A federal tax lien is a legal claim against property. A levy is the act that takes property. A lien notice does not, by itself, mean the IRS has taken your home. A sale or refinance may still be possible, but the lien needs to be dealt with. IRS: Understanding a federal tax lien
Start with the letter
Find the letter and check what it says. Keep it with your other IRS notices. Write down what you need to do next: stay in the home, sell it or refinance.
Book a free call. We read the notice with you and start with what is happening to your home.
Check the date before you plan
A notice of a lien filing may give you a right to a hearing. The deadline and the route depend on the notice and your case. Do not put it aside while you work out the home sale. TAS: Collection Due Process
With our clients’ authority, we track the notice and prepare an appeal when that route fits. Our guide to lien and levy appeals explains the main routes.
A lien is not a levy
The lien is a claim. The levy takes property to pay a debt. These are different steps, so the words on your notice matter. IRS: Understanding a federal tax lien
Book a free call if the terms are hard to sort out. We put your notices in date order and separate lien letters from levy letters.
Can I sell the home?
The lien must be addressed as part of the sale. If the home has equity, some or all of the tax debt may be paid from the sale proceeds at closing. Other cases may call for a request to remove the lien from that property. IRS: A federal tax lien on your home
For our clients, we review the sale and pursue a discharge request when the facts support one. We do not promise that a sale will close.
Can I refinance?
The IRS may let another lender move ahead of its claim. This can help a refinance, but approval is not automatic. It does not erase the lien. IRS: A federal tax lien on your home
Book a free call about the refinance. We put the loan plan beside the lien details and check them together.
What does release mean?
Release ends the lien. Paying the tax debt in full is one route. The rules for release are different from the rules for the other options below. IRS: Lien options
For our clients, we check the debt record and seek release from the IRS when its rules are met.
What does discharge mean?
Discharge removes the lien from a particular property. It is not the same as ending the lien on everything you own. The request has to meet the rules that apply to your case. IRS: Lien options
Book a free call if a lien is blocking a sale. We read the property details against the lien and check what a discharge request would need.
What does subordination mean?
Subordination leaves the lien in place. It lets another creditor move ahead of the IRS. This is the option that may help with a new loan or refinance. IRS: Lien options
For our clients, we pursue that request with the IRS when it fits. They provide the facts about the loan; we handle the lien work with the IRS.
What does withdrawal mean?
Withdrawal removes the public notice of the lien. It does not, by itself, wipe out the tax debt. It also does not mean the same thing as a release. IRS: Lien options
Book a free call to compare those routes. We read the lien filing record with you for a possible withdrawal request. If no route fits, we say so before preparing one. The call does not commit you to hire us.
Will it show on my credit report?
The CFPB reported that tax liens were removed from the three nationwide credit bureaus’ consumer reports by April 2018. That did not remove the public lien itself. CFPB: Public-record removal
For our clients, we obtain and read IRS records as part of the lien work. We use the tax record, not a credit score, to assess the IRS claim.
Can it still affect a loan?
Yes. A credit report and the ability to borrow are not the same thing. The IRS says a filed lien notice may limit access to credit. A lender may still need the lien addressed. IRS: How a lien affects you
Book a free call about the loan. We go through the lender’s lien question with you and list the IRS records needed to address it.
Put the notice and the plan together
Keep the lien notice, the tax years and the sale or loan plans together. That helps you explain the problem. Each of the four lien routes has its own rules; none is automatic.
For our clients, we put the case facts and records into the request and deal with the IRS. Our clients provide the documents; we handle that IRS work.
Read about IRS Help’s tax resolution services, or book a free 30-minute consultation. No pressure, no judgment.
General information about federal tax liens. The right next step depends on your notice and the facts of your case.
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