Does a lien affect your credit?

[riverwed070707]

A couple months back I had received a letter that we had an unpaid water bill and promptly sent the payment. On our next bill there was a credit for the $75 I had paid and I only owed $6... I thought it was weird but assumed maybe payment had gotten jumbled somewhere, they found a mistake and fixed it. NBD, right?

I got a letter today stating there was a lien placed against our property due to an unpaid utility bill for $79. I called the treaurer (lien holder as I had no idea who the lien was from even though I assumed it to be from the water company) to find out what was going on. They indicated it was from the city for an unpaid sewer bill. Fuming, I go check my bank account bill pay and quickly realize that the unpaid notice must have been from the city (not the water company) and I made the payment to the wrong place! Apparently the city gives you one late notice before they place a lien (60 days!). So it's paid now and I didn't have to do anything to restart services, but what I'm wondering is if this lien that I had for all of 2 days is going to show up on my credit report. Anyone know?

So unbelievably irritated at this whole situation.

[MonkeyMama]

I can't answer for sure, but we had a lien on our property when it came to a shady concrete supplier. We were able to get it straightened out after a month or two. It never showed up on our credit reports at all. (Both my dh and I have very high FICO scores, and this was a non-incident as far as our FICO - I never saw it show up on a credit report).

I don't know if it depends on the type of lien.

These situations are VERY irritating.

[maat55]

If you recieved a lien notice, it will likely be on your report. I personally, would go ahead and contest the lien. They may remove it if the city does not respond or show a current due balance.

You may want to view your credit report in a month before taking action.

[MonkeyMama]

It may be a good idea to check your credit report, for free, in a couple of months, to be sure. I second that advice - should have thought of it myself. It just if it is there, it will take a while to show up.