In addition to judgement liens, Lis Pendens is not a lien filed as a result of a court judgment, but simply a notice of an impending lawsuit that involves the subject property.

If you are in a situation where you cant pay off your lein or leins, there are lenders who will let you suborinate the leins to the second position. This will enable you to refinance your mortgage with out having to payoff the lein.

Liens may be voluntary ( a mortgage or deed of trust), statutory (property taxes), or involuntary ( a judgement affecting all the property an owner as or aquires during the legal life of the lien).

Statutory and involuntary liens fall into four categories:

• Property tax Liens -- These are placed against a property when the property taxes are not paid on time; they are given precedence over all other claims; if they continue to be delinquent for five years, the property will be sold off to pay the taxes; whenever a property is foreclosed upon, taxes are always the first debts paid;


• Judgement Liens -- These are general liens resulting when a person suing another person wins a judgement from a court for the sums owing and records an abstract of that judgment;


• Mechanics Liens -- These are recorded with the county by contractors, subcontractors, materials suppliers, or workers who wish to be paid for their delinquent bils covering labor or materials on new construction, land improvments, or remodeling projects; and


• Federal or State Liens -- These result from unpaid federal or state taxes, personal and inheritance taxes being the most common

All of the liens against a property ususally show up on the initial title search that is completed by your title company or closing attorney depending on the state you live in.

Judgment - A legal decision; when requiring debt repayment, a judgment may include a property lien that secures the creditors claim by providing a collateral source.

Judgement is granted to a creditor who has proven in a civil court that a debtor is liable for damage. When the creditor cannot collect the judgment from the debtor, or when the judgment amount is not significant enough to warrant a collection process, the creditor usually files a lien on the debtor's property. Such judgement lien is present on the property title report when the debtor refinances or sells his property. The debtor must satisfy any liens on his property when he refinances the mortgage or sells the property. A judgement lien filed by a professional who performed work on the property (such as builder contractor) is often referred to as a "mechanic's lien".

Although there are lenders who will allow the judgements if they are subordanated to the second position.

Lenders typically require that all judgments that effect or potentially effect the title be paid prior to the closing of a mortgage loan.