What is a Lien?

If you sell a vehicle with a lien on it, and refuse to pay it, can the company that you owe money to take away other things that you own?

I was married for 17 years. My husband left. I took out an equity loan of $25,000 on my house in my name and helped him buy his equipment for his business. He left me and my family with this loan and credit card debt. Can I put a lien on his equipment before he sells it and or titles it in someone else's name? What if he titled this equipment in someone else's name already?

While trying to get a deed in lieu, my ex-husband signed the quit claim on the property to me. However, his name is still on the mortgage as a co-signer. The mortgage company did a title search and found a judgment the courts filed for child support he has not paid me. Because this judgment is showing, they are asking for a partial release on the judgment signed by a judge. I have been to the courthouse several times to be told they can't do this, but the mortgage company said it can be done. What do I do to clear this up? Please help!

I live in Georgia. My spouse and I are getting a divorce, and the final decree says she gets a vehicle and I get a vehicle. Both have liens. I need to remove her name from the title. What do I have to do to accomplish this?

I entered a contract for a foreclosed home. One week before closing, the attorney tells me that the title is not clear and the bank now has to put the home back into auction. Am I still under contract?

I slipped and fell on a hotel property this past fall and have almost $7000 in medical bills. Luckily my insurance paid for all but a couple hundred of the bills, however, I am filing a suit against the hotel and I heard that if I recover money, the insurance company will require to pay them back. Does this mean the whole cost of my bills, $7k? What if I only make a small amount back?

Can you transfer a lean to a different title and still pay on it?

My ex-husband and I bought a house in 1993. We just lost the house to foreclosure in the fall of 2011. I tried to do a Deed and Lieu on the house, and CItimortgage told me that there was a lien on our house in someone else's name. It had been on here all of these years.

I'm confused, because how were we able to refinance three times since 1993? Did it just show up? Isn't this against the law, for us to be paying on this house all of these years, and it had a Senior lien on it in someone else's name that we knew nothing about? Do we need to get legal counsel? Technically, was it ever our house?

I purchased a car from a dealership in Savannah, Georgia a year ago. It is being financed and I make my payments on time. I have a GA tag and insurance and everything.

I was recently trying to trade the vehicle but I was told that there is a bond on the title. I have gone to the dealership on several occasions, but I keep getting the run around. I spoke with the finance company and they verified that there is one and the dealership knew about the bond. They are faxing me a copy of the title. What can I do?

What is a criminal lien?

I am doing a short sale on my home. I just found out the the mortgage company did not record a lien on my house when I borrowed the money. Please help. What does this mean? I live in West Virginia.

I'm in the final stages of a divorce, where both my ex-wife and I have signed papers and are awaiting the courts to sign and return them. She didn't lawyer up and I took care of that for the both of us. We separated in the papers all debts such as vehicles awarded to each other. I'm also in the final stages of buying a home.

Being that my wife and I signed papers, can she come back and hold a lien against my home I'm buying? The Title company is delaying saying they need the courts to sign the final papers and then we can proceed and close. Being that my ex and I have been separated for a year and own no other property together, can she hold a lien against the home? The title company is delaying the final closure to cover themselves. But I'm wondering legally if my ex can do it if she knew how to.

I've put liens on property and they got sold anyway, without me getting a dime.

My car was repossessed and I filed a Chapter 13 to get it back and now the dealer is refusing to give it back. Is this even legal and what steps can I take to retrieve my automobile?

My sister has a lien against me. My brother died in 2010, leaving me money from property being sold. In NC can she use that lien against the money I would receive as a beneficiary?

I bought a vehicle and found out there was a lien on it when going to get the tags from the dmv. They said they need a lien release form but the bank that placed the lien on the car is now out of business. What can I do? I need my car as soon as possible.

My father died in 2001. He received from the circuit court a mortgage from four different mortgage companies, and each time there was a hearing I attended but none of the lawyers (who were local) could or would ever show me where my dad had signed any papers.

After the third mortgage company had filed against my dad, there was a fraud. Someone who was supposed to be me signed by my dad and I challenged that signature with a copy of my dad's drivers license and his social security with my dad's signature and the judge dismissed the case, but when I went to the courthouse to check for any lien there is one but it does not say who has the lien on it. The clerk at the time said this is the first case to be dismissed and she does not know how to take the lien off. In the meantime, dad got a settlement from one that was in California and I put it into his estate. The judge dismissed the case in April 2006, five years after my father had died. How do and what do I have to do to have the lien removed, since my father never owed anything at all?

