Selling a Lubbock House With a Lien on It

The short answer

Yes. In almost every case you can sell a Lubbock house with a lien on it. Most liens are paid out of the sale proceeds at closing and the buyer takes clear title — routine work here.

It gets hard two ways: the liens exceed what the house will bring, or the problem is ownership rather than debt.

Start with what is recorded, not with the creditor

Every lien on a Lubbock house is filed with the Lubbock County Clerk — Kelly Pinion’s office, 904 Broadway, Room 207, Real Property division 806-775-1062. Abstracts of judgment, mechanic’s lien affidavits, IRS lien notices, city abatement statements and HOA liens all land there.

That office will not look it up. It states that it “will not conduct searches over the phone,” that requests are accepted “for federal tax liens only,” in writing, at “$10.00 per name, per 10 years requested,” and that “We do not conduct searches for the existence of a document filing.”

Search the free index yourself at erecord.lubbockcounty.gov/recorder/web. But the county’s disclaimer, tracking Texas Property Code Sec. 11.008(k), says that database “does not constitute the official repository of real property records.” A title commitment is the answer.

Not every lien reaches a Texas homestead

The credit card judgment, the hospital bill, the repossession deficiency

Texas Property Code Sec. 52.001 attaches a recorded and indexed abstract of judgment — “if the judgment is not then dormant,” and “except as provided by Section 52.0011 or 52.0012” — to the defendant’s real property “other than real property exempt from seizure or forced sale under Chapter 41, the Texas Constitution, or any other law” in the county where it is recorded, “including real property acquired after such recording and indexing.” Your homestead is exempt under Chapter 41. Your rent house off 34th is not.

Chapter 41 is not unlimited. Sec. 41.001(a) exempts a homestead “except for encumbrances properly fixed on homestead property,” and Sec. 41.001(b) lists those exhaustively: purchase money; taxes; construction work contracted for in writing under Sections 53.254(a), (b) and (c); owelty of partition; a refinance of a homestead lien; a home equity loan under Art. XVI Sec. 50(a)(6); a reverse mortgage under Sec. 50(k)-(p). An unsecured judgment is not there.

Sec. 52.006(a) runs a judgment lien ten years from recording, and it ends sooner if the judgment goes dormant — but only “except as provided by Subsection (b),” under which a judgment for the state or a state agency does not go dormant, holds twenty years unless satisfied or released, and can be renewed once for twenty more.

An abstract that never attached still sits in the records, and no title company ignores it. Sec. 52.0012 lets you record a homestead affidavit, a certificate of mailing, and notice to the creditor at four addresses. It is bounded: the creditor may contradict it “not later than the 30th day after the date a certificate of mailing was filed,” and a buyer may rely conclusively on yours only “for the 90-day period that begins on the 31st day after” that filing.

The two liens homestead does not stop

Property taxes. Tax Code Sec. 32.01 attaches a tax lien on January 1 each year, perfected on attachment, “except as provided by Section 32.03(b),” with nothing filed. Sec. 32.05(a) settles the rest: “A tax lien on real property takes priority over a homestead interest in the property.” The penalty math is on our page about selling a house behind on property taxes in Lubbock.

The IRS. Under 26 U.S.C. Sec. 6321, tax unpaid after demand “shall be a lien in favor of the United States upon all property and rights to property.” No homestead exception. Sec. 6322 dates the lien from assessment, before anything is recorded; Sec. 6323(a) says it “shall not be valid as against any purchaser, holder of a security interest, mechanic’s lienor, or judgment lien creditor” until notice is filed.

You need not pay in full. IRS Publication 783 says a Certificate of Discharge under Internal Revenue Code Sec. 6325(b) “removes the United States’ lien from the property named in the certificate” — under 6325(b)(2)(A) when the IRS is paid at least the value of its interest in that property, or under 6325(b)(2)(B) when that interest is determined to have no value. Submit Form 14135 “at least 45 days before the transaction date.”

Why a filed affidavit is not automatically a contractor’s lien

To fix a lien on a Texas homestead, Property Code Sec. 53.254 requires four things. (a) The person furnishing material or labor and the owner “must execute a written contract setting forth the terms of the agreement.” (b) “The contract must be executed before the material is furnished or the labor is performed.” (c) “If the owner is married, the contract must be signed by both spouses.” (e) It “must be filed with the county clerk of the county in which the homestead is located.”

