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Mortgage Approved (w/o wife)…BUT a lien was placed on property for wife’s CITI card! Is that legal?

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pmac2014
Valued Member

Mortgage Approved (w/o wife)…BUT a lien was placed on property for wife’s CITI card! Is that legal?

HELP! I need some clarification on this confusing issue!

My wife has spent the last year and a half clearing up our credit after we suffered job loss and serious illness so that we could buy a home. On my report, we paid any baddies, collections and removed any mistakes on my credit report. My credit cleaned up pretty well, and went from a 527 to 680 in about 15 months. My wife’s credit wasn’t as easy to fix-we did the same on hers but there were higher balances to pay off (and still working on 2 of them). Any joint accounts were paid off.

 

Present.

I was recently approved for a mortgage with out my wife on the loan. We agreed that we would add her after the loan closed since we could qualify on my income alone- and we would continue to clean up her credit. The loan process went somewhat smoothly with only one condition which we met. The mortgage was then approved and both my wife and I went to the title company to sign the forms. As I was signing the mortgage documents the title officer said that a lien was being placed on my mortgage. The lien that was placed was from Citibank for $30K and was in my wife’s name and that is no longer on her credit report—I am not on that CITIBANK account or on any Citibank account. Can a lien be put on my mortgage that doesn’t belong to me? Can they put a lien under my wife’s name even if she is not on the mortgage? Can I get the lien removed? Any information would be helpful….thanks!

Message 1 of 8
7 REPLIES 7
frugalQ
Valued Contributor

Re: Mortgage Approved (w/o wife)…BUT a lien was placed on property for wife’s CITI card! Is that leg

are you in a community property state?

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Message 2 of 8
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Mortgage Approved (w/o wife)…BUT a lien was placed on property for wife’s CITI card! Is that leg


@frugalQ wrote:

are you in a community property state?


Was just about to ask the same thing.

Message 3 of 8
StartingOver10
Moderator Emerita

Re: Mortgage Approved (w/o wife)…BUT a lien was placed on property for wife’s CITI card! Is that leg

First of all, the lien is not being placed "on your mortgage", it is being placed on the property.

 

In order for a lien to be placed on the property, the creditor would have to first have a judgment.

Is there a judgment in your wife's name?  Check public records to  see if there is a judgment (not your credit report, public records).

 

Some states have protection for your homestead property - for example here in Florida if you are married and own the property together as Tenants by the Entireties. There are only some states that offer this. Here is a pretty good link explaining how it works. Read it and then check your state to see if you have that option:  http://www.alperlaw.com/asset-protection/florida-asset-protection/tenants-by-entireties/

 

Remember all of this has to do with ownership of the property (deed) not how you finance it (mortgage).  Ownership is the asset. Mortgage is the liability. You can both be on the deed yet have the mortgage in only one name (not always, but it is possible). It is common for one party in a marriage to have the mortgage in their name and yet both parties are on the deed.

 

EDIT:  if you have already closed, then the lien is already in place. You would need to negotiate with the lienholder a release of lien. You want to do this as soon as possible as the lien continues to accrue interest and has to be paid off if you go to refinance or sell. In fact, it gets paid first before the loans are paid. So address this right away.

Message 4 of 8
wendlan
Regular Contributor

Re: Mortgage Approved (w/o wife)…BUT a lien was placed on property for wife’s CITI card! Is that leg

Is it a requirement to put both names on the title/deed if the mortgage is in one persons name? Does it have anything to do with what state you live in?

 

Message 5 of 8
StartingOver10
Moderator Emerita

Re: Mortgage Approved (w/o wife)…BUT a lien was placed on property for wife’s CITI card! Is that leg


@wendlan wrote:

Is it a requirement to put both names on the title/deed if the mortgage is in one persons name? Does it have anything to do with what state you live in?

 


No, not a requirement. I am not sure how it is handled in a community property state if you are married though from a deed POV.

Message 6 of 8
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Mortgage Approved (w/o wife)…BUT a lien was placed on property for wife’s CITI card! Is that leg

What state on you in?  I know they can't do that here but if you have a judgement & buy a home they will definitley lien it.  Most of the the time the title company finds them?  They should have told you about this beforehand.

Message 7 of 8
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Mortgage Approved (w/o wife)…BUT a lien was placed on property for wife’s CITI card! Is that leg


@Anonymous wrote:

What state on you in?  I know they can't do that here but if you have a judgement & buy a home they will definitley lien it.  Most of the the time the title company finds them?  They should have told you about this beforehand.


Pretty inept title company if you ask me.

Message 8 of 8
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