We found and bought a house. There was a title search at the beginning and it was clean. We are now eight days to completion, and I just found out last night that there is now a lien on the house.

The seller is asking us if we want to rent it for two months and move our completion date to Oct.

We are not sure if we should do it, or walk away from the deal.

Is this a bad idea to think of renting it first for two months, since there may not be any guarantee that they can get this sorted out in 2 months? We are in BC, Canada.

Can the government place a lien on a house that is not in my name and I do not live there anymore. The address was a mailing address used years back but I never owned that property. The lien is in my name but the property never was. How does that work? Can they do that?

I restored a house for a home owner after a fire. the insurance company paid for the job but the owner pocketed this money and refused to pay the remaining money due me. There was a signed contract on this project. I did file a lien on this property. The home owner after two years he now is filing a chapter 13 to avoid paying me. What recourse do i have to receive the final payment? What should i expect if this home owner does get this chapter 13?

@58: I think they can take all of it.

I reside in california and have been living in my home for three years now. The first year and a half, I was paying my rent to who I thought was the owner of the house. I would constantly ask him to please give me rent receipts as I needed proof. he would have me deposit money into various bank accounts with different names. It did seem odd. He kept on giving me the run around about rent receipts so I informed him that I will not continue giving him rent until he complied with my demands. I also informed him that I needed a written letter that he had permission from the owner to manage the property.

Since I did my personal investigation and went to the city assessor building and found out that the actual owner was not him but someone else, he stopped calling me, no one came to collect money and I never received anything by mail for 16 months! Nothing from the courts and nothing from this guy, whom I thought was the owner or from the actual owner himself.

I just found out the actual owner lives in Mississippi. His brother came to my home today to find out if I had paid rent in the past. Now the question is, should I do any transactions with the brother? I checked his ID and he does have the same last name as the owner or should I only negotiate with the actual owner? (Who resides in Mississippi) and I live in california, which I wanted to do so from the beginning deal with the sole property owner.

Do I have any rights at all? It's been 16 months and now some one has came forward in behalf of the brother who informed me he just paid taxes for the home that the guy whom I was giving money to owes him 20 thousand dollars and also told him that no one lived in the property where I reside.

I thought that maybe since I have been here for so long that I had some kind of rights to this house do i? or can I get kicked out to the cold with my four kids, just like that, with no explanations? do I qualify for cash for keys or anything for moving expenses? if it comes down to court what shall I say, that the home is not in foreclosure? please help. what can I do?

We had a pool built in 2010. it has been five months since we heard from him and the work has not been completed.

We recently filed with the Better Business Bureau and finally heard something from the contractor that he was going to file a contractor lien against our house for not paying the balance owed, but he has not completed a laundry list of items. Does anyone know if he can actually file this lien?

My ex owed me 3500.00 instead of paying me his lawyer put a lien on his home. It went into foreclosure and was auctioned off at a sheriffs sale. So what happened to the lien? He says he is no longer responsible for the lien. Does that mean I will not get my 3500.00? I was led to believe that a lien was the first thing paid.

can the state put a lien on your auto without letting you know?

In need of some answers. How many liens can be filed for the same property? A property was given to a congregation (church), the church took over the payments for so many years, the property is now under the church's name, but the title is under this someone's name. Can this someone put a tax lien on this property, and not only him, but his family member also put another tax lien on this same property? Right now there are like seven or eight liens on this property. Can they do this and how can we (the church) eliminate this?

@#52: Contact your local police department and go to your DMV and talk to a supervisor- it is against the law to sell a vehicle with a lien they knew existed against the vehicle.

@#63: You will have to go to civil court and have a judge determine the validity of the lien. I am currently in the process and it's expensive. Contact a civil attorney or you can usually file yourself in your local surpreme court. Good luck

I have property that is paid in full, with a house on it. my sister says i owe her money from our dad's estate. can she forced me to sell my property, and what if i put it in someone else's name? they can't get it, then can they? Please let me know asap.

can you transfer a tax lien from a house in California to a house in Texas?

