By Dominic McClelland | Updated 09/24/2026
House Junkies deals with messy title more than almost anything else in this business, and most sellers do not find out their house has a problem until it is already holding up their sale. Here is a real one we are working on right now, a property on Coppola Ave in Visalia:
- $26,963.86 in delinquent property taxes
- $12,008.65 in open code violations
- $61,764.00 owed on a mortgage already in active foreclosure
- $15,000.00 in unpaid probate attorney fees from the estate that owns it
That is over $115,000 stacked on a single house before a single repair gets made, four completely different problems, four completely different government offices and legal processes, and it is still a deal we can close. A buyer's lender would never get near this one. We will. This is the long version of how we actually work through every piece of it.
Delinquent Property Taxes: How California's Five-Year Clock Actually Works
When property taxes go unpaid past the June 30th deadline, the property becomes tax-defaulted. From that point, a penalty of 1.5% per month, 18% annually, starts accruing on top of what is owed, plus a redemption fee. California gives property owners a five-year window from the date of default before the county tax collector gains what is called the Power to Sell, the legal authority to auction the property to recover the debt. Within those five years, an owner can either pay the full redemption amount or open an installment plan of redemption, spreading the delinquent balance over five years while keeping current on each new year's taxes. Once a property passes the five-year mark without being redeemed or placed on an installment plan, it becomes subject to auction, and the right of redemption only survives up until the last business day before the sale itself.
How we handle it. We contact the Tulare County Tax Collector's office directly and get an exact, current redemption or payoff figure, not an estimate. That amount gets paid straight out of escrow at closing, before you see a dollar of proceeds, the same way any delinquent tax lien has to be cleared to deliver clean title. On the Coppola Ave property, that $26,963.86 gets paid exactly this way, straight to the county at closing, confirmed directly with the Tax Collector's office rather than guessed at. The difference between us and a traditional listed sale is what happens when the math is tight. If delinquent taxes plus whatever is owed on the mortgage would eat up more than a listed sale could actually net once commission and closing costs come out, that sale often cannot close at all. We structure our offer around what is actually owed instead of walking away from it.
Mechanics Liens: When a Contractor's Unpaid Bill Becomes Your Problem
A mechanics lien is a claim a contractor, subcontractor, or material supplier can record against a property when they were not paid for work or materials. In California, a direct contractor generally has 90 days after completing the work to record a lien, or 60 days if the owner recorded a notice of completion. Subcontractors and suppliers have a shorter window once that notice is filed. Here is the part most people do not know: once a lien is recorded, the claimant only has 90 days to actually file a lawsuit to foreclose on it. Miss that deadline and the lien expires automatically, no extensions, no exceptions for ongoing settlement talks. That tight clock is exactly how an old, forgotten lien ends up sitting on a title for years without anyone realizing it never actually got resolved.
How we handle it. A title search surfaces these during our due diligence, and from there we have two real paths. If the lien is close to its 90-day enforcement deadline or appears invalid, we can wait it out or dispute it directly. If title needs to clear faster than that, California law lets us record a lien release bond, generally set at 125% of the claimed amount under Civil Code Section 8424, which removes the lien from the property immediately and shifts the claim over to the bond instead. Either way, you are not the one negotiating with a contractor over a bill from three owners ago.
Lis Pendens: When a Lawsuit Clouds Your Title
A lis pendens, recorded formally as a Notice of Pendency of Action, is filed when an active lawsuit involves a real claim to a property's title, ownership, or possession, a partition dispute between co-owners, a contested inheritance, a boundary or easement fight, that kind of thing. It does not technically block a sale by law, but in practice it stops one cold, because no title company will insure a transfer and no lender will fund a loan against a property under an active ownership dispute. A lis pendens can be removed through a court motion to expunge it, on grounds like the underlying claim not actually involving real property, or the claimant failing to show their claim has merit, but that process runs through litigation and can take months.
How we handle it. Litigation does not have to mean the property sits frozen for years. In many cases, the parties to the lawsuit can agree to release the lis pendens voluntarily as long as the sale proceeds are held in escrow pending the outcome of the case, which lets everyone get paid eventually without forcing a sale to wait on a court calendar. We work directly with the parties and their attorneys to structure exactly that kind of deal when it is on the table.
