Can a Hospital Put a Lien on Your House?

Every year, one in three Americans cannot pay their medical bills. Even so, they can get help paying them off through the "Hospital Financial Assistance Program" (HFAP). But HFAP has some strict rules, making it hard to qualify.

One of their requirements is that you can't have any other payment source, like health insurance. But what if you can't afford their monthly premiums? Well, if you can't pay your medical bills, the hospital may put a lien on your house. A lien is a legal claim on your property that allows the hospital to pay themselves if you sell your home. This can be a huge problem for people who are already struggling financially.

You may try to solve the issue of by yourself, but the biggest problem is that you can easily make the situation worse. If you don't handle the situation correctly, you can damage your relationship with the hospital, making it difficult to obtain future medical care.

Fortunately, there's an easy way to handle house lien removal with DoNotPay. At DoNotPay, we understand that dealing with bills and liens can be a frustrating experience. That's why we've created a faster, more convenient, automated, less frustrating way for you to solve this issue.

What Is a Hospital Lien and Can a Hospital Put a Lien on Your House?

A hospital lien is a legal claim that a hospital can put on your property to get paid for the services that you received. These services include medical bills, ambulance fees, and other costs associated with your care.

So, YES. If you don't pay the debt, the hospital can take legal action to repossess the property by . To use a hospital lien, the hospital must follow these procedures.

Notifying the patient-debtor of your intent to place a lien on their property 15 days before you do so, or within the time limit set by state law, is required.
Make sure to follow the appropriate laws and strict protocols by noting court action in the patient's attorney's file.

However, this only applies to individuals who do not have health insurance. If you have health insurance, you should inform the hospital in writing immediately. By law, the hospital has a certain amount of time to file the lien, so it's important to act quickly if you think this may be an issue.

Having a hospital lien can impact your ability to get future credit and even sell your home. If you're dealing with a hospital lien, it's best to speak with an attorney to understand your options and get the help you need.

Selling Your Home With a Hospital Lien Against It

If you're like most people, your home is likely your biggest asset. So what can you do if you find yourself in a situation where a hospital or other medical provider places a lien against your house? Fortunately, there are a few options available for you.

Negotiate With the Hospital or Other Medical Provider	This can be tough, as hospitals and other medical providers are notoriously inflexible regarding payment. However, it's worth a try. If you can negotiate a payment plan or some other arrangement, you may be able to avoid having a lien placed on your house.
Work With a Lien Removal Company	Some companies specialize in removing hospital liens from homes. These companies typically charge a fee for their services, but if they're successful, it can save you a lot of money and hassle in the long run.
Sell Your House to a Cash Buyer	If you need to sell your house quickly and don't have time to go through the process of negotiating with the hospital or removing the lien yourself, you can always sell your house to a cash buyer. This can be a quick and easy solution, but it will likely result in you receiving less for your home than you would if you sold it through a traditional sale.

No matter what route you decide to take, it's important to act quickly. The longer you wait, the more likely the hospital or other medical provider will take legal action to enforce their lien.

How to Fight a Hospital Lien on Your House

There are a few ways to take care of a hospital lien on your house if it begins to cause problems for you. You can:

Try to negotiate debt reduction with the hospital.
Go through legal proceedings to contest the lien.
Try and work with the hospital's billing department to get an extended payment period.

Remove a Lien With DoNotPay

DoNotPay can help you get a hospital lien removed from your property. We can write a letter to the creditor who placed the lien on your property. In this letter, we will ask them to renegotiate the terms of your debt to meet your needs. We can also help you get the lien off your record by filling out and sending a Release of Lien form to your creditor. This will make it easier for you to forget about the lien, secure your property and move on with your life.

Here are three steps to get started:

Search for remove my lien on DoNotPay.
Start our Remove My Lien product.
Answer some questions about your specific lien and let us help you craft a letter to your creditor to resolve the issue.