I got in a car accident, but the person i hit was jay walking and walked right out in front of me. i didn't have time to stop before i hit him. and i didn't have car insurance. can they put a lien on my personal belongings. even thought it was not my fault

We are buying a house, the people we are buying it from are talking about using our house we are buying as collateral on getting a loan. They are selling it to us rent to own and call themselves lien holders. My question is in the state of Va. can you use a place you are under contract with as collateral in order to receive a loan for yourself. And if so, what happens if they don't pay a payment?

Can anyone help me here?

Me and my brother bought the house and borrowed 70k so we have a lien on the property. it was whole year interest in cash S600 so after a year i applied for the refinance and the lender asked me to show them canceled checks proving i was paying interest every month, but in cash. they want me to pay him interest for a year in checks. is there any other way i can refinance? Thank you.

I bough at a car and it was repossessed. Now the lawyer put a lien on my property but I know that they violated my civil rights. can you please help me how to take off the lien on my property?

My husband and I hired a contractor for some remodeling work, and the contract included a clause that allows the contractor to garnish our wages if we don't pay.

We've paid every month but the contractor went behind our backs and placed a mechanic's lien on our property. We never received advanced notice or even notice after the fact, we found out by coincidence. Is this legal? We live in Chicago.

I bought my mom's house according to Medicare/Medicaid rules when she had to go to a nursing home. After she died 2 1/2 years later, her bank began foreclosure for the amount of the home equity loan she'd had on the house because it apparently hadn't been paid at the closing.

The bank hadn't filed the lien until a month before the closing and the county was behind so the lien was never found in the title search. We went back and forth w/lawyers, etc., the bank stopped the foreclosure - but now the lien is just hanging out there on my property so I can't get a home equity loan if necessary, etc.

How long can they just do nothing? My Mom's estate was bankrupt, and her bank records show the proceeds from the house sale went to pay her medical/nursing home bills and also show she was writing checks on her account until she died. What can I do to get this lien removed from my house?

i got in a car wreck and was awarded a little over 8k. Oregon put a lien on the money for past due child support. What percentage can they take from the money owed to me?

We are thinking about buying vacant land in Colorado. However the owner is on Medicaid and there are no liens on this property. Will Medicaid take the money that we pay, to pay her Medicaid, the money that we pay on the property goes to her daughter to buy her own house?

The owner isn't receiving any monies. Can someone tell me if we have to notify Medicaid, or will they know when this happens?

Can a collection agency put a lien on my wife's house if its only in her name, and the debt is only in my name? It's from a foreclosure credit card.

Can a landlord enforce a lien on the office occupied by a business if the landlord is owed rent?

I want to finish my divorce but I owe money to my accountant. I already paid him a huge amount but I don't want to pay him the rest since he over charged me. I am going to get a share of a property with some partners. Can the accountant put a lien on the property even if I have partners?

Help! I purchased a car from an individual who gave me a title that has a lien on it. Not knowing this until I went to purchase a tag for the car and was told.

I have been trying to get a clean title from the owner for about two months and he is giving me the run around just because he works in law enforcement. He knew at the time of the sale the title had a lien and yet he sold it to me.

What shall I do now?

I am currently renting a home and I just did some research on the property itself and found out that there is a lien on the property. Should I be concerned? It has been on the home for a year now.

Help!

We hired a company to do some concrete work around our house. The work was very unacceptable and we refused to pay. The material company is now putting a lien against our house. Can we sue the contractor and the subcontractor to get our money to pay the material company? Or just the contractor?

I did a Barter contract with a contractor to do some work on a house I don't own(but have permission to do work on). Halfway through, he decides that he needs more for trade and when he was not satisfied he said he needed to get $600 cash right then.

As a single woman I wanted him out my house, asked him to leave and he would not. He threatened me with a lien on the property. Then he left. Can he do that if I don't own the property?

I need help please. A lien was placed on our home. We paid it years ago, but it was never removed. When we went to sell the house last spring we saw it was still there. We asked to have it removed, which it wasn't.

Our house went into foreclosure and was sold for more than was owed including all leans and mortgage.

How do we find out if the business was paid twice and if it was, can we ask for a refund?

My husband and I recently hired a contractor to complete part of our basement renovation after a flood. The agreed upon price was $2400 for labor only as we provided all wood and supplies. The following was to be completed: installation of Dricore sub floor in 1000 sq feet, wood baseboard and quarter round installation, and replacing drywall in two spots totalling three sheets of drywall including mudding and sanding.

