[WSBARP] Title commitment and criminal judgment liens

[Eric Nelsen]

Yes, client is owner, but no homestead issue on this property.

I wondered if the title company was conflating judgment and order; maybe that's it. I wouldn't use the word "judgment" for an order, even if the order requires payment to another party. Judgments are instruments of finality and have to comply with CR 54 and judgment indexing requirements.

Any order to pay would not be a lien on property until it met all those requirements, so I can see why a title company wouldn't particularly care about that.

Good reminder regarding homestead - it's easy to rely too routinely on judgments becoming automatic liens on real property in the same county. It still makes sense to record a judgment, even in the same county it's issued, if the debtor has real property that might be subject to homestead exemption.

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>

From: wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com <wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com> On Behalf Of Dwight Bickel
Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2026 1:06 PM
To: WSBA Real Property Listserv <wsbarp at lists.wsbarppt.com>
Subject: Re: [WSBARP] Title commitment and criminal judgment liens

Actually, such judgments are often Orders, with no Judgment Summary, and in any event those are indexed differently. In my experience, title companies are not consistently searching for such Orders imposing criminal restitution.

Is your client the owner, so the commitment is for a sale? If so, is your client living on the property? If so, the property is homestead and any Judgment is not legally a lien upon the property without recording. If your client is not the owner, and is selling, the Commitment for a purchaser should show that exception and require its payment, or a release of the lien.

If your client is purchasing, the title company often simply doesn't do any judgment search, knowing (1) a policy issued to the new lender does not require exception for judgments against the borrower, because any judgment lien does not attach prior to the new purchase-money deed of trust, (2) a policy issued to the judgment debtor does not protect against the Insured's own debt, and (3) if the property is occupied it is not a lien unless recorded.


Dwight A. Bickel

Real Property Title Advisor

Washington Title Professional

Dwight at dwightbickel.com<mailto:Dwight at dwightbickel.com>

http://dwightbickel.com

206-484-1976


________________________________
From: wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com<mailto:wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com> <wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com<mailto:wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com>> on behalf of Eric Nelsen <eric at sayrelawoffices.com<mailto:eric at sayrelawoffices.com>>
Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2026 11:46 AM
To: WSBA Real Property Listserv (wsbarp at lists.wsbarppt.com<mailto:wsbarp at lists.wsbarppt.com>) <wsbarp at lists.wsbarppt.com<mailto: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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