does a tax lien hurt your credit 
having a tax lien against you doesn t necessarily hurt your credit because the three major credit bureaus don t include tax liens on their consumer credit reports 8 but property tax liens may be a matter of public record and the information that you owe an outstanding tax bill would be widely available to the general public 1the bottom linea tax lien certificate is a representation of ownership resulting from defaulted taxes owed on a property a local government creates a lien against the property and can auction off the rights to that lien in the form of a certificate if the taxes continue to go unpaid an investor who purchases the tax lien certificate may be able to recoup their principal while also earning some interest via penalty fees should the original property owner be able to pay off the tax lien in the future but returns are often a function of risk just like other forms of investment 