 GMT

I appreciate the reply @SeveredFinger. Sorry to press, but what specifically do I send? Also the mgistrate is in Illinois I now live in Georgia. Not sure my specific next step. :-/

Re: MY JOB IS AT STAKE, Need Federal Tax Lien Help!

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Oct 2015 15:55:22 GMT

Thanks for the reply @jlynn0819, I did call the court who could not find a record of the case. Granted the rep did sound like she just wanted to get off the phone so I'm not sure how accurate that was. I could try the online request route, but I'm not sure how that helps me. Esscentially I'm asking the creditor, in this case the court, to stop reporting this "paid collection". What I don't know is want specifically to do next. Sounding frantic, I know. :-(

Re: MY JOB IS AT STAKE, Need Federal Tax Lien Help!

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Oct 2015 15:59:57 GMT

First - just call the clerk in Illinois - they may have a release or something on file that they can send to you. See if they show it PAID and what they can send to you. They may already have a release/vacate order/something on file. Based on what they tell you, you can figure out your next step with the court. You can't know what the next step is there without finding out what the last step was.

Start documenting dates, letters, documentation, etc. Everything you can to provide to your employer for the security clearance. If you have the letter from the IRS, that should be a BIG one for you to provide to them.

Let me know what you find out from the clerk's office and then I might be able to point you in the right direction there.... you still may need an attorney, but I'll try to tell ya the next step......

Re: MY JOB IS AT STAKE, Need Federal Tax Lien Help!

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Oct 2015 16:03:24 GMT

If they show no record of the case - Call a supervisor - Ask them to verify that they cannot find a case in Cook County and see if they can send you something that shows /states that there is no case in Cook County.

If there is No record of the case - and you can get documentation - you might be able to dispute it with the CRAs to get it removed. You already have the letter from the IRS stating the same.

If no one can find a record - it's going to be pretty hard to verify on a dispute......

Re: MY JOB IS AT STAKE, Need Federal Tax Lien Help!

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Oct 2015 16:11:03 GMT

I appreciate the replies @jlynn0819. For clarity the Lien is released and noted as such on my credit reports with EQX and TU. This is not on my EXP at all, thank goodness. So it has been released and noted as such. I am trying to get the public record itself removed which will get flagged on my background. The fact that the record is there at all paid or not will cause the issue. The IRS 12277 fresh start is suppossed to remove public records or provide a FORM which will allow the CRAs to release. The problem is the IRS doesn't have a record, and apparently the court doesn't either.

I will take the route you suggest, but I just wanted to note the court HAS (or at some point when they had the records) reported the lien as released.

Re: MY JOB IS AT STAKE, Need Federal Tax Lien Help!

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Oct 2015 16:18:02 GMT

In order to file a Motion to Vacate Lien - you are going to need to know the case number - so somewhere/some how there has to be a copy of something.......If they reported it as released.

Are they listed on the CRAs as Cook County? My state lien (Iowa) lists as Polk County (which I never lived in but is where Des Moines-the capital is) Do you need to be checking another county??? Like Sangamon - where Springfield is???? Just a thought.....

Re: MY JOB IS AT STAKE, Need Federal Tax Lien Help!

KittySaysMeow — Fri, 30 Oct 2015 16:48:30 GMT

What you need is the IRS Form 668-Z, Release of Federal Tax Lien. This is what proves that the tax lien was released. You can obtain a copy in one of two ways.

1). If it was filed in Cook County, you can obtain it from the Cook County Recorder of Deeds (Karen Yarbrough's office). You can search the following site:

http://cookrecorder.com/search-our-records/

Do an "Advanced Search", set the appropriate date range, and select "Release of Federal Tax Lien" as the document type. Lien releases are public record. You'll need to pay a few bucks for a copy of the 668-Z itself. Use your own name in the grantor/grantee field.

2). Contact the IRS Centralized Lien Operation at 1-800-913-6050 and request a copy. This will be slower.

Provide a copy of the 668-Z to the company conducting the background check, and to your employer, along with a letter stating how the lien came about, what you did to correct it, and the timeline. I have done this numerous times for clients that were in the same situation, with DOD, DOE, and intelligence community clearances up to and including "Secret", and they have never had a problem. I cannot speak for "Top Secret" clearances or above.

Federal tax liens are a matter of public record, and subject to the same credit reporting requirements as a bankruptcy. Thus, until it ages off naturally per FCRA, the credit bureaus will NOT simply delete it from your reports -- they will only indicate the release.

Disclaimer: As I do not know the full details of your or any other reader's situation, this cannot be considered personalized tax advice. Applicability to your specific situation may vary. For personalized advice, consider contacting a tax attorney, CPA, or IRS Enrolled Agent that is extremely experienced in tax lien matters (very, very few are!). This post is not intended to be a soliciation for services.

Best wishes to you!

Re: MY JOB IS AT STAKE, Need Federal Tax Lien Help!

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Oct 2015 16:50:16 GMT

I'm sure it's Cook County. The case number is listed on my EQ report. I suppose I need a laywer to file the motion?

Re: MY JOB IS AT STAKE, Need Federal Tax Lien Help!

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Oct 2015 16:56:09 GMT

@KittySaysMeow wrote:
What you need is the IRS Form 668-Z, Release of Federal Tax Lien. This is what proves that the tax lien was released. You can obtain a copy in one of two ways.

