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I have a property under contract in Florida, and the title work revealed a BIG IRS lien. Chain of title is roughly like this:
Single man, a painter, does not file tax returns for 98,99, and 01.
In 2003, he gets married.
In 2005, he and the wife buy the subject property, pay cash, and homestead it.
In 2006, he dies.
In 2008, the IRS places files a lien against the deceased for half a million dollars! We have no idea how they came up with that figure, there is no way that a painter incurred that kind of tax liability over 3 years.
The deceased mans wife says that she talked to the IRS when she first got notified of the problem. Since she was not married to him during the years in question, she has no way to file returns or provide data for those years. She says that the folks at the IRS told her to “not worry about it” (yeah, right!). Now she is destitute, this property is her only asset, and she can’t convey title to me because of the lien. We have had little luck getting information out of the IRS…they are saying that they have 45 days to respond to the information we have sent them concerning the case.
My questions are:
1) Should this lien even attach? The property became hers at his death, and she did not incur the tax liability, so should she suffer for his past sins? The title company underwriters say it attaches, but I wonder if they are not just being conservative…anybody familiar with title law in Florida care to comment?
2) If it truly does attach, are there any tips or tricks to getting the IRS to respond in a more timely manner?Thanks
Chan Lipscomb
Chan,
I just don’t know the answer to the question. But my guess the IRS lien would attach to anything he owns while he OWES the money. So, even if he did not incur the debt to the IRS while he was married, it would still attach to the property.
Sounds like a good question for a real estate attorney in Florida
Even if you can’t buy this house, you can lease it with the right to sub lease it while you are woking out the mess.
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