state tax lien is it too late

swins24 · ‎04-26-2010

I just got a letter from the state of Kentucky today saying that I had a tax debt remained unpaid from the 45 days they sent the notice out, and that a tax lien has Ben filed in the appropriate county clerks office. I called and set up a payment arrangement for the small balance due and ask had a tax lien Ben filed. He said yes it was filed April 20. Am I too late to stop this from being reported on my credit report or is there something I can do? It hasn't showed up yet but I just got my score over 600 how much will this hurt? Will i have a certain amount of time to pay it before it will reflect on my report or is it already to late?

Anonymous · ‎04-26-2010

You would need to talk to the same people. If it has been filed it will probably be reported.

If you are making payments they may be able to stop it.

Anonymous · ‎04-26-2010

@Anonymous wrote:
You would need to talk to the same people. If it has been filed it will probably be reported.

If you are making payments they may be able to stop it.

Agree.

Only the state can have the lien removed from public records. Some states are nice about these things. Others not so nice.

Anonymous · ‎04-26-2010

if the state were to remove it from the public records, what scenario would follow:

1) all traces of it are removed and the OP's credit score goes back to exactly where it was before all this occured

2) the lien entry is left on the credit report, and then another entry is entered which says the lien has been released

Scenario #2 doesn't seem fair because OP's credit score would still be messed up from this, right?

Anonymous · ‎04-26-2010

@Anonymous wrote:
if the state were to remove it from the public records, what scenario would follow:

1) all traces of it are removed and the OP's credit score goes back to exactly where it was before all this occured

2) the lien entry is left on the credit report, and then another entry is entered which says the lien has been released

Scenario #2 doesn't seem fair because OP's credit score would still be messed up from this, right?

If the lien were paid and it were not removed from public records, it would be marked as satisfied / released. I believe the score would remain the same.

If removed from public records, the OP's score should return, in theory, to where it was before the lien hit his credit report. I say "in theory" because there are other factors such as age of accounts that come into play and could be influencing their credit score in addition to the lien.

There are those who think scenario #2 would be fair. After all, they did fail to pay their taxes and that can be seen as reflecting on creditworthiness. I'm not saying I agree (or disagree) with that line of thought, but there are those who do.

swins24 · ‎04-26-2010

Thanx for all the input, I talked with someone from the county clerk office today and she said that she didn't see me in the system having a lien. I ask her about the credit report concern and she said that they don't report to CRA and that even if the KY department of revenue had filed the lien it would only mean that I could not buy or sell property until the lien was released. Does this sound right or should I call again to ask another rep?

Anonymous · ‎04-26-2010

@swins24 wrote:
Thanx for all the input, I talked with someone from the county clerk office today and she said that she didn't see me in the system having a lien. I ask her about the credit report concern and she said that they don't report to CRA and that even if the KY department of revenue had filed the lien it would only mean that I could not buy or sell property until the lien was released. Does this sound right or should I call again to ask another rep?

The state does not report directly to the CRAs usually. What happens is that the lien is a public record and there are data aggregators who comb public records and then sell the data to companies such as CRAs. That's generally how these things appear on your credit report.

If the lien never made it into the county clerk / court clerk's lien book, then it might not show up on your credit report.

I'd ask the state where exactly the lien is filed and then go to that source to check whether or not the lien was filed there or not.

Anonymous · ‎04-26-2010

@swins24 wrote:
Thanx for all the input, I talked with someone from the county clerk office today and she said that she didn't see me in the system having a lien. I ask her about the credit report concern and she said that they don't report to CRA and that even if the KY department of revenue had filed the lien it would only mean that I could not buy or sell property until the lien was released. Does this sound right or should I call again to ask another rep?

I'd say call and ask another rep. Personally, I don't think the county clerk's office needs to report for it to show up on your credit report. I think the CRAs hoover up data from court records.

According to http://revenue.ky.gov/laws/liens.htm:

* Once the debt is satisfied, then KY will file a release, which is a public record showing that the lien is no longer in effect. I don't know what the effect of a release, if any, is on your FICO, but it can't hurt to have the release listed for potential creditors.

* If the state decides the lien was filed incorrectly they'll contact the CRAs and ask to have it removed.

You might consider calling the KY Taxpayer Ombudsman, see http://revenue.ky.gov/ombudsman.htm.

Can't hurt and they might have something useful to tell you.

You may well find that despite your best efforts you're stuck with the lien on your CRs. If so, I'm pretty confident the impact lessens over time.

swins24 · ‎04-26-2010

@Anonymous wrote:

@swins24 wrote:
Thanx for all the input, I talked with someone from the county clerk office today and she said that she didn't see me in the system having a lien. I ask her about the credit report concern and she said that they don't report to CRA and that even if the KY department of revenue had filed the lien it would only mean that I could not buy or sell property until the lien was released. Does this sound right or should I call again to ask another rep?

I'd say call and ask another rep. Personally, I don't think the county clerk's office needs to report for it to show up on your credit report. I think the CRAs hoover up data from court records.

According to http://revenue.ky.gov/laws/liens.htm:

* Once the debt is satisfied, then KY will file a release, which is a public record showing that the lien is no longer in effect. I don't know what the effect of a release, if any, is on your FICO, but it can't hurt to have the release listed for potential creditors.

* If the state decides the lien was filed incorrectly they'll contact the CRAs and ask to have it removed.

You might consider calling the KY Taxpayer Ombudsman, see http://revenue.ky.gov/ombudsman.htm.

Can't hurt and they might have something useful to tell you.

You may well find that despite your best efforts you're stuck with the lien on your CRs. If so, I'm pretty confident the impact lessens over time.

Ok I left this part out.The letter also stated that if I didn't pay the the debt or make arrangements within 60 days that it could be released on the internet and or local news paper's as a public record.

Anonymous · ‎04-26-2010

besides calling another clerk, you should also check to see if the relevant county has a website which enables you to search for liens under your name