A straight answer
Can I get a HELOC or refinance if there is an IRS tax lien on my house?
The direct answer
Yes. A HELOC can pay off the IRS lien at closing, and some programs are structured to keep payments low; your terms depend on your file. The lien has to be paid off, and I arrange the HELOC program that does it, when your equity and credit fit the program.
You are not stuck, and a tax lien on your home is a heavy thing to sit with. The letters do not get friendlier. I'm Zach von der Linden (NMLS 1652805), a mortgage broker with West Capital Lending, based in San Clemente.
Here is what happens next. You text me, I ask a few questions about the home, your income and the payoff figure, and I tell you honestly what fits. No credit pull happens from a conversation. I work with homeowners in California, Utah, Oregon and Arizona, and eligibility depends on the property, your credit and your income. I am not a tax professional, and nothing here is tax advice.
Zach von der Linden, mortgage broker and Branch Manager, West Capital Lending · NMLS 1652805
Wholesale pricing · California, Utah, Oregon and Arizona
5.0 across 66 reviews on Experience.com (read on 2026-09-24) · Text reaches Zach directly · Last updated 2026-10-19
This situation is worked out in a short conversation. No credit pull happens from a conversation. The options check is a soft credit pull with no impact on your credit score for the first look. Texts go to Zach's cell.
What has to be true
You have equity in the home that covers the lien payoff and the rest of the loan, because the lien is paid from the loan at closing.
You know the payoff figure, or can get it. IRS Publication 1450 says you can request the balance due by contacting the office assigned to your account, through the View Your Account page on IRS.gov, or through the Centralized Lien Operation. Your tax professional can do this with you.
Your income and credit carry the new payment. Some programs are structured to keep payments low; your terms depend on your file, and which program fits depends on your equity and credit.
What the lender checks
The lien itself: the recorded Notice of Federal Tax Lien, the payoff figure in writing, and how the payoff is handled at closing so the title company can pay the IRS from the loan.
The home: its value, using the lender’s valuation, and how much is already borrowed against it, including the lien.
You: income, credit and, if the balance came from self-employment, the documents your program allows. I place bank statement loans as well as standard ones, and back taxes and self-employment often travel together.
Limits
I do not remove, negotiate or settle a lien. A recorded lien is paid off at closing as part of the loan. The IRS says a lien is released within 30 days after the tax debt is paid; getting the Certificate of Release recorded is between you, your tax professional and the IRS, and Publication 1450 explains how.
Nothing on this page states a payment amount, a rate, a fee or a loan size, and no product is named.
Nothing here is tax advice. Your balance, penalties and interest, and whether a payment plan or a payoff is right for you, are questions for the IRS and a tax professional. This page quotes what the IRS publishes so you can check it.
This page is about federal tax debt. Overdue county property taxes are a different debt, collected by the county under state law: Can I get a HELOC or refinance to pay overdue property taxes?
Self-employed with an IRS tax lien: can a HELOC pay it off?
Yes. I offer HELOCs that pay off an IRS tax lien at closing for self-employed homeowners.
A recorded lien has to be paid off at closing, and the payoff is part of the HELOC.
When your returns understate the business, the bank statement HELOC I offer reads 12 months of personal or business bank statements instead of tax returns.
I use whichever account shows the larger average monthly deposits, and business-account deposits get an expense factor.
The lien payoff figure still has to fit inside the line with your equity.
Paying the lien with the HELOC can mean one monthly HELOC payment in place of the IRS installment plan.
I show you how the two payments line up before you decide.
An IRS payment plan with no recorded lien is fine for the HELOC I offer, and it will not hold the HELOC up.
An unfiled or extended tax year does not matter for the bank statement HELOC I offer, because tax returns are not part of how it qualifies.
Send the recorded Notice of Federal Tax Lien, the payoff figure and which account your business deposits land in.
The page on unfiled or extended taxes covers that file.
Payoff or discharge: what is the difference?
The IRS says it "files a public document, the Notice of Federal Tax Lien, to alert creditors that the government has a legal right to your property."
Payoff: "The IRS releases your lien within 30 days after you have paid your tax debt."
Discharge: the IRS says a discharge "removes the lien from specific property."
Publication 783 says a Certificate of Discharge "removes the United States' lien from the property named in the certificate" (IRS Publication 783).
Withdrawal removes the public notice, and the IRS says "you are still liable for the amount due."
The route I arrange is payoff: a recorded lien is paid off at closing as part of the HELOC, and the IRS then releases it.
A discharge is an application you or your tax professional make to the IRS, and the IRS decides it.
What the IRS says
On what a lien is: “A federal tax lien is the government’s legal claim against your property when you neglect or fail to pay a tax debt.”
On release: “The IRS releases your lien within 30 days after you have paid your tax debt.” Publication 1450 puts the statutory basis this way: “Section 6325(a) of the Internal Revenue Code directs us to release a Federal tax lien within 30 days of when the liability is fully paid or becomes legally unenforceable, or the IRS accepts a bond for payment of the liability,” with the Certificate of Release filed “in the same recording office where the notice of lien was filed.”
