It is common knowledge that to pardon is a divine quality and this is an aspect of human nature that has existed time immemorial and applied to everything, even to debts.
The biblical allusion of the Israelites wandering in the desert serves a lesson.
If a creditor could not bring a claim against the debtor for a period of seven years, he or she was barred from suing.
This has been adopted by our modern society.
The Law Is Very Considerate There is always a period of grace that the law imposes on tax liens.
There is also an effect that the defaulting taxpayer has the duty to redeem his debts over a certain time limit.
In the Bible, it is noted that God even made it clear to Moses that he was no longer indebted to another and that if a debtor was unable to redeem his debts after seven years, the debts should be canceled.
God made it clear that not every person is the same.
Some will be richer than others and the condition for economic breakthrough is for all to heed to God's advice.
For this reason, Moses communicated this to God's people when they were in the territory of the Moabites, that any money owed to the community will be taken note of for a period of not more than seven years.
What this really means is that a debtor is not declared as free from debts as soon as this seven year period elapses.
The only right not to pay the debts is that the law has given the debtor protection from his creditor.
This protection is however accorded by the law once the due process of law has been observed.
Failure of the law to expressly make a statement regarding the financial freedom of the debtor means that the debt is still hanging on the debtor.
In most cases, there are stipulations to the effect that the debts of a debtor will be cataloged for a period of not more than ten years.
In this case, the debtor may observe his responsibility to redeem his debt.
This is the same for tax liens.
Tax liens will be cataloged in open records for a maximum period of ten years.
It is advisable to research on what obtains in the various states because what is done in one state may not be what is done in another state.
Deeds Should Not Be Considered As Relief First and foremost, can the statute of limitation run for a tax lien? It should be noted that this statute can be made longer by a deed.
This deed is defined as a legal document implemented with some seriousness and which the law will find as a contract under which both parties to this contract are bounded by the terms of the contract.
Both parties will also append their signatures to the deed and will seek for witnesses who will also sign the deed.
The deed will then be registered with the appropriate authorities.
Therefore if a deed makes it clear that the limitation period should be inapplicable, it will be stated clearly in it.
The Doctrine of Part Performance is also to the effect that this limitation period may not be followed.
Under this doctrine, a debtor cannot deny that there was no debt because the limitation period has been attained if he had begun paying the debts.
Normally, the limitation period will cease to run from the date in which the debt was entered.
It will commence from the date of the part performance.
Thus, specific actions by the taxpayer may bar him from invoking the statute of limitation on the tax lien.