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Federal Tax Liens Search Ohio

Question: EX’S FED. TAX LIEN FILED AGAINST MY HOUSE AFTER WE SPLIT. ANY ADVISE?

My ex-fiancee and I purchased a home together in 2003. Supposed to marry in 2004. Found out about unpaid bills & general dishonesty on his part. I canceled the wedding and the relationship ended in Nov. 2004. In Mar of 2005, I secured financing in my name only and he signed a quitclaim deed to me. I recently found that a federal tax lien was filed against him in my Ohio county in 2008. The lien is for tax year 2003 and was assessed in 2004—all during the time we owned the property together. My question is what is the pertinent date here? The date the lien was filed or the date the taxes were assessed? This man has cost me a fortune, so I would like to avoid paying a lawyer or for a title search just to get a quick answer. I also don’t want to run into problems when I go to sell the house. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Answer: The answer is maybe. If there was a transfer with inadequate consideration (essentially this means you got a whole lot of the equity and didn’t pay anything for it,) the date the taxes accrued would determine your liability, if any. If the taxes were assessed–this is the date IRS sends its first bill–and there was inadequate consideration, the lien would attach no matter when it was filed. If you got the house in a fair exchange before the Notice of Lien was filed, then it would not attach. Unless someone from IRS makes an issue of it, I suspect you have nothing to worry about.

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