ask george & chuck
April 28, 2008

Credit card liens, listing agreements
Answers to real estate questions as appearing
in the Houston Chronicle

Dear George: There is an abstract of judgment against me regarding a credit card account. I'm trying to sell my house, and the title company said that this judgment has to be satisfied at the closing table. My house is a homestead. Is this true?

Answer: A judgment lien does not attach to a homestead in Texas. The title company needs to verify that the house is indeed a homestead; otherwise the lien would constitute a cloud on the title. A law passed during the last session of the Texas Legislature allows a homestead claimant to file an affidavit that "operates as a release of lien" unless the creditor files a controverting affidavit within 30 days. Ask your title company about this alternative as a possible resolution to the issue.

Dear George: I have 12 days left on my one-year listing agreement with a broker, and not one offer has been made on my property—even though I've dropped my price $100,000. I asked my broker to release my listing in order to take the property off the market; I want to make some improvements and sell it myself. I need to unload it fast for financial reasons. She refused to release my property from the agreement. Must I have cause to terminate my agreement without violating the contract?

Answer: You have only 12 days left on the listing. Why not just wait until the listing expires? Putting that fact aside, the only way to terminate a listing agreement without the listing broker's written agreement would be to take the broker to court and show cause. The fact that you haven't had an offer in almost a year might be cause for unilateral termination. However, if you placed unreasonable obstacles to setting up showings, the court might decide that the cause test had not been met. Also, it will be difficult to convince a judge that you can no longer afford your home but have the funds to make improvements to it. In addition, there is nothing in your listing agreement that prevents you from withdrawing the home from the market while you make improvements.