Request for Release of Judgment Lien on Real Property

The Department of Justice forwarded a request for the release of a lien on real property in Florida, which arose from a previous judgment entered in favor of the United States against the former owner of the property. The present owner purchased the proprty in question at a foreclosure sale after the former owner had defaulted on a second mortgage. Ordinarily, a judgment recorded in Florida creates a lien interest in all of the real property owned by the debtor; in this case the former owner. GAO doubted that a lien actually existed in entirety, since the former owner's wife was a co-owner of the property and, in Florida, property held by spouses under a tenancy by the entirety cannot be charged with the individual debts of either spouse in the absence of fraud. Furthermore, the statute which constitutes the Comptroller General's sole authority to issue a certificate releasing liens of the United States requires that it be the title holder who has the lien. It was held that notwithstanding the doubt that a valid judgment lien existed, the real property owner's request for a release of lien was denied since the applicant held the title and was not the lien holder as required by statute.