Bogus Liens A Real Headache Proposed Legislation Would Make It Harder To Harass Public Officials

Idaho will make it harder for people to file bogus liens against public officials and others if Attorney General Al Lance has his way.

Lance is preparing legislation that would crack down on the filing of liens that have no legal standing. Such liens, though bogus, can cause headaches for their targets, who have to clear them up to ensure that title to their land is not clouded.

The legislation will “ensure that these are not used as terrorist devices,” said Lance, who called such filings “a growing problem here in Idaho.”

Kootenai County Administrator Tom Taggart, who was sued last spring over his refusal to accept one of the liens as county clerk, termed Lance’s move “something that needs to get done.”

“There should be some guidelines,” he said.

The citizen who sued Taggart, Leroy Murray, wanted to file a lien demanding $16 million from four IRS agents he claimed had violated his rights.

When the case went to court, Murray testified that in his opinion, county recorders had no discretion and had to accept and record anything a citizen wanted to file. Taggart said Murray testified that “if he squashed a guppy on the page, we would have to record it.”

“I don’t think that helped his case.”

Despite a District Court ruling in Taggart’s favor and statements from the state Supreme Court and the attorney general’s office that clerks don’t need to accept such liens, many clerks are uncomfortable, said Deputy Attorney General Bill Von Tagen.

So the legislation would put a clear statement into state law that clerks don’t have to accept legally meaningless liens.

Lance’s proposed legislation would also:

Require the District Court’s approval before a lien could be filed against a public official for carrying out his or her official duties. “We’re not saying absolutely something can’t be filed, but we want a little bit of adult supervision,” Von Tagen said.

Idaho has seen meaningless multimillion-dollar claims filed against the attorney general, state tax commissioners, judges and others.

Provide a streamlined process for removing frivolous liens that do get filed.

Allow the targets of liens to sue for damages, up to $5,000. Damages might arise if a home sale fell through, for example, because of title questions raised by a frivolous lien.

“Some of these things may appear to be humorous, but when you have one against you just simply for doing your job, it’s no fun,” Von Tagen said.

The legislation is modeled after a bill passed in the Washington legislature last year. There, a flurry of frivolous liens had been filed. One came from a citizen who favored some legislation that didn’t pass, so he filed liens against nine state senators. A driver who got a speeding ticket filed liens against the trooper who wrote the ticket and the judge who upheld it.

Von Tagen said the latest tactic by filers of frivolous liens has surfaced in Boise County, where some people have filed “patents” laying claim to other people’s land. The patents have no legal standing.

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