1). If it was filed in Cook County, you can obtain it from the Cook County Recorder of Deeds (Karen Yarbrough's office). You can search the following site:

http://cookrecorder.com/search-our-records/

Do an "Advanced Search", set the appropriate date range, and select "Release of Federal Tax Lien" as the document type. Lien releases are public record. You'll need to pay a few bucks for a copy of the 668-Z itself. Use your own name in the grantor/grantee field.

2). Contact the IRS Centralized Lien Operation at 1-800-913-6050 and request a copy. This will be slower.

Provide a copy of the 668-Z to the company conducting the background check, and to your employer, along with a letter stating how the lien came about, what you did to correct it, and the timeline. I have done this numerous times for clients that were in the same situation, with DOD, DOE, and intelligence community clearances up to and including "Secret", and they have never had a problem. I cannot speak for "Top Secret" clearances or above.

Federal tax liens are a matter of public record, and subject to the same credit reporting requirements as a bankruptcy. Thus, until it ages off naturally per FCRA, the credit bureaus will NOT simply delete it from your reports -- they will only indicate the release.

Disclaimer: As I do not know the full details of your or any other reader's situation, this cannot be considered personalized tax advice. Applicability to your specific situation may vary. For personalized advice, consider contacting a tax attorney, CPA, or IRS Enrolled Agent that is extremely experienced in tax lien matters (very, very few are!). This post is not intended to be a soliciation for services.

Best wishes to you!

Thank you for the detalied reply. The link posted link seems to be for property records? I do not see an advanced search function.

Re: MY JOB IS AT STAKE, Need Federal Tax Lien Help!

KittySaysMeow — Fri, 30 Oct 2015 16:58:07 GMT

Follow the instructions I layed out. There is nothing that a court can realistically do in this case. Like I already stated, get a copy of 668-Z, write a letter of explanation, and submit it to the background check entity and your employer. That is really all you need to do. This is NOT going to come off your credit report (you are misunderstanding the nature of the IRS Fresh Start lien conditions, but that's beyond the scope).

Re: MY JOB IS AT STAKE, Need Federal Tax Lien Help!

KittySaysMeow — Fri, 30 Oct 2015 16:59:11 GMT

Thank you for the detalied reply. The link posted link seems to be for property records? I do not see an advanced search function.

Change the search type to grantor/grantee search in the menu at the top, second from left. Enter your name in search box, click advanced search.

Re: MY JOB IS AT STAKE, Need Federal Tax Lien Help!

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Oct 2015 17:26:48 GMT

@KittySaysMeow wrote:
Follow the instructions I layed out. There is nothing that a court can realistically do in this case. Like I already stated, get a copy of 668-Z, write a letter of explanation, and submit it to the background check entity and your employer. That is really all you need to do. This is NOT going to come off your credit report (you are misunderstanding the nature of the IRS Fresh Start lien conditions, but that's beyond the scope).

@Thank you @KittySaysMeow for the advice and link. I did get a copy of my 668Z release of lien form and will proactively disclose to my HR with a letter of explanation. You are correct about the CRA; I spoke with an attorney who says there is NOTHING I can do to get the credit agencies to remove this record prior to the"seven years since release" date (in my case Aug 2016). Dirt bags, but it's my own fault...I digress.

Thanks again all!

Re: MY JOB IS AT STAKE, Need Federal Tax Lien Help!

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Oct 2015 17:28:58 GMT

Hopefully between the release and the LOX showing it is paid and everything will be good enough for your clearance! I wish you the best!!!

Re: MY JOB IS AT STAKE, Need Federal Tax Lien Help!

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Oct 2015 20:46:28 GMT

Unofficial update: Early intell indicates the fact the record exist, paid or not, will cost me my career. My next step will be throwing myself on the mercy of the migistrate to vacate this record. Any advise in this regard would be helpful as I could sware people in this forum and others have had success removing paid public records early. Perhaps wishful thinking, Keep up with your CR kidos, it could cost you more than a FICO score.

Re: MY JOB IS AT STAKE, Need Federal Tax Lien Help!

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Oct 2015 20:55:28 GMT

I'd start searching for a Tax Lien attorney in Cook County, IL. Most will probably talk to you on the phone to ask questions for free - and then decide what route/costs may be. You are in a time crunch - and that may be your best bet for finding an answer quickly.

Also - Maybe keep calling the CRAs - continue to ask for a supervisor and work that EE as well...... maybe someone will be nice and remove it. Sure can't hurt at this point....try TU first - they will usually be the most accomodating on EE. EQ is the worst....

I so wish you the best......

Re: MY JOB IS AT STAKE, Need Federal Tax Lien Help!

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Oct 2015 21:09:42 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I'd start searching for a Tax Lien attorney in Cook County, IL. Most will probably talk to you on the phone to ask questions for free - and then decide what route/costs may be. You are in a time crunch - and that may be your best bet for finding an answer quickly.
Also - Maybe keep calling the CRAs - continue to ask for a supervisor and work that EE as well...... maybe someone will be nice and remove it. Sure can't hurt at this point....try TU first - they will usually be the most accomodating on EE. EQ is the worst....

I so wish you the best......

@Anonymous @Anonymous. I did speak with two Attorney's specializing in Tax Liens who both indicated there was nothing I could do. I've spoken with Equifax, incluing supervisors, on two occassions with no luck, but I will certainly keep trying. I will also try TU, I could use a boost if they're more accomodating. This is a 25 year job at stake, so I will definately go down swinging.

Thanks again.