• Home
  • Bankruptcy in Brief
  • ABC’s of Bankruptcy
  • Considering Bankruptcy
  • True Stories
  • Chapter 13
  • Blog
  • About
  • TOC

Northern California Bankruptcy Lawyer

On The Bankruptcy Soapbox

The Soap Box
  • How bankruptcy works
  • Mortgage Matters
  • Consumer Rights
  • You & Your Lawyer
  • Small Business
  • Family Law

The Truth About Tax Liens After Bankruptcy

By Cathy Moran

tax lien after bankruptcy

We have a lien on your name.  Not your property, your name.

That’s what the county tax collector told my client, years after he got his bankruptcy discharge.

And that multi-thousand dollar lien claim threatened to sink the refinance of his house.

Eventually, we got the county straightened out without going back to bankruptcy court. The lien claim was withdrawn, but only after educating the county on liens and bankruptcy.

Here’s what was wrong with the county’s claim they had a lien on my client’s name.

Liens attach to assets

The initial nonsensical claim is that a lien attaches to someone’s name.

A name isn’t property.  You can’t enforce a lien against a person’s name by seizing the name and selling  it.  That’s what a creditor would do with a valid lien that attaches to an asset.

Yet the tax collector claimed the lien was against the name of my client. Not a lien against his home, but a lien that entitled them to payment from a real estate refinance.  (Not logical, but this was a tax collector.)

Perhaps the tax collector was trying to say that the lien wasn’t one for real property taxes on that particular house.  Or she was saying that it wasn’t a consensual lien where the homeowner pledged his house as collateral for a loan.

But she definitely contended that the lien on my client’s name survived his bankruptcy.

Liens don’t snag post bankruptcy assets

The second bit of nonsense was the claim that the county had a lien in the house my client acquired after he filed bankruptcy.

The law on liens and a bankruptcy discharge is straightforward:

  • Liens that attach to an asset owned on the day you file bankruptcy survive the discharge
  • If the debt supported by the lien is not discharged, the lien attaches to property acquired after bankruptcy
  • If the debt is discharged, there’s no lien on newly acquired stuff.

It’s the last proposition that saved the day for this client.  The county’s tax claim was discharged in the bankruptcy.  My client didn’t own a house when he filed.  Therefore, the county got no lien on after-acquired property on account of a debt that was discharged.

Preventing post bankruptcy surprises

It’s not uncommon for creditors to pop up after bankruptcy with a claim inconsistent with the bankruptcy discharge. It happens because of ignorance, incompetence, and, occasionally, sheer greed.

Bankruptcy courts stand ready to enforce the rights that debtors get from bankruptcy.  But that takes time.

When a judgment lien pops up after bankruptcy

The trouble comes when the creditor stands to upset a real estate transaction that has a deadline, and possible costs associated with missing that deadline.  Like my client trying to refinance his house. Interest rates are going up.  Miss the deadline and pay a higher rate for the life of the loan.

If real estate is involved, start immediately to see what liens show in the public record. In California, where I practice, that means get a preliminary title report at the first opportunity.

Identify any liens that are unenforceable by reason of the bankruptcy discharge, or by reason of having been paid, died of old age or avoided in bankruptcy.

My attack on the county tax collector started with providing the creditor mailing list from the case. It showed that the county had notice of the bankruptcy. 

Then I sent them a copy of the discharge order and the schedule that showed that my client didn’t own the house when he filed years ago.

Having given the county good notice of the bankruptcy, way back when, my client avoided more than $10,000 in tax claims.

And his name was his own.

More

Dealing with tax liens in bankruptcy

When creditors ignore your discharge

The IRS after your bankruptcy case

More from the Soapbox

  • Your Tax Refund Is Exposed In Bankruptcy, Unless…Your Tax Refund Is Exposed In Bankruptcy, Unless…
  • Double Dipping On Retirement SavingsDouble Dipping On Retirement Savings
  • How To Save Your House After Filing BankruptcyHow To Save Your House After Filing Bankruptcy
  • We Live In An Economic House Of CardsWe Live In An Economic House Of Cards
  • Out of Luck If You Skip A Creditor?Out of Luck If You Skip A Creditor?

Filed Under: Consumer Rights, Life after bankruptcy, Taxes Tagged With: 2018, tax lien

About Cathy Moran

I'm a veteran bankruptcy lawyer and consumer advocate in California's Silicon Valley. I write, teach, and speak in the hopes of expanding understanding of how bankruptcy can make life better in a family's future.

Bankruptcy Basics

About The Soapbox

You’ve arrived at the Bankruptcy Soapbox, a resource of bankruptcy information and consumer law.

Soapbox is a companion site to Bankruptcy in Brief, where I try to be largely explanatory and even handed (Note I said “try”).

Here, I allow myself to tell stories and express strong opinions. We dig deeper into how to consider bankruptcy and navigate a bankruptcy case.

Moran Law Group
Bankruptcy specialists for individuals and small businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area

How Bankruptcy Works

What Happens To Your Bank Account in Chapter 13

Those considering filing a Chapter 13 bankruptcy worry about "what happens to my bank account?" Will the trustee take all the money? How do I pay my living expenses after I file? The short answer is: nothing changes. The account remains yours and available for all the expenses of day to day living. Because, … Read more

More Posts from this Category

643 Bair Island Road
Suite 403
Redwood City, CA 94063
Phone: (650) 694-4700
Phone: (650) 368-4700

Categories

All content copyright © Moran Law Group. All rights reserved.