Can you sell a house with a lien on it? In Maryland, yes.

Yes. In Maryland you can sell a house with a lien on it, and most sellers do it without bringing any money to closing. The title company gets an exact payoff from each lienholder, pays it at settlement out of the sale proceeds, and records the release, so the buyer gets clear title and you receive what is left. It only gets harder when the mortgage and the liens together add up to more than the sale price, and even then there are options.

You do, but out of the sale, not out of your pocket first. At settlement the title company pays each lien from the money the buyer brings, before the rest is paid to you. When you sell to us, you see every payoff as its own line before settlement day, and we cover the usual closing costs, so nothing else comes out.

No. In most sales the lien is paid at settlement, not before. You would only need to bring money to the table if what you owe is more than what the house sells for. If that might be your situation, tell us on the first call and we will give you a straight answer on whether a sale makes sense.

Usually, yes. At a Maryland tax sale the county sells its lien on your house, not the house itself, and you keep the right to redeem by paying what is owed plus interest and allowed costs. That right lasts until a court enters a final judgment ending it, and the certificate buyer cannot even file to foreclose until 6 months after the sale, or 9 months if you live in the home. A sale can pay off the certificate at settlement. The amount grows with interest and, once a case is filed, with legal costs, so call as soon as you get a notice.

Yes. A federal tax lien attaches to everything you own, including the house, but the IRS has a standard process for letting a home sell: a certificate of discharge. The application goes in before closing (the IRS asks for at least 45 days), and the IRS usually takes its share from the sale proceeds after the mortgage and closing costs. Because we pay cash and you choose the closing date, we can set the date to give that application room to go through.

Yes. A court judgment for an old debt can attach to your house as a lien. It lasts 12 years and the creditor can renew it, so it rarely goes away on its own. At settlement it is paid off, the court record is marked satisfied, and the buyer gets clean title. One important exception: Maryland law says a medical bill cannot become a lien on the home you live in, and if one was recorded anyway, a court has to remove it. Medical charges put on an ordinary credit card do not count under that rule.

Yes. In Maryland, a contractor who was not paid cannot simply record a lien. They have to petition the circuit court within 180 days of finishing the work to establish one. An established lien can be paid at settlement, and if you dispute what is owed, the law lets you post a bond to move the lien off the house while the dispute is settled. A local real estate attorney is the right call for the dispute itself.

Then a normal sale will not cover everything, and we will tell you that plainly. The honest options are that a lienholder agrees to accept less so the sale can close (with a mortgage lender that is a short sale, and the IRS has a partial discharge process), that you bring the difference to closing, or that selling is not the right answer and a payment plan or an attorney is. We would rather tell you that on the first call than have you find out at the closing table.

Start with the Maryland Judiciary Case Search for court judgments and Maryland Land Records for liens recorded against the property. Searching the land records index is free, though copies of recent documents carry a small per-page fee. In Baltimore City, the City’s payment site shows open property tax and water bills by address. When you sell, the title search finds everything recorded against the house, and you see the full list before settlement.

Most of our sales close in two to four weeks, and a simple lien like a water bill or back taxes does not slow that down, because it is paid at settlement. Some liens take longer to clear: an IRS discharge, a disputed contractor lien, or a lienholder who needs to approve a lower payoff. Because we pay cash and have no lender deadline, we can wait for those without the deal falling apart.