In our practice, we regularly have clients with liens against their properties that they were not even aware of. It could be a paid-off judgment where the creditor forgot to record the satisfaction of mortgage, among countless other possibilities.
A friend of mine shared a story recently that I’ll share now. He paid off his home mortgage many years ago and just recently learned that the mortgage company never recorded the satisfaction of the mortgage, even though Florida law requires that this be done within 60 days after your mortgage is paid off. See Fla. Stat. § 701.04(2).
How did he find out? He went to apply for a home equity line of credit and the lender notified him that the county records still showed a mortgage against his property. Fortunately, he was able to send a demand letter and get the satisfaction of mortgage recorded.
There are even scams where fraudsters try to record fraudulent deeds and fraudulent liens against properties.
If you own a property, it is good practice to order a title search from time to time to make sure there aren’t any odd liens against your property that you’re not aware of. It may cost you a hundred bucks or so, but it’s worth every penny.
Best Regards,
Ryan Torrens
Consumer litigation attorney