On payment plans: “A payment plan is an agreement with the IRS to pay the taxes you owe within an extended timeframe,” and “interest and some penalty charges continue to be added to the amount you owe until the balance is paid in full.” A payment plan does not, by itself, remove a filed lien.
Questions people ask next
Can I get a HELOC with an IRS lien on my house?
Yes, in some programs. A HELOC can pay off the lien at closing, so it is satisfied rather than standing in front of the new line, and some programs are structured to keep payments low; your terms depend on your file. Text me the payoff figure and the notice, and I will tell you honestly what fits.
Can I refinance my home with a tax lien?
Yes, on the same principle: the payoff comes out of the new loan at closing. A refinance replaces your first mortgage; a home equity line leaves it as it is and adds a second loan behind it. Which one fits depends on whether your current mortgage is worth keeping and on the size of the payoff.
Will paying off the lien with a HELOC add a big monthly payment?
A HELOC has its own payment. Some programs are structured to keep payments low; your terms depend on your file. I will show you what the payment would be before anything is submitted, so you can decide with the number in front of you.
Does an installment agreement with the IRS remove the lien?
No. The IRS describes a payment plan as an agreement to pay what you owe within an extended timeframe, with interest and some penalties continuing to accrue until the balance is paid in full. Release comes with full payment, when the IRS says it releases the lien within thirty days. Ask your tax professional what your plan does and does not do.
Can a HELOC take the place of my IRS installment plan?
Yes. When the HELOC I offer pays off the lien at closing, you make one monthly HELOC payment in place of the IRS installment plan. I show you how the two payments line up before you decide.
The lien is in both our names as a married couple. Does that change anything?
It changes the payoff and the title work, not the principle: the recorded lien is paid from the loan at closing. Bring the notice as recorded and the payoff figure, and have your tax professional confirm whose liability it covers. I answer the financing side.
I am on an IRS payment plan and no lien is recorded. Can I still get a HELOC?
Yes. An IRS payment plan with no recorded lien is fine for the HELOC I offer, and it will not hold the HELOC up. Send me the plan's terms and the balance in the first text. If your returns are on extension or not filed, the unfiled or extended taxes page covers that part.
I have back taxes but no lien has been filed yet. Can I still get a loan?
Say so in the first text. A balance without a recorded lien is a different file from a recorded lien, and the program decides how it reads unpaid taxes. Your tax professional can tell you where the balance stands with the IRS; I tell you what the lender will need to see.
What clients say
Zach was so easy to work with. He made a stressful situation into a very positive experience for us and did push us one way or another. He listened to what we hoped we could accomplish and made it happen.
Word for word from Experience.com. Read all reviews.
Which page is this?
Keep your mortgage, get cash. A separate second loan can leave your existing first mortgage exactly as it is. The cash comes with its own rate and payment.
Can I get cash out of my home without refinancing?
That page has the tradeoffs and the same next step: the options check with no impact on your credit score for the initial check.
Sources and checked dates
Sources: Confirmed by Zach, October 19, 2026 (9:29 PM PT, via the Chief of Staff) (checked 2026-10-19) · Confirmed by Zach, October 2026 (checked 2026-10-19) · IRS, Understanding a federal tax lien (last reviewed September 14, 2026) (checked 2026-10-19) · IRS Publication 783, How to Apply for a Certificate of Discharge From Federal Tax Lien (Rev. 12-2022) (checked 2026-10-19) · Confirmed by Zach, September 2026 (checked 2026-09-27) · Confirmed by Zach, October 17, 2026 (checked 2026-10-17) · IRS, Understanding a federal tax lien (checked 2026-09-26) · IRS Publication 1450, Instructions for Requesting a Certificate of Release of Federal Tax Lien (checked 2026-09-26) · IRS, Payment plans; installment agreements (checked 2026-09-26) · Supplied by Zach, September 10, 2026 (checked 2026-09-10) · Supplied by Zach, September 9, 2026 (checked 2026-09-09) · CFPB, What is a HELOC? (checked 2026-09-27).
