𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗮𝗻 𝘂𝗻𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻𝘀 𝗮 𝗻𝗼𝗻-𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗼𝗻𝗲 Fannie Mae sued two guarantors on September 16 over a 68-unit complex in Big Spring, Texas. The loan was $2.76 million. Non-recourse. Fannie says a roofer filed a $489,813 mechanics lien in August 2022, and it never got bonded off or released within 60 days. Under Fannie's standard loan documents, that one fact can make the guarantors personally liable for the entire balance. The lien counts as a transfer. Fannie defines transfer to include a lien attaching to the property, voluntary or not. You got a roofing bill. Fannie also claims 15 of the 68 units were unfit to live in, and the repair list grew from $384,825 to about $606,700 while roughly 4% of the work got done. Thats a waste claim, and waste only gets the lender its actual loss. The lien is what reaches the whole loan. All of it is allegation. No court has ruled. Say a property has cash for one check this month. The mortgage or the roofer. Skip the mortgage long enough and Fannie forecloses. You lose the building and your equity. Unless you tripped a carveout, the shortfall stays with the lender. Skip the roofer, let his lien sit past day 60, and you tripped one. Now the shortfall is yours. And the roofer still wants his money. On these docs, when cash runs short, the roofer is the check that protects your personal balance sheet. In July, Fannie sued Alan Stalcup for $6.6 million, the gap after Fannie foreclosed on a San Antonio property and sold it for $26.5 million against $33.1 million of debt. Liens and waste again. His side says the liens were bonded off and resolved, and that Fannie is trying to turn a market loss into a personal one. Both Texas cases are open. Georgia already has a judgment. In Fannie Mae v. Las Colinas Apartments, the trial judge found the loan was meant to be non-recourse, and the recorded liens caused Fannie no damages. The appeals court reversed. Final judgment: $10,224,348.24. The 24 cents is a nice touch. That older loan gave 30 days, not 60. If you carry agency debt, pull the loan agreement and look for the word "transfer". Then figure out who in your shop sees a new lien the day it records. The clock can start when it hits county records, whether you saw it or not. The roofer knows about the lien. So does the county clerk. Make sure the owner who signed the guaranty isn't the last one to find out.