(WSVN) – When she went to the bank to get a loan to renovate her home, she was told there was a lien on her property she had to pay. Her reply? “That’s not my lien on my house.” What do you do in a case like that? Let’s lean on Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser to find out.
Old homes are special.
Shantal Barillas: “I do enjoy it. It’s a huge house. It’s good for family. My family’s quite big.”
Shantal’s house was built in 1945. Another thing about old homes: They need a little work.
Shantal Barillas: “I did replace the roof of my house. We replaced the kitchen because it was 25 years old.”
Shantal took money from her savings for those projects and next needed to redo her 80-year-old original hardwood floors.
Shantal Barillas: “You see that dark spot? All that needs to be replaced.”
To pay for it, she headed to the bank to get a home equity line. Instead, she got a stunning request.
Shantal Barillas: “‘We just need you to remove the lien from your property in order to lend you any money.’”
She was told the lien came from a bad check her ex-husband cashed back in 2015. The problem?
Shantal Barillas: “This isn’t my problem. We got divorced in 2009. This is something that had happened in 2015, so it has have nothing to do with me.”
The bank insisted the lien trying to collect $13,515 was on her house. She explained it’s not her ex’s house, it’s only in her name.
Shantal Barillas: “Yes, I am the dealer. It’s just me, myself and I.”
Shantal said the bank wouldn’t budge.
Shantal Barillas: “Like I said to the bank, ‘That isn’t me.’ ‘Well, the lien is on your property. All you got to do is remove the lien or pay the lien in order for us to give you the line of credit.’”
Shantal wasn’t about to pay a $13,000-plus debt that wasn’t hers, so she contacted her ex and asked him to call the law firm who was trying to collect the money from him.
Shantal Barillas: “‘That is my ex-wife. She has nothing to do with this,’ and [the law firm’s] response was, ‘I’ll call you back,’ which he has not responded to him yet.”
Shantal can’t get the loan, can’t finish the floors, and her quest to find out about a lien isn’t going anywhere, either.
Shantal Barillas: “It’s very humiliating for me.”
Well, is Shantal’s gut feeling right, Howard?
Howard Finkelstein: “Yes. It’s against the law to place a lien on someone’s property unless you have a judgment against them. In this case, it appears someone in the lending process made a mistake and didn’t see that her ex-husband gave up his interest in the house in the early 2000s, making her the sole owner of the property.”
I searched the court records. I could not find a lien against her ex on Shantal’s property.
I contacted the attorney trying to collect the $13,000-plus from Shantal’s ex. He said, “I have no record of such a lien against a former wife,” and, “I don’t think it’s possible” to do that.
I spoke to the bank representative. For privacy reasons, they could not discuss Shantal’s case, but to clear things up with the bank, we dug up the deed to the property and Shantal’s divorce document to prove only she owns the home.
The next step is in Shantal’s hands.
Shantal Barillas: “As you see, we started removing the wood.”
While searching, I did find another legal hurdle for Shantal to deal with before she can get the loan. She said she will take care of it.
And how do you know if there’s a lien or isn’t a lien on your property? Check the county recorder’s records.
The links to do that in Dade, Broward and Monroe counties are under this Help Me Howard story.
Married to a problem you want to divorce yourself from? Need someone to lien on? Loan it to us. Hopefully we can bank on a solution.
With this Help Me Howard, I’m Patrick Fraser 7News.
CONTACT HELP ME HOWARD:
Email: helpmehoward@wsvn.com
Reporter: Patrick Fraser at pfraser@wsvn.com
Miami-Dade: 305-953-WSVN
Broward: 954-761-WSVN
RECORDER’S RECORD:
Miami-Dade Website
Broward Website
Monroe Website
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