The workers came and worked for under two days to complete the dricore flooring (sort of--it sags in spots and doesn't go right the wall in other spots). They did all of their cuttings inside our home in the basement and left a huge mess and did not take out the 1000 sq feet worth of cuttings from the dry core floor installation even after we asked them several times.

We paid them $1800 up front, and after our disappointment with the way the workers left our home (took my husband six hours to clean and remove wood cuttings and sawdust), we emailed the contractor and told him not to come back and hired someone else to complete the rest of the work, which included mudding and sanding the drywall and correcting the first contractors errors and completing all baseboard and quarter round installation. We did not ask for any money back from the first contractors.

Then we received a bill in the mail from the first contractors indicating that we owed $500 as they deducted only $100 for the remaining work that they did not do! We sent off another email indicating that we would not be paying them any more money and we reiterated that they were fired and that they did a poor job and left us with a huge mess to clean up.

The contractor called today and threatened my husband with a lien on our house if we don't them the $500 that they indicate is owing! Please help! i am in the process of trying to find some of my old university friends who studied law. I knew I should have gone into law instead of doing my M.Ed...!

Thanks in advance for your time, BTW: We live in Ontario.

I missed two car payments and not sure what to do. I was wondering, if they have my boss's number, and call him looking for me, can they do anything to my boss? Like go after him for money?

So i did a project out in Showlow at a hotel. I did it under a contractor who refuses to pay me he said that the owner of the place won't pay him. The owner of the hotel said he already paid the contractor. What should I do, should I put a lien on the hotel? It's a lot of money -- that is why we are still waiting.

We sold our home last year and the buyers didn't have enough for their down payment so we lent them 20,600 dollars. We have a lien on the house and they signed a contract to pay interest only on the loan with the promise to pay more monthly to have the loan paid off in six months. That is not the case. They have missed payments and it is going on two years now. Is there anything we can do?

My nephew's father is trying to give him some land. After we had a lawyer perform a lien check, we discovered a $5,000 lien. my question is: would he assume the debt if he assumes the land, or does the debt stay in his fathers name? thank you for your help

#38; The utility company acted illegally by placing your name on the bill. This is directly and effectively equivalent to police sending fines incurred by a hirer to the car hire company. You have no contract with the utility company. Clearly state that to the company, and get yourself some legal aide. If they threaten to damage your credit rating, hire a lawyer and win big time.

Can a person in jail who is buying a house get bail money by putting a lien on the house? If he can and then the house is foreclosed on, what happens to the lien?

A lien has been placed upon me following the default on a payment plan made in New York. What is the effect upon me?

My tenants have been evicted couple of months ago by sheriff's office. The utility bill was in the tenants' name. However they never paid. Now I have been receiving their unpaid utility bills in my name. I have tried to reach my tenants to clear their utility bill, but they have simple ignored all my calls.

Now the utility company has sent a letter to place a lien on the house for the tenant’s unpaid bills. What are my options at this time? Can I fight the lien in the court? Since the utility company has not even tried to approach the tenants and simply placed the lien on my property.

I am the president of a home owners association in North Carolina. We have a lien filed against a property for deliquent dues payment over the past year. The property is now being foreclosed on by the bank. Will this lien have to be cleared by the bank and back dues paid before this title can be transferred to someone else?

How can my family claim property left vacant by a great-uncle who is now deceased?

anon38826 I think you should call the finance company and threaten to sue if they do not get this issue resolved for you

I bought a house in 2008 and got a water softener installed. it's been a year now that I am paying religiously both mortgage and the financial company that financed my water softener. I found out that I can refinance the house for a lower interest rate, after waiting about two months. I finally got an answer that my paperwork had been looked at for refinancing. And found out the finance company put a lien on my property. According to UCC 1 i have to pay $550 for the reduction of my loan. I am not getting any money for refinancing and what I am looking forward was to get a lower monthly mortgage, since I live in Nevada. our property does not have a value, However the financer had been giving me a runaround and excuses for more than a week. Everyday that I called it's a different story that they were telling me. All I wanted is for them to fax the letter of approval for subordination to my mortgage company. And by the way I did pay $550.

Can somebody tell me what to do because I am getting frustrated and just want this problem to be resolved.

to anon38078:

Well if the contract says that he has to finish both roofs and he signed it, he can't really put a lien on your house. If you go to court, the judge will just explain to the contractor that he agreed to finish both roofs then get paid.

