What Is Abstract Of Judgement
I was doing a name search at the county office when I came across an "Abstract of Judgement" for the person. I could not tell from the document if it was bound to the house or not. Is this just a claim saying that this person owes someone else money, or is this similar to a mechanics lien?
Thanks,
Robert
An abstract of judgment is my area is attached to the house, it is a notice of judgment against someone.
It is a lien on a house for all intensive purposes.
They can use Abstracts of judgments to forelclose on properties.[ Edited by dnvrkid on Date 12/03/2004 ]
dnv is right, I'll just word it a different way.
An abstract of judgement is an involuntary lien against a person and all their real property except for those specifically excluded.
If they personally own a house the AJ automatically places a lien on the property.
A homeowner can request the property be excluded and if accepted a release of lien will be recorded that releases the property from under the AJ. This does not however release the lien from the debtor or any of their other real property.
AJ must be renewed every 10 years so if an AJ is on record and the document date is more than 10 years ago it's no longer valid and is therefore automatically released from the debtor and all their real property.
See an attorney before buying property with AJ's on them.
Here's what www.Law.com says:
"Abstract of judgment
n. a written summary of a judgment which states how much money the losing party owes to the person who won the lawsuit (judgment creditor), the rate of interest to be paid on the judgment amount, court costs, and any specific orders that the losing party (judgment debtor) must obey, which abstract is acknowledged and stamped so that it can be recorded at the county recorder. The purpose of an abstract of judgment is to create a public record and create a lien or claim if necessary on any real estate owned or later acquired by the loser located in the county in which the abstract of judgment is recorded."
The reason for an AJ is that a J itself is NOT recordable, so an AJ is drafted and recorded to show the details of the J.
If you'll go to your county recorder and ask to see their AJ records, you can see the exact form that's used in your state...and you can also see the existent, current, outstanding Js by date the AJs were recorded.
Thanks a bunch!
I almost gave up on this property after the person redeemed it from another sale. Now I'm going to go back and follow up on this house!
Thanks,
Robert