Business Lawyer in Delray Beach

Florida Business Lien Search Services

Purchase of Florida Business. Are you looking to buy a Florida business?

If you are interested in the purchase or acquisition of a business in Florida you may need to conduct a proper lien search to ensure that the seller’s assets are not subjected to liens and other encumbrances.

Lien Search Services. Our firm provides Lien Search Services for interested buyers of a Florida business.

The service includes the following:

State Records. Review of Department of State records to ensure that the seller entity is duly active in the state of Florida.
UCC Liens. Review of any existing liens or security interests in the seller’s business property by conducting an appropriate lien search. We will check if there are any UCC-1 financing statements which have been recorded in the Florida Secured Transaction Registry.
Personal Property Judgment Liens. We will determine if there are any judgment liens encumbering the personal property of the business. Specifically, we will ascertain if there are any judgement lien certificates recorded against the seller of the business with respect to any of the business’ personal property.
Federal Tax Liens. We will determine if there are any federal tax liens recorded against the seller.
Pending Lawsuits. We will review state court records to ascertain if any lawsuits are pending, or judgments entered, against the seller-business in the county where the seller is located.

Service Fee: My Firm charges a flat, reasonable fee for the business asset lien search. Please call or email us for a fair quote. The email address is jlawgator8@aol.com.

Understanding Judgment Liens in Florida

What is a Judgment Lien and what does it do?

A judgment lien can arise from a money judgment that is rendered against a defendant in acourt of law.

Once a valid judgment is entered against a defendant (in court) for money owed the judgment can be used to create a lien against the defendant’s property. The purpose of the judgment lien is to secure payment of the money judgment against the property of the defendant. Once the lien is created it will encumber the defendant’s property. The defendant could then have more motivation to pay off the judgment. The judgment lien will also make it more difficult for the defendant to transfer their property.

The process to record a judgment lien for real and personal property is governed by Chapter 55, Florida Statutes.

How do you create a judgment lien against real property?

Assuming the defendant owns real property in a specific county you can record a judgment lien against the defendant’s real property. First, the plaintiff (or their lawyer) would need to obtain a certified copy of the judgment from the clerk of court. Second, the plaintiff would need to record the certified copy of the judgment in the public records of the county in which the property is located. There usually will be a recording fee. Once the judgment is properly recorded the judgment lien is created.

The judgment, however, must contain the address of the lienholder, who is normally the plaintiff. If the judgment does not contain the lienholder’s address the judgment must be recorded simultaneously with a separate affidavit which contains the address of the lienholder. Otherwise, the judgment lien will not be valid under Florida law.

When the judgment is recorded (and creates a judgment lien), the judgment lien takes priority over any liens on the property which are recorded at a later date.

Can you rerecord a judgment lien after it has expired?

The short answer is yes. In Franklin Financial, Inc. (932 So.2d 434), a judgment holder recorded, or appeared to record, a judgment in the public records sometime in 1994. The judgment was later assigned to the plaintiff, Franklin Financial. In 2003, after the judgment lien supposedly expired, plaintiff rerecorded the judgment, along with an affidavit containing its address, in the public records. The court ruled that the plaintiff’s rerecording of the judgment was valid, even though the recording took place after the original judgment lien expired.

Importantly, according to the court, once there is a new recording after the judgment lien expires, a new lien is created and does not take priority over prior recorded liens. In other words, if a judgment is rerecorded after the original judgment lien expires the rerecorded lien does not “relate back” to the original recording of the judgment. Rather, there would be a new lien on the property from the date of rerecording forward. Clinton v. Doehla, 933 So.2d 1215 (Fla. 3d DCA 2006).

How do you create a judgment lien against personal property?

To create a judgment lien against personal property a judgment lien certificate must be filed with the Florida Department of State. The state filing fee is $20.00. The judgement lien certificate will become a lien on all personal property of the defendant/debtor in the state. However, fixtures, money, negotiable instruments, and mortgages will not be subject to the judgement lien.

How long do judgment liens last in Florida?

For judgment liens on real property the judgment lien will last for a period of 10 years from the date of recording. However, the lien can be extended for another period of 10 years if the lienholder rerecords a certified copy of the judgment prior to the expiration of the original lien period. To properly extend the lien the lienholder will also be required to simultaneously record an affidavit stating the current address of the lienholder.

For judgment liens on personal property the lien will last for a period of 5 years after the filing date of the judgment lien certificate. However, the judgment lien certificate holder can file a new judgment lien certificate with the state of Florida if the judgment lien certificate is filed within 6 months before or 6 months after the expiration date of the original judgment lien certificate.

Business Law Services in Delray Beach, Florida

The law firm of Joseph J. Rosen, P.A. takes pride in providing quality legal service at an affordable rate. Our business attorney in Delray Beach assists his clients with a variety of transactional matters in South Palm Beach County. These matters include the following: