Renting a Property

• When a person rents a property, he is essentially contracting with the person who owns the property to have use of the property for a set period of time in exchange for a set amount of money. The tenant may occupy the space, but he does not retain any title to it. The rented unit remains the exclusive property of the landlord.
  
  

Tax Lien

• A tax lien is a lien that is placed on a piece of property for an unpaid debt. A lien is a requirement that, before the property can be sold, the debt must be paid off. So, for example, a house may face a $5,000 tax lien that would prohibit its sale. Liens can only be placed on property that a person owns. They cannot be placed on the property that the debtor only rents.
  
  

Ownership of Lien

• A renter in a property on which a tax lien has been placed cannot be held liable for payment of the tax lien. This is because, first, the debt that is linked to the lien is not his responsibility. Under U.S. law, a person is responsible for his own debts. Second, just because a person is living in a property whose owner owes back taxes, a lien attached to the property is not at all transferable to him.
  
  

Considerations

• While a renter cannot be liable for a tax lien that is placed on property that he does own for the nonpayment of taxes that are not his, this does not mean that he cannot be served with a tax lien on property that he does own. A renter may, in fact, own other property besides the location in which he is staying. Being a renter does not automatically disqualify someone from having a lien placed on his property.