What can I do if someone is unlawfully trying to place a mechanics' lien on my property? I hired a contractor to pour a concrete slab in my side yard. The contractor hired a cement company. The contractor and cement company had a disagreement about the date that the concrete was to be poured and my contractor hired a different company to pour the concrete. It appears that the change of service was not communicated from the contractor to the cement company and they showed up with concrete the day after the concrete was poured. Because the concrete company couldn't pour the concrete, they are holding me responsible for the cost of the concrete. They have told me that if I don't pay them, they will place a lien on my property. Isn't this a problem between the contractor and the cement company? Why am I responsible for this?

Can someone please answer my question - i signed a contract with a roofer for replacing roof of my two houses - in the contract it is written that contractor will be paid all the monies due($6779) only after the contractor has successfully completed both the roofs and contractor is not to be paid till all the work is complete. Also, Contrator provides all the needed material and the labor. The contractor finished one house and does not want to work on the second house and wants to get paid. I refused saying that contract says that he must finish both the houses. The contractor threatens me that he will put a lien on my house. Can he put on a lien even though he has not fulfilled the contract and therefore i have not paid him. Also, in the contract it is written that he will use Timberline Prestique30 Shingles for the roofs and will put ridge vents where ever the ridges are on both the houses. the contractor did not use Timberline Prestique30 shingles but used Timberline Natural Shadow Shingles (which are $20 cheaper per square) also he did not use the ridge vents in the house he has completed instead he just used cheap $5 alumimum vents (4 of them that too without flashing them). Do I have any protection against this lien he is threatening to put on my property. How will I know if he already has put a lien will I ever be notified about it. All this happened in Clayton County Georgia. Please some advice. Thanks!!!

Hi i live in CA. me and my husband financed a water filter back in 2007. we stopped making payments on the loan due to financial hardship in may of 2009. We purchased our first home in October 2008 since we stopped making payments on that loan they said they were going to put a *lien* on our house. is that possible even though we got the filter before we bought our house.

To Tree,

It is to my knowledge that most states do not allow deficiency judgments for non judicial foreclosures due to a Deed of Trust. If the properties are located in CA, then you should be fine. However to be safe, you might want to deed the property to your child (as long as he is over 18 years old). That way the creditors will not even try to get the property.

My family has been a bid in on property that has a Medicaid lien against it. Does anyone know how long it takes for the State to let you know if they accept the bid or not? I am in Illinois.

I am losing all my investment properties with first and second mortgages on them. My primary residence is mortgage free. How can I save this one? Should I claim it to my son before any possible lien on it? Should I add his name to the deed? Can I sell it to him? and if I do none of the above, can I one day rent it or sell it? How legally secure is one with his only property as a primary residence?

What are the exact steps needed to put a lien on an

automobile?

Any lien on property can be superseded by the UCC-1 Financing statement and lien under the uniform commercial code.

Property used to secure bail, can this be a lien on the property?

Boiler 23,you have great standing to individually file an action for the monies paid out on the motorcycle by you. What state are you located within?

I live in west virginia. I bought a house from a contractor and we did a title search and everything was clear and the process went on. Now I am getting a notice that there is a mechanics lien on my property. Can they do it now?

I live in GA, and I was living in my parents home while they were overseas. I personally signed the contract to have lawn work done to the home while I was living there. I do not own the home and have no rights to the home. Is it possible for the lawn service to put a lien on my parents property even though I am the one who took out the contract?

I live in the state of Georgia and I owe for this years Homeowners Associations fee and I haven't paid as of yet, due financial difficulty and I just received in the mail a letter from an attorney stating that this amount owed must be paid before the end of the year or they will put a lien on the house. If this should happen, how does this affect me in the long run as far as my credit? I know that liens shows up on your credit, but will that be a factor for me in the future if I wanted to get credit?

My mother had her house remodeled in 1987, she and her husband signed a contract to put up property as collateral, the company that did the siding went bankrupt or went out of business and no one notified them now it twenty-one years later and my father is past away and someone writes her and tell her if she does not pay 29,000.00 for a 8,000.00 loan they will foreclose. Can this happen?

I had a boiler installed in my bar. I have been making payments on the boiler but the company recently got ugly about it and demanded payment in full or they would put a lien on the building. Two questions. In Colorado, if they have passed the 4 month mark, has the statute of limitations in which they can file a lien expired? Additionally, I am only leasing the building. Can they put a lien on someone elses property for money I owe them?

