‘Super liens’ lose their super powers

Sister and brother Jessica Sims and James Davis say a so-called “super-lien” robbed them of their inheritance, stripping them of their father’s childhood home. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Sister and brother Jessica Sims and James Davis say a so-called “super-lien” robbed them of their inheritance, stripping them of their father’s childhood home. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

A bane to struggling homeowners has been neutralized.

For years, if Georgia homeowners fell behind paying their property taxes and other bills — even by just a few thousand dollars — they could lose their home and everything they had invested in it.

It was done by putting claims against properties that were so swift and powerful, they were dubbed “super liens.”

“It feels like losing hope,” said one woman who lost ownership in her father’s childhood home. “I stayed sick to my stomach the whole time.”

To find out how super liens worked, how they ravaged property owners, and how a recent Georgia Supreme Court decision changes the game, read our exclusive report at myajc.com.