I am planning to buy a Fairfax county trustee auction and trying to understand few things before i go and buy. Upon title search on this property i found 3 things and wanted to understand how risk is this buy and what i should know before i bid.

1. An outstanding Judgement lien since 4 years, i assume its not paid off, if so how can i find out. From my research i read that the government, tax and judgement liens take priority.

2. A loan modification after 4 years of ownership and the amount is higher than original loan amount. I am assuming it Refi + Cash out when the rates were really low. On the foreclosure website it states position 1 and position 2 while the position 2 is the loan modified amount.

So my questions are

1. How do i find out more on Judgement lien and its pay off status.

2. I am assuming that there is only one which is the modified amount. Please clarify or suggest.

3. If i go for bid, what should i consider (Judgement to be paid + winning bid price)? OR any other surprises.

Your advice is appreciated.

The best thing to do is find somebody who is familiar with exactly how your auction works (All operate a little bit differently). 

You should talk to a title attorney and get a full title abstract before you make a purchase at any trustee sale.  

Call around and ask the title co's if they have experience insuring titles from the trustee auction.  You will probably have to jump through some hoops to get clear title, but it's totally possible.  again - the best thing to do is find somebody who is familiar with it and pick their brain.

Just found out from one of the settlement Underwriters that the Judgement lien will be considered Junior and it would be wiped out as its attached to property.  Thats a relief and now i should only worry about one lien.

Which mortgage is foreclosing -- 1st or 2nd? Or are you saying there a 1st trust that was modified? Look at the advertisement. Obtain the instrument number and report back after looking at the title search. If there was a modification recorded it would specifically identify the instrument that was modified.

Only one mortgage (modified). However my question was about Judgement Lien and it looks like this lien will be wiped out. Atleast this is what the Underwriter said. I hope this helps.

Was the judgment recorded before the modification or after? Did you provide that information to the underwriter?

Originally posted by @Tom Gimer :

Was the judgment recorded before the modification or after? Did you provide that information to the underwriter?

 Tom brings up a valid point...if that judgment recorded ahead of the modification and, the lender/servicer that did the mod is also the party foreclosing, that thing might be in front of the foreclosing entity and might survive the foreclosure.