Show each claim on this page, what it depends on, and the date it was checked (14)
| What we say, and what it depends on | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|
| Zach offers financing for these self-employed situations: a HELOC to pay off an IRS tax lien; mortgage income for S corporation owners (W-2 wages, K-1 income and distributions); a HELOC to pay off business loans and business credit cards; a divorce buyout for a self-employed homeowner; a DSCR cash-out refinance of a rental qualified on its rent; business funds for a down payment; a HELOC after a drop in self-employed income; combining a spouse's W-2 income with bank statement income; a mortgage when the business pays a debt in the owner's name; seasonal business income; bank statement loans when real business expenses are lower than the expense factor; and a mortgage when a self-employed owner moves a business into California, Utah, Oregon or Arizona. He arranges each as a broker. | Confirmed by Zach, October 19, 2026 (9:29 PM PT, via the Chief of Staff) | 2026-10-19 |
| The bank statement HELOC Zach offers can pay off an IRS tax lien at closing, and the payoff is required: a recorded lien is paid off at closing as part of the HELOC. Paying the lien with the HELOC can mean one monthly HELOC payment in place of the IRS installment plan, and Zach shows the borrower how the two payments line up before they decide. An IRS payment plan with no recorded lien is fine for the HELOC and does not hold it up. | Confirmed by Zach, October 2026 | 2026-10-19 |
| Zach's answers for the self-employed HELOC answers. The bank statement HELOC he offers has no set minimum time in business, so a business under two years old is fine. An unfiled or extended tax year does not matter for the bank statement HELOC, because tax returns are not part of how it qualifies; no extra documents are needed for it. He also offers a HELOC qualified on a profit-and-loss statement; it counts profit only, not losses, based on what runs through the borrower's bank accounts each month. He takes 1099 and gig earners with no business entity and no business account: any account the borrower receives income into can be used, as long as it gets frequent deposits, and those deposits count toward qualifying income. | Confirmed by Zach, October 2026 | 2026-10-19 |
| IRS, Understanding a federal tax lien (page last reviewed September 14, 2026): "The IRS files a public document, the Notice of Federal Tax Lien, to alert creditors that the government has a legal right to your property." "The IRS releases your lien within 30 days after you have paid your tax debt." "A "discharge" removes the lien from specific property." "A "withdrawal" removes the public Notice of Federal Tax Lien and assures that the IRS is not competing with other creditors for your property; however, you are still liable for the amount due." | IRS, Understanding a federal tax lien (last reviewed September 14, 2026) | 2026-10-19 |
| IRS Publication 783 (Rev. 12-2022), How to Apply for a Certificate of Discharge From Federal Tax Lien: "A Certificate of Discharge under Internal Revenue Code Section 6325(b) removes the United States' lien from the property named in the certificate." The application is Form 14135. | IRS Publication 783, How to Apply for a Certificate of Discharge From Federal Tax Lien (Rev. 12-2022) | 2026-10-19 |
| Zach arranges a home equity line for self-employed owners that can be qualified on bank statements, which reads deposits instead of the net income on filed returns. | Confirmed by Zach, September 2026 | 2026-09-27 |
| Zach offers loans qualified on 12 months of bank statements instead of tax returns, at any loan size. He qualifies the borrower on either the personal or the business bank account, whichever shows the larger average monthly deposits over the past 12 months, and business-account deposits get an expense factor. | Confirmed by Zach, October 17, 2026 | 2026-10-17 |
| Zach arranges a HELOC program that can pay off an IRS tax lien at closing. Some programs are structured to keep payments low; terms depend on the file. | Confirmed by Zach, September 2026 | 2026-09-27 |
| The IRS says: “A federal tax lien is the government’s legal claim against your property when you neglect or fail to pay a tax debt.” It says: “The IRS releases your lien within 30 days after you have paid your tax debt.” | IRS, Understanding a federal tax lien | 2026-09-26 |
| IRS Publication 1450 says: “Section 6325(a) of the Internal Revenue Code directs us to release a Federal tax lien within 30 days of when the liability is fully paid or becomes legally unenforceable, or the IRS accepts a bond for payment of the liability.” It says a payoff amount can be requested by contacting the office assigned to the account, through the View Your Account page on IRS.gov, or through the Centralized Lien Operation, and that a Certificate of Release is filed “in the same recording office where the notice of lien was filed.” | IRS Publication 1450, Instructions for Requesting a Certificate of Release of Federal Tax Lien | 2026-09-26 |
| The IRS says: “A payment plan is an agreement with the IRS to pay the taxes you owe within an extended timeframe,” and “interest and some penalty charges continue to be added to the amount you owe until the balance is paid in full.” | IRS, Payment plans; installment agreements | 2026-09-26 |
| West Capital Lending offers bank statement loans, and Zach can arrange them. | Supplied by Zach, September 10, 2026 | 2026-09-10 |
| Zach reports placing loans through more than one wholesale lender and program via his broker channel: the standard home equity line described on this site, plus conventional, government, bank statement and investment-property options. Individual lender names are kept off the public pages until the executed broker agreement for each is on file (California 10 CCR 2848(a)(3)). | Supplied by Zach, September 9, 2026 | 2026-09-09 |
| The CFPB describes a HELOC as an open-end line of credit for borrowing repeatedly against home equity, says draw and repayment periods vary, and warns that falling behind could cost you your home. | CFPB, What is a HELOC? | 2026-09-27 |
Written for and accountable to: Zach von der Linden, Mortgage broker and Branch Manager, West Capital Lending.
Last updated 2026-10-19.
Verify him: NMLS Consumer Access, ID 1652805 · 66 reviews on Experience.com.
Sources for product claims are listed on this page, with the date each was checked.
Two ways to take the next step
No credit pull happens from a conversation. The options check is a soft credit pull with no impact on your credit score for the first look. Text Zach first so he can review your situation. The online check covers one HELOC program, not every option he may be able to arrange. Texts go to Zach's cell.