Dancing Angel

Thank you everyone who gave advice. I've checked into holding the attorney responsible for failing to file in time. I've discovered a few things. I do have the canceled check proving I paid him for services. His office holds me responsible for not returning a questionnaire they sent to me asking me to approve the statements they intended to file. It's true that I did not return the paper. I talked to them on the phone and agreed that everything they had written was proper and they would file it as written. The biggest problem is that no other attorney will take a case against him. I don't have enough knowledge to file myself, and can't afford to hire an out of area attorney to handle it. I was unaware that an expired lien could be reinstated. I need to get this lien released before someone finds their error and reinstates it. I've thought about filing quiet title, but now fear the courts would notify the collector of my filing, and they would reinstate the lien. My filing might be the nudge they need to reopen their file and start collection all over again. I'm still working on trying to figure out the best way to go about clearing this up. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

First of all, even tho this is my first post, I used to be a regular poster here. It's been a few years and I forgot my user name so I had to start a new account to get in. I have a good credit report because of the great info available on these boards, especially the forms (they were THE most important part of my credit cleaning operation!) Now, on to my current problem... I had a very old cc that filed suit against me about 12 years ago. I hired an attorney, who forgot to file my answer, so the CC won by default. They got judgment and filed a lien against my house at the court house. They can't take my house b/c my state has some kind of homestead protection law, but if I ever sell it, they will get paid before I can transfer the deed. In the meantime, they are racking up interest and other charges to the point they now claim I own about 10 times the amount I owed when the suit was filed (more than the value of the house!). The SOL was 5 years. They didn't renew. So if I'm correct, the judgment is now expired and noncollectable. Does anyone know what papers I need to file to get the lien removed? I want to get this cleared up so I can transfer the deed to a land trust or possibly even a land patent. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm willing to do all the paperwork, but I need to find out what paperwork is needed. I usually go to the court house and get samples to copy, but in the case of liens, once the papers are filed and signed by the judge, they go into a sealed file so no copies are available.