Can Civil Judgements Affect You Selling A Home In Charlotte, NC?

Civil judgments are judgments against you the person. In some states, North Carolina being one of them, civil judgments not only affect your credit but impact your ability to sell a home. In North Carolina a civil judgement against you as a person automatically ties in to any property you own. So, if you are going to sell a home and have civil judgement against you on your credit report you will need to ensure you have enough proceeds from the closing to pay them off or satisfy them prior to the closing. I was educated on this situation a few days ago. A client has a home for sale. He has a secured lien on the house (his mortgage). There are no other liens on the house.... We agree to a sale price on the house. the buyer's attorney runs a title search and finds the mortgage listed. In addition finds an OLD civil judgment against the client that has been accruing interest. The net proceeds from the transaction are insufficient to cover the difference owed on the civil judgment. We are unable to close on the house unless the seller comes to the closing table with the difference in money to satisfy it. The irony of this is that the civil judgement against the seller is NOT attached to the house. So there is no lien form it on the house. But in North Carolina it does not matter. It is to the person on the house and all judgments in your name must be satisfied in order to sell the house. I have always asked if there were any liens on the house outside of the mortgage. A question all sellers usually know the answer to. But I have never asked about civil judgments against them. I guess the old adage that you learn something new everyday is true......I just learned something new..... Dave diCecco Realtor/Broker www.davedicecco.com