About a day ago, a user to the popular open-discussion forum Reddit published this food-for-thought question:

Whose fault is it if I find out there's a $5k lien 1 day before closing?

In the post, “blahh837492” is openly lamenting that he didn’t use title clearing before investing in his/her third short sale investment.

In fact, they didn’t even know title-clearing services existed before realizing the property’s owner apparently has a credit card judgment against them, resulting in the lien.

But, this isn’t the obvious proof why title clearing is so underappreciated. So far, that only shows why title services are totally vital in the first place.

No, the proof is in the fact that the post from blahh837492 generated more than 130 comments, which is huge compared to the single-digit responses from most Reddit real estate posts.

Judging by this easily avoided fix, title clearing is underappreciated in its role in real estate transactions.

Indeed, most Redditers want to know HOW the first two deals could have even happened WITHOUT title clearance.

Blah explains, and gets advice, click the dialogue box below to expand:

But to answer the question, who is really at fault here?

Please post your comments/advice to the message board below.

Here’s the post:

This is a short-sale that I'm buying. I was so happy to finally close on this house because you all know short-sales take forever.

24 hours before closing, my agent calls me to tell me there is a $5,000 lien (seller's credit card debt) that I must pay before closing. He used very high-pressure wording like "I think this is still a great deal even if you pay off the $5k. If you walk, the price will skyrocket as it goes into foreclosure. You will lose your earnest money and appraisal fees if you walk."

My agent knows I'm a n00b investor and I wish he suggested doing a title search way early on in the process. I only found out about title searches after panicking and googling liens after I got off the phone with him.

Should I get a new agent for the next house I buy? Or am I the dumbass here?

So which is it? New agent? "Dumbass" investor? Neither, or both?

Something tells me blah learned their lesson the hard way.

Interested to see what you have to say on the HousingWire message boards below.