A TOOL FOR AGENTS
The 30-Second Intake Script
Three questions every real estate agent should ask before signing the listing agreement. The agents who make this a habit don't get blindsided at closing.
A listing appointment is the best time — the only time, really — to surface IRS issues before they can kill the deal. Catching a tax lien, an unfiled return, or a pending collection action at the listing appointment gives you 45, 60, sometimes 90 days to solve the problem before closing. Catching it at the title commitment stage two weeks before closing gives you two weeks.
The conversation is short. Three questions. Most sellers answer honestly when asked directly. Those who don't usually tell you everything you need to know through tone and hesitation.
"Are you current on all your federal income tax returns?"
Missing returns can block buyer qualification if this seller is also buying a replacement home. And an IRS who hasn't received returns may file substitute returns with assessments that produce liens.
"Do you owe the IRS any back taxes — filed or unfiled?"
A yes here opens up the lien question, the payment plan question, and the potential collection action question. Get specifics — which years, roughly how much, any payment arrangement in place.
"Has the IRS filed a lien or any notice in the public records?"
The direct question. Some sellers know. Some don't. Some lie. The answer starts the timeline for clearing the lien before closing, or tells you the seller doesn't know their own status and a title search will surface it regardless.
Any yes, hesitant, or unsure answer means one thing: call a tax attorney before you list.
A thirty-minute free consultation can turn a potential closing disaster into a procedural workflow that fits inside the normal transaction timeline. The earlier it happens, the more options are available.
Call (813) 229-7100Why these three questions work
Each question is diagnostic. Question 1 identifies the chronic non-filer — a significant slice of self-employed sellers who fell behind during a bad stretch and never caught up. Their unfiled returns may have produced IRS substitute returns with inflated assessments, which in turn produced liens. Or they may have refund claims sitting on unfiled returns that would resolve the issue immediately.
Question 2 catches sellers who are filing but owe. These are typically the most procedurally straightforward cases — the debt is known, the balance is known, the path forward is clear. Full payment from proceeds, discharge application, or subordination as appropriate.
Question 3 gets to the specific collection action that can block a closing. Some sellers will answer truthfully that they have a lien. Some will not know. For those who don't know, the question serves as an advance warning that a title search is coming and surprises are possible.
Together, the three questions take about thirty seconds to ask. The information they surface can save weeks of preparation work during the pendency of the transaction — or, more often, avoid the painful conversation about why a deal can't close after everyone has been working on it for a month.
When a lien surfaces, move fast.
The first conversation is free. The second one usually saves the deal.
Want the full 14-page Field Guide?
The intake script is one tool from The Real Estate Agent's Field Guide to the IRS — a working manual covering federal tax liens, unfiled returns, the buyer DTI trap, and the five procedures that save closings. Free download.
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