[WSBARP] Title commitment and criminal judgment liens

[Inge Fordham]

In my experience, if a judgment has been recorded against the subject property (referencing the parcel number, etc.), it appears (or should appear) in a title search.  I’m not sure what the title company considers a “standard title search,” but title companies I’ve worked with often search for judgments in the county in which the subject property is located.  They do not, however, search other counties.  This often comes up in the context of probates where proceedings are filed in one county and the subject property is located in another county.  Eric, was the judgment you referenced recorded against the property for which the search was conducted?  Judgments are sometimes recorded without referencing a specific property, but if the recording was in a different county than the property, I wouldn’t expect it to show up in a standard search (which is scary for folks investigating whether to purchase property).


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Inge A. Fordham | Attorney
Fordham Law, PLLC
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From: wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com <wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com> on behalf of Setareh Mahmoodi <sm at lawofficesofsm.com>
Date: Wednesday, October 14, 2026 at 1:11 PM
To: WSBA Real Property Listserv (wsbarp at lists.wsbarppt.com) <wsbarp at lists.wsbarppt.com>
Subject: Re: [WSBARP] Title commitment and criminal judgment liens

I was always under the impression that a title report would disclose any liens or judgments of any kind affecting the property, but what do I know ... But... I wonder if the reason it’s not showing up is that the criminal judgment was incorporated into a court order rather than separately entered and indexed as a judgment, which could explain why it wasn’t picked up in the title search? Just a thought...


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From: wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com <wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com> on behalf of Eric Nelsen <eric at sayrelawoffices.com>
Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2026 11:46 AM
To: WSBA Real Property Listserv (wsbarp at lists.wsbarppt.com) <wsbarp at lists.wsbarppt.com>
Subject: [WSBARP] Title commitment and criminal judgment liens


I have a client who ordered a preliminary title commitment that doesn’t show any judgment liens. But the client does have a criminal restitution judgment that is in the process of being paid off. The title company apparently told the client that “certain criminal judgment liens do not appear in a standard title search.”



Huh? Any idea what that would mean? Judgments are judgments, indexed and discoverable in the same way regardless of whether they’re civil or criminal—so far as I know, anyway. Can anybody enlighten me?



Sincerely,



Eric



Eric C. Nelsen

Sayre Law Offices, PLLC

1417 31st Ave South

Seattle WA 98144-3909

206-625-0092

eric at sayrelawoffices.com<mailto:eric at sayrelawoffices.com>


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