{"id":43689,"date":"2024-05-14T13:05:41","date_gmt":"2024-05-14T20:05:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/?p=43689"},"modified":"2025-11-13T09:40:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T17:40:11","slug":"buyer-can-credit-card-companies-put-a-lien-on-your-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-can-credit-card-companies-put-a-lien-on-your-house\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Credit Card Companies Put a Lien on Your House?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Over the past two years, the Fed raised its benchmark interest rate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/advisor\/investing\/fed-funds-rate-history\/\">11 times<\/a>. This has pushed mortgage rates to a 23-year high and increased the variable APR banks charge on credit cards. Combined, this has created a one-two punch for many homeowners still pressing against the headwinds of inflation.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019ve found yourself delinquent with your credit card payments, you\u2019re not alone. A growing number of consumers are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2024\/02\/22\/americans-with-debt-putting-less-money-toward-credit-card-payments.html\">finding it difficult<\/a> to put money toward debt, which raises the question: Can credit card companies put a lien on your house?<\/p>\n<div class=\"infogram-embed\" data-id=\"cee81cfc-bbc1-4176-a032-b9c7963b39e0\" data-type=\"interactive\" data-title=\"2023 - Average Credit Card Debt\"><\/div>\n<p><script>!function(e,n,i,s){var d=\"InfogramEmbeds\";var o=e.getElementsByTagName(n)[0];if(window[d]&&window[d].initialized)window[d].process&&window[d].process();else if(!e.getElementById(i)){var r=e.createElement(n);r.async=1,r.id=i,r.src=s,o.parentNode.insertBefore(r,o)}}(document,\"script\",\"infogram-async\",\"https:\/\/e.infogram.com\/js\/dist\/embed-loader-min.js\");<\/script><br \/>\n<small><em>Credit card debt in America reached a cumulative record high of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnet.com\/personal-finance\/credit-cards\/advice\/average-american-credit-card-debt\/#average-us-credit-card-debt-by-generation\">$1.13 trillion<\/a> last year.<\/em><\/small><\/p>\n<p>In this post, we clarify what has to happen before credit card companies can place a lien on your property. We\u2019ll also provide expert insights from a top attorney about what actions you can take to protect your home.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"geo-cta widget-cta widget-cta--content     widget-cta--dark widget-cta--dark-blue-gradient\">\n    <div class=\"widget-element--content\">\n        <div class=\"widget-element--content-header\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"homelight logo\" class=\"widget-element--logo\" src=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/themes\/ccprototypev5\/images\/logo-small-cta.png\" width=\"106\" height=\"25\" \/>\n        <\/div>\n        \n                <h3 class=\"cta-headline widget--bold\">Find an Agent to Help You Buy Your First Home<\/h3>\n                        <p>A top agent who knows your housing market can help you identify and navigate local and national down payment assistance and loan programs. HomeLight can connect you with an experienced buyer&#8217;s agent who will walk you through the process of buying your first home.<\/p>\n        \n                <div class=\"widget-element--buttons\">\n            <a data-type=\"In Content CTA\" href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/find-agent\/quiz\/buyer?#\/qaas=0\/\" class=\"cta-click-track widget-element--button\">Get Started<\/a>\n        <\/div>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n <\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>Editor\u2019s note: This blog post is meant for educational purposes, not legal advice. If you need assistance resolving a credit card company lien on your house, HomeLight encourages you to contact your own advisor.<\/em><\/p>\n<div id=\"section--1\" data-toc-header=\"What does it mean to have a lien on your house?\" data-toc-type=\"head\"><\/div>\n<h2>What does it mean to have a lien on your house?<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rajehsaadeh.com\/attorney\/rajeh-a-saadeh\/\">Rajeh A. Saadeh<\/a>, founding attorney of a major law office in New Jersey, explains that a lien on your house is a legal claim against your property made by a creditor as a security for a debt.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt essentially allows whoever is owed money to be able to secure that loan with a type of interest in the property. So, whoever owns the property still owns it, but that ownership could be taken to satisfy the debt,\u201d Saadeh says. \u201cOr if the property has to be sold, in order for the buyer to get clear ownership of that property, that has to be paid off or removed. So, that&#8217;s essentially what a lien is, it&#8217;s a security.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/selling-a-house-with-a-lien\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Liens<\/span><\/a> can be placed by various entities, including the government, construction companies, or in some cases, credit card companies.<\/p>\n<div id=\"section--2\" data-toc-header=\"Can credit card companies put a lien on your house?\" data-toc-type=\"head\"><\/div>\n<h2>Can credit card companies put a lien on your house?<\/h2>\n<p>Yes, credit card companies can place a lien on your house, but it\u2019s not a straightforward process. Saadeh explains that for a credit card company to secure a lien, they must first sue you for the unpaid debts and win a court <a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/wex\/judgment\">judgment<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey will get what&#8217;s called a judgment, and once that judgment is docketed or recorded, they can register it as a lien against your property,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>Saadeh points out that this is more common with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/wex\/secured_debt\">secured debts<\/a>. \u201cCredit card debts are generally unsecured. That means they are typically not secured by ownership of any asset, such as real estate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This means putting a lien on a property is less direct and often considered a last resort. But it does happen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Learn if credit card companies can put a lien on your house and how to prevent it. Get expert tips on how to remove or prevent a credit card lien.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":298,"featured_media":43697,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[192,654,703],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-for-buyers","category-homeownership","category-legal-tax"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.0 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Can Credit Card Companies Put a Lien on Your House?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn if credit card companies can put a lien on your house and how to prevent it. Get expert tips on how to remove or prevent a credit card lien.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-can-credit-card-companies-put-a-lien-on-your-house\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Can Credit Card Companies Put a Lien on Your House?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn if credit card companies can put a lien on your house and how to prevent it. 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