Might interest any of you who come to France, that the word "LIEN" means "LINK" (as in a chain or on the Internet!)

I had a contractor place a lien on my property. I am building a house and we had a dispute over billing. I have paid him in full and he has now placed a lien on my property 7 months after the job was completed and also did not give me the proper 20 day notice. Any advise on what I should do would be very helpful!

My uncle was recently worked on a construction project as a laborer for a subcontractor who was subcontracting the work for the general contractor of the project. He has the feeling that he was not going to get paid for the work he did. He does not know anyone from the general contracting company and he knows that he will get no where talking to his employer. I just want to ask what options does he has in terms of getting his pay?

Hi, I live in georgia and I purchased 2 investment properties in 2006. I didn't know a lot about it and ran into some difficulties paying the mortgage when the tenants did not pay. They are about to foreclose in 2 weeks and I was wondering if they could put a lien on my personal property if I can't pay balance after if sold. Please advise what steps I need to take to protect myself.

i live in georgia and i purchased some bad investment property. they are going to foreclose in two weeks and i wanted to know if they can put a lien on my personal property?

Im in Texas.. My mother passed away 2 years ago and left me a house with land. Im now in the process of selling the property. My mothers brother helped buy the bricks for use on the house back in the late 70's early 80's. I don't know what agreements were made between them but I'm thinking he may try to put a lien on the house. Is this possible? What proof will he need? How would I fight this if needed?

In order to put a lien on someones property what do I need as proof? I lent money to a company and the company shut down. This happened over 2 years ago. Do I still have the right to go after one of the owners personally? The money was given to one of the other partners which deposited it in the company account.

The only proof I have is the check which was made out 2 years ago.

Do I need proof of this individual cashing it personally? or a time frame.

I was told that I can only go after the company and the person. And it has been more than 3 months so therefore it is past the time frame.

I recently co-signed for a motorcycle for my brother-in-law and he has not made a payment on it since last march. I have recently been contacted by the manufacturer of the bike saying I needed to pay $3,500 or the bike was going to be repossessed. I have been having to have to make the payments on the bike since that phone call with the manufacturer, not to mention pay for the higher interest rate because of him not making a payment. Can I put a lien on him for any of the amount of the bike that I still owe on it? Or any other legal action against him?

My father passed away 2 years ago. He was on medicaid. Now medicaid has a lien on my mother's property. My husband and I would like to purchase this property and build a small house on it to be closer to mom in case she needs assistance. Do we need to get a loan to pay off the medicaid lien AND the the 2nd mortgage? I assume medicaid gets their money first. Any suggestions would be welcome.

In 2004 I sold my house through a Real Estate Agent and Title company. A title search was completed by this company. Today I receive a letter from a collection agency stating that I owe a debt to the Department of Housing and Urban Development from back in 2001. Shouldn't this have been taken care of at the sale of the property. I also show that I had Title insurance on this.

I'm looking to buy my first home within the next year. I recently got married. My credit is good, and I have a good job. However, my husband's credit is not so good, but he has a good job also. He owes money for federal income taxes. He is self employed, and his taxes are not done correctly. Can I finance a house in just my name without his name being on the deal? I believe putting him on the deal will not be a good idea. I don't want any liens put on the house for taxes he owes. How would this work and what are my options?

I was awarded home in my divorce three years ago. I have not been able to refinance and have ex wife taken off the title and loan because of my poor credit. Now my ex wife claims that an attorney has advise her that she can place a lien on the property. Want to know if this is true and if so what can I do to stop this.

I performed work on a Parade of Homes winner, my payment terms are Due Upon Receipt. They paid for the rough in but not the final. Long story short, I filed a small claim in NC courthouse & the court date wasn't for 2 months. I'm now approaching the court date & found out by the tax records, this house sold a month ago. I'm told the lien wouldn't be put on the house until the court date. So my question is: What recourse do I have when I filed a small claim against the contractor for non-payment & the house sold before the court date. Is there a possibility of still collecting or how does this work?

My wife and I have been making the payments on my father's property since he died in Dec. 2006. I have 5 siblings and only one of them has helped to make the payments. My wife would like to put a lien on the property to protect our interests and make certain we will receive all our money back after the sale of the property. How do we go about doing this? The land is in Pima County, AZ. We already have an affidavit of succesor for my siblings and I.