Can I Get a Lien on Property that Already Has Two Mortgages?

Full question:

Our daughter had a 2nd mortgage secured with our $25,000.00 CD. The bank got notice that the 1st was going to be foreclosed on, we had been making the payments on the 2nd mortgage for about the last 6 months hoping to be able to keep the CD, when the bank received the notice they paid the loan off with our CD even though it was secured. We are wondering if we can get a lien on the property ourselves?

• Category: Judgment Liens
• Date: 04/07/2025
• State: Colorado

Answer:

A judgment lien is created when a court grants a creditor an interest in the debtor's property, based upon a court judgment. A judgment lien can be filed if an actual judgment in a lawsuit is obtained from a court. In some circumstances, judgments can be enforced by sale of property until the amount due is satisfied. A plaintiff who obtains a monetary judgment is termed a "judgment creditor." The defendant becomes a "judgment debtor." If the judgment remains unpaid, the judgment debtor may request that the court place a lien on the judgment debtor's property, such as bank accounts or real property owned, to secure payment of the claim to the injured party. After the judgment creditor places a lien upon the attached property, the next step in the collection process is to conduct a sale of the attached property to satisfy the judgment debt.

A judgment creditor may also request that the court issue a writ for garnishment of the debtor's wages. If granted, the court order for garnishment is served directly upon the debtor's employer, who must comply with its terms. Wage garnishment is a legal procedure governed by state law in which a person’s earnings are required by court order to be withheld by an employer for the payment of a debt and paid directly to the judgment creditor by the debtor's employer. There are different types of garnishments, as defined by state laws, which vary by state. A garnishment may be made on a one-time or continuing basis. Some kinds of income are exempt, which means that they cannot be garnished at all by creditors for consumer debts, including welfare, unemployment, veterans benefits, Social security, workers' compensation, pensions, and child support payments that you receive. For ordinary garnishments (i.e., those not for support, bankruptcy, or any state or federal tax), the weekly amount may not exceed the lesser of two figures: 25 percent of the employee's disposable earnings, or the amount by which an employee's disposable earnings are greater than 30 times the federal minimum wage.

You may be able to get a judgment lien if a promissory note is secured by the home or unpaid and a judgment won by you remains unpaid. However, if a mortgage already exists on the property, the lender most likely has a prior lien recorded on the property. A mortgage loan will typically create a lien on a home and if filed before another debtor, the mortgage lien will be entitled to be paid first before the remaining proceeds, if any, can be paid to junior creditors.