Municipal lien
A lien a city or local utility places on a property for unpaid water, sewer, trash, code fines, cleanup or demolition charges.
Definition
A municipal lien is a lien a city, county or local utility places on a property for money the owner owes the local government beyond regular property taxes. Common examples are unpaid water and sewer bills, trash fees, code enforcement fines, weed and debris removal, board-up costs and demolition charges.
Municipal liens often carry high priority, and in some places they are collected the same way as property taxes. In Philadelphia, for example, unpaid water and sewer bills are among the municipal debts that can send a property to a sheriff's tax sale. Some municipal liens are not recorded with the county recorder, so a standard title search can miss them; request a municipal lien certificate or search from the city before you close. A stack of small municipal liens usually marks a property the owner has stopped maintaining: a vacant house, a rental the owner gave up on or an inherited home nobody is managing.
Source: phillysheriff.com
Read the guide
Taxes and liens · 8 min read
Municipal Lien Search: Water, Sewer, Code and Demolition Liens
What a municipal lien search finds, why title searches miss city liens, how to run one office by office, and how these liens shape a deal and the owner.
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Code Violation Properties: How to Find Owners With Open Violations
How code violation properties move from complaint to fines, liens and demolition, where the case records live, and how to reach owners and buy safely.
Taxes and liens · 13 min read
Tax Delinquent Properties: How to Find Owners Behind on Property Taxes
How tax delinquent properties work, where county delinquency lists come from, how to read them, and how to reach owners before the tax sale.
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