Hello, My grandparents had some work done to their home back in 1987, and some of that work noticeable as poor workmanship (long story) however my grandfather did not pay all the monies and a lien was placed on their home. the lien was sold to a third party and the lien was not enforced within the time frame in Texas I assume becuase nothing never happeded. They never went to court and my grandmother is still living in the home. Howver after the ice storm in Texas she need to get some work done to her home and now she cant because it shows that deed is listed under the 3rd party that bought the debt.Please help with a little insight on what we need to do after 34 yrs. Thank in advnace
That is a crummy situation. Texas has a summary process for removing inactionable liens. The downside is you have to sue the contractor in order to strike the lien. After so much time, that may not be possible, but there are other avenues available to address that scenario, such as substituted service.
I wish I could tell you that the motion practice is simple enought to perform yourself or in small claims court, but it is not, and small claims court does not have jurisditiocnt over such matters. Likewise, you'll need to retain an attorney to resolve the sitauton. There will be no real defense to the lien, so the process won't devolve into ongoing litigation, but your are certainly looking at at least three or four months before an order can be issued to strike the lien.
I would typically recomned first sending a demand to withdraw the lien to the lien holder, and that may be possible if the lien has been assigned to a third party, but it depends on the actual legal positoin of that party which I or any other attorney would need to review. In any case, your next step is to get an attorney on board to assist you.
Very best,
Ben
281-762-1377
ben@houseperron.com