Municipal Lien Search
En español: Búsqueda de gravámenes municipales (municipal lien search)
A municipal lien search asks the city and county what they are owed and what they have open against a property: unpaid utilities, code violations, open or expired permits, special assessments, and unrecorded liens. It finds obligations that attach to the property but never appear in the public title record.
- Order it the first week. Municipalities answer on their own schedule, and a slow response can outlast an inspection period.
- An open code case is not a fine, it is a running meter. What it costs depends on when it gets closed.
- It covers what title does not, which is why one is never a substitute for the other.
- Findings are negotiable: cured before closing, escrowed, or credited. What is not negotiable is discovering them afterward.
Related terms
All termsOpen Permit
An open permit is work that was permitted but never finalled: the file is still open at the building department because a required inspection was never passed or never called.
ClosingTitle Commitment
A title commitment is the title insurer's written statement of the policy it will issue, and on what conditions.
OwnershipCertificate of Use
A certificate of use is the local permission to operate a particular activity at a particular address, including renting out residential units.
Terms arrive with the writing.
The glossary grows as the Journal does, one email when something worth reading goes up. No noise.
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