Liens

When you owe tax debt, we automatically have a statutory lien that attaches to all California real or personal property you own or have rights to. If you don't respond to our letters, pay in full, or set a payment plan, we may record and/or file a Notice of State Tax Lien against you. This secures and protects the debt owed to us and notifies creditors of the debt.

A Notice of State Tax Lien can be:

Recorded with one or more county recorders (real property)
Filed with the California Secretary of State (personal property)

Examples of real property:

Vacant land
Buildings
Homes

Examples of personal property:

Business equipment and assets
Mobile home
Car or truck

How a lien affects you

A lien secures our interest in your property when you don’t pay your tax debt.

Once a Notice of State Tax Lien is recorded or filed against you, the lien:

Becomes public record
Attaches to any California real or personal property you currently own or may acquire in the future
Is effective for at least 10 years (may be extended)
May impact your credit

When a lien becomes public record, you may not be able to:

Buy, sell, refinance, or transfer property
Get a personal or business loan
Get or keep a job

Although we don’t notify credit bureau agencies of the recording or filing of the Notice of State Tax Lien, they may get the public record from either the county recorders or California Secretary of State and may include it on your credit report.

How to release a lien

Pay

The quickest way we will release a Notice of State Tax Lien is for you to pay your liened tax debt in full (including interest, penalties, and fees). We will begin the lien release process once the payment is posted.

If you pay in full using:

Bank account (Web Pay): Make separate payments for each tax year. Select the Bill option from the drop-down list. This is the quickest payment option.
Credit card: Make separate payments for each tax year.
Check, money order, cashier’s check: Send one payment. Make sure to specify the amount you want to go to each year on the payment or include a letter.

File

We will issue a release for all Notices of State Tax Lien if you:

File any missing tax returns
Pay your liened tax debt in full (including interest, penalties, and fees, if any)
Contact us to provide documentation if no filing requirement exists for the liened tax year

We will not issue a release for a Notice of State Tax Lien that has expired.

During a real estate or loan transaction

If you’re in a real estate or loan transaction, your escrow, title, or mortgage company should help resolve your lien(s) during escrow. They should use eDemand to submit a lien payoff request.
Once we process the request and receive payment, we will release the lien.

If there’s not enough to pay off all your liens, visit Insufficient funds in escrow/short sale.
If there are competing state and federal tax lien, visit Competing liens.
If you’re an escrow, title, or mortgage company, visit Payoff request.

Businesses

If you’re a business, you must be in good standing in order to enter into any business transactions or contracts, such as the sale of real property.

Check your business status with the California Secretary of State Business Search.

If your business is suspended or forfeited, see our help file “My business is suspended”.