Code Enforcement Violations and Liens: The Stipulated Agreement
California cities have real legal authority, under Government Code Sections 38773 and 38773.1, to record a lien against a property for unresolved code violations, overgrown lots, unpermitted construction, structural hazards, and recover the cost of enforcement and abatement the same way they would collect property taxes. Fines accrue the longer a violation sits unresolved, and those liens attach to the property itself, not just the person who caused the violation, which means a new owner can inherit a debt that has nothing to do with anything they did. Some cities formalize a path through this with what gets called a compliance agreement, a lien waiver agreement, or a stipulated agreement, essentially a negotiated contract between the owner and the code enforcement division that lays out the scope of work required, a schedule with real deadlines, and terms for paying down the accrued fines instead of clearing the full balance before anything can move forward. Fresno's own Lien Waiver Program is a good regional example, a buyer works out a scope of work and timeline with the city, and once the work is verified complete, the city closes the case and waives what remains owed.
How we handle it. We go directly to the city or county code enforcement division that issued the violation and negotiate our own stipulated agreement, spelling out exactly what needs to be fixed, the deadlines we are agreeing to hit, and how much of the previous owner's delinquent fines get resolved as part of that agreement rather than demanding full payment before anyone can touch the property. The $12,008.65 in violations on the Coppola Ave property is working through exactly this process right now, a scope of work and a timeline negotiated directly with the city, not a lump sum demanded upfront before anything can move. That negotiation is often the single biggest reason a code-violation property can sell to us when it could not realistically sell on the open market at all.
Why This Matters If You Are Selling
Every one of these problems kills a traditional sale the same way: a buyer's lender or title company hits something during underwriting and stops the transaction cold until it is resolved, which can take months most sellers do not have. The Coppola Ave property is the clearest example, the $61,764.00 owed on a mortgage already in active foreclosure and the $15,000.00 in unpaid probate attorney fees are exactly the kind of stacked problems we cover in full in our foreclosure and probate posts, because a single property can sit at the intersection of four completely different legal processes at once, exactly like this one does. House Junkies does not need a buyer's loan to approve, which means we are not stuck waiting on the same clock. We can negotiate directly with a tax collector, a lien claimant, opposing counsel in a lawsuit, or a code enforcement officer, because we are the actual buyer closing the deal, not a listing waiting on someone else's financing to fall through.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I sell a house in California with a mechanics lien on it? Yes, but the lien has to be cleared or bonded off before title can transfer clean. We handle this directly, either negotiating the payoff or posting a release bond so closing is not held up waiting on the lien claimant.
Does a lis pendens mean I cannot sell my house? Not by law, but in practice almost no traditional buyer's lender or title company will move forward while one is active. A sale can sometimes proceed with proceeds held in escrow pending the lawsuit's resolution, which is one of the paths we work through directly with the parties involved.
What happens to code enforcement fines if I sell the house? They generally stay attached to the property as a lien, not the person who caused them, meaning a new owner can inherit them. We negotiate directly with the city's code enforcement division to resolve what is owed as part of closing, often through a stipulated or lien waiver agreement rather than requiring the full balance paid upfront.
How long can property taxes go unpaid in California before the county can sell my house? Five years from the date the property becomes tax-defaulted, with penalties of 1.5% per month accruing the entire time. An installment plan of redemption can be opened within that window to stop the clock.
Do I have to pay off delinquent taxes myself before selling? Not out of pocket before closing. Delinquent taxes get paid directly from sale proceeds at closing, the same as any other real estate transaction. The difference with us is we can still make a deal work even when the delinquent amount leaves little or no equity for a traditional sale to clear.
What is the difference between a lien and a lis pendens? A lien is a financial claim against the property for a specific debt, unpaid taxes, an unpaid contractor, code enforcement fines. A lis pendens is not a debt claim at all, it is a notice tied to an active lawsuit over who actually owns or has the right to possess the property.
Will any of this affect how fast you can close? It depends on what is actually on title, but in most cases we can still move quickly, often within a couple of weeks, because we are resolving these issues directly instead of waiting on a buyer's lender to process them.
Think Your Title Might Be Messy?
If you are not sure what is actually attached to your property, a lien you forgot about, an old lawsuit, delinquent taxes, a code case from years ago, that is exactly the kind of thing worth a direct conversation instead of guessing. It is free and takes about ten minutes.
Call or text (559) 368-8956.
This post covers general information about California property tax, mechanics lien, lis pendens, and code enforcement law as of September 2026 and is not legal advice. Procedures, deadlines, and local ordinances vary and change, confirm your specific situation with a licensed attorney or the relevant county or city office.
