State Tax Lien Question

[Bradford Myatt]

I recently contacted a seller who is offering a commercial stand alone building located in a seasonal beach town in Upstate N.Y.  The building is leased May through September and is available at a great price.  The seller informed me that the site formerly had a gas station on the property and the state came in and spent $180,000 to remedy the site.  However, the state placed a lien on the property which led to the seller declaring bankruptcy.  The seller informed the lien does not impact the ability to run the business on the property.   

Any insight on this?  What am I missing?