Selling a House With a Child Support Lien in Ohio
If a child support enforcement agency has filed a lien against you, it can feel like the house is frozen. It is not. Ohio law spells out when the lien attaches, where it stands in line, and the exact steps that take it off the record. Knowing those steps lets you plan a sale instead of fearing one.
A modest single-story ranch house in a Northeast Ohio suburb in autumn, with a child's bicycle leaning against the wooden porch, small pumpkins on the steps and leaves on the lawn
Yes, you can sell. In Ohio, a child support lien attaches to real estate once it is filed with the county recorder. It ranks behind mortgages and liens that were in place on or before that date. In a typical sale, the arrearage is paid from the proceeds at closing. Once it is paid in full, the agency must ask the recorder to discharge the lien, and the recorder must do it within five days. If the sale will not cover it all, the agency may release the house anyway if that helps collect the arrears.
How a child support lien gets on a house
A lien does not appear just because a payment was late. Ohio law sets out an order of events. First, a court or the county child support enforcement agency (often called the CSEA) must make a final and enforceable determination that the person who owes support is in default. Only then may the agency assert a lien.
For real estate, there is one more step. The lien covers the unpaid support at the time of the default, plus any later support that also goes unpaid, but it only becomes a lien on real property after it is filed with the county recorder where the property is. It also reaches property bought later. Within ten days of filing, the agency must mail a copy to the person who owes the support.
A lien filed with the county recorder shall be effective until the county recorder discharges the lien.
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Tell us the address, your mortgage balance and roughly what the arrears are. We will give you a no-obligation cash offer so you can see whether the proceeds would pay everything at closing.
Where the lien stands in line
When a house sells, the money pays off liens in order of priority. Ohio law answers the priority question for child support liens with a simple date test:
| Other lien or mortgage | Who is paid first? | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Arose on or before the date the child support lien was filed | The earlier lien or mortgage. The child support lien does not have priority over it. | ORC 3123.70 |
| Arose after the child support lien was filed | The child support lien has priority. | ORC 3123.70 |
| Property bought after the lien was filed | The lien reaches after-acquired real property once filed with that county's recorder. | ORC 3123.67 |
In practice, a mortgage you took out before the lien was filed is usually paid first at closing. But the dates on your own records decide this, and other liens can complicate the order. A title search shows every filing and its date.
Get your numbers before you list
The worst time to learn about a lien is after you have a buyer. A title search will find a filed child support lien, because it sits in the county recorder's records. You can find it first. Ask a title company for a preliminary search when you start thinking about selling, and look at the dates on every filing.
Then ask the child support enforcement agency, in writing, for the current arrearage amount, and ask how it wants payment handled at a closing. Put three numbers side by side: a realistic sale price, your mortgage payoff, and the arrears. That comparison tells you whether you are headed for a payoff at closing or a request for a release.
If the lien came from another state
Support orders do not stop at the state line. Ohio law lets another state's lien be filed here too. The Ohio Office of Child Support reviews the out-of-state lien and the papers behind it, works out which Ohio counties hold the person's property, and sends the lien to that county's agency, which files it with the county recorder. Once filed, it works like an Ohio lien on property in that county. If your lien started elsewhere, ask the Ohio county agency and the agency in the other state which one should receive payment.
Three ways the lien comes off
Ohio law lists exactly when the agency must file a notice asking the county recorder to discharge the lien. Once that notice is filed, the recorder has five days to discharge it.
The arrearage is paid in full
The agency releases it
A court-ordered execution sale
Ohio law makes anyone who, after being served with the lien, sells, transfers or conveys property subject to it liable for the arrears plus costs, interest and reasonable attorney fees. Deeding the house to a relative to dodge the lien is not a way out. Work with the agency and the title company instead.
When the sale will not cover the arrears
Sometimes the house is worth less than the mortgage plus the arrears and the costs of selling. Then the money at closing cannot pay the lien in full. The statute gives the agency room to help: it may release the lien on all or part of the property if the release will facilitate collection of the arrearage. A sale that sends the remaining proceeds toward the arrears may fit that description.
That decision belongs to the agency, not to you or the buyer. So contact the agency early, explain the sale, and share the numbers: the price, your mortgage payoff, the costs of sale and what would be left for the arrears. A release does not erase what is still owed. The law says the agency can still collect the rest later.
How the sale usually plays out
Your six options
- Keep the house. The lien stays on the record until it is paid or released, and the agency can ask a court for an execution sale. Working out a payment plan with the agency may be part of keeping it.
- Repair it, then sell. A higher price may cover the arrears in full and force a discharge. Repairs cost money up front while the lien stays in place.
- Rent it out. Rent can help, but the lien remains on the house and the arrears keep their place in line.
- List it with an agent. The open market often brings the highest price, which matters when the proceeds have to cover a lien. Ohio commissions usually run 5.5% to 6%, and they are paid before anything reaches the arrears.
- Sell it yourself. No commission, so more can go toward the lien. You handle the buyer, the agency and the title company yourself.
- Sell direct. No commission, no repairs and no showings. Closings can happen as fast as 7 days and typically take around 21, though waiting on an agency release can add time. The price will be below full retail.
For each option: start with the price, subtract the mortgage payoff, commission, closing costs and repairs, then the arrears. If the result is positive, the lien is paid and you keep the rest. If it is negative, you need a release, and the agency will look at what the sale sends toward the arrears. Run the numbers before you choose.
Get a number to work with
We buy houses across Cleveland and Northeast Ohio with liens on them, and we close through a title company that handles the payoffs and releases. Ask for an offer and compare it with listing. If listing leaves you more, we will tell you.
This article summarizes Ohio Revised Code §§ 3123.66 to 3123.77 as we read them. It is general information, not legal advice. The sections we read do not set a time for the agency to give a payoff figure or decide on a release, and your support order and records matter. Talk to an Ohio family law or real estate attorney, and contact your county child support enforcement agency, before you sell.
Questions about a lien on your house?
Call or send us the address. We will explain how a sale with a lien payoff works and leave the decision with you.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, but the lien has to be dealt with for the buyer to get clear title. In most sales the arrearage is paid from the proceeds at closing. Once the arrearage is paid in full, Ohio law says the agency must file a notice asking the county recorder to discharge the lien, and the recorder must discharge it within five days of that notice.
First, a court or the child support enforcement agency must make a final and enforceable determination that you are in default. The agency may then assert a lien. For real estate, the lien attaches after it is filed with the county recorder in the county where the property is.
Ohio law says the agency must serve a copy of the lien by regular mail on the person who owes the support no later than ten days after filing it.
It depends on timing. The lien has priority over mortgages and other liens that arise after it was filed. It does not have priority over those that arose on or before the date it was filed. So a mortgage recorded before the lien generally stays ahead of it.
The agency may release a lien on all or part of your property at any time if it considers the assurance of payment adequate, or if the release will help collect the arrearage. A sale that sends money toward the arrears may fit that test, but the decision is the agency's. A release does not stop the agency from collecting the rest later.
Ohio law allows the agency to file a complaint asking the court to order the property sold by execution sale. The court holds a hearing first. A sale under that process extinguishes the lien.
Ohio law makes a person who, after being served, releases, sells, transfers or conveys property subject to the lien liable for the arrearage plus costs, interest and reasonable attorney fees. That is a strong reason for everyone handling a closing to make sure the lien is paid or released first.
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