A handshake does not. Neither does a quote signed after the crew was on the roof, one spouse’s signature, or a contract nobody filed. Sec. 53.254(f) makes the affidavit carry, in ten-point boldface at the top: “NOTICE: THIS IS NOT A LIEN. THIS IS ONLY AN AFFIDAVIT CLAIMING A LIEN.”

Deadlines bind the claimant too. On a residential construction project, Sec. 53.052(a)(2) requires an original contractor to file “not later than the 15th day of the third month after the month in which the original contractor’s work was completed, terminated, or abandoned.” Sec. 53.171 also lets any person bond around such a lien, discharging the claim against the property once bond and notice are recorded.

City of Lubbock liens

Two statutes; the difference matters. Local Government Code Sec. 214.001(n) gives the city a demolition-cost lien “unless it is a homestead as protected by the Texas Constitution.” Health & Safety Code Sec. 342.007, with no homestead exclusion on its face, gives a mowing and rubbish lien on filing with the county clerk, at “10 percent” interest and “inferior only to: (1) tax liens; and (2) liens for street improvements.” Code Administration is at 1314 Avenue K, 806-775-2193. See selling a house with code violations in Lubbock.

When it is not a lien at all

Sometimes the file is stuck on ownership, not debt. Estates Code Sec. 101.001 vests an estate in the devisees or heirs immediately, but both subsections are “Subject to Section 101.051” — it passes subject to “the debts of the decedent, except as exempted by law.” Lubbock County has no statutory probate court; probate is heard by County Judge Curtis Parrish. See selling an inherited property and selling a house in probate.

If the filing is simply bogus, Government Code Sec. 51.903 lets an owner file a verified motion with the district clerk — in Lubbock County, one of six district courts at 904 Broadway. A judge may rule on the document alone, and Sec. 51.903(d) says the clerk “may not collect a filing fee” for it.

When a cash offer is not your best move

• If the lien probably never attached, do not sell over it. A judgment abstracted against a Texas homestead is a records problem; Sec. 52.0012 lets you clear it.
• If the contractor’s paperwork fails Sec. 53.254, fight it rather than fund it.
• If the house has equity and you have time, list it. Our comparison shows both routes, including where we lose.
• If the liens exceed what the house will bring, no one’s offer fixes that. Prop. Code Sec. 52.042 and Sec. 52.043 set out when a judgment lien is canceled by a bankruptcy discharge and when it survives.
• If you are 65 or older, disabled, or a qualifying disabled veteran and the problem is taxes, Tax Code Sec. 33.06 may let you defer collection on your residence homestead by affidavit filed with the chief appraiser at the Lubbock Central Appraisal District, 806-762-5000. But read Sec. 33.06(d): the lien stays, interest runs at five percent a year, and it ends when you stop owning and occupying it.

How this works with us

Electrum Properties has bought houses in Lubbock since 2019. Jarrod Frankum holds a Texas real estate license; we buy for our own account, not as your agent. We sometimes assign our contract, and we put our interest in writing before signing.

• We look and make an offer. We buy as-is; a lien does not change that.
• Title work starts and the liens surface. We cover all closing costs on purchase, so that search is not on you.
• Payoffs get ordered and the liens come off the top, from proceeds. We do not pay them for you; you keep what is left.
• If something needs a lawyer — a contested lien, an heirship gap, an IRS discharge — we say so.
• You pick the closing date. When speed matters we can close in as little as 7 days on the right deal. Here, title work sets the pace.

Questions Lubbock owners ask about liens

Talk to us before you pay anything

If a title company kicked your file back, a lien affidavit came in the mail, or you want to know what is recorded against your Lubbock house, call 806-630-0875 or email jarrod@electrumtexas.com. We will tell you what we see, including when the answer is a lawyer, not a sale.

We buy as-is. We cover all closing costs on purchase. You pick the closing date, and when speed matters we can close in as little as 7 days on the right deal. To compare routes, read your options for selling a house fast in Lubbock or how we buy houses.