If you have a lien on your home and you lose your home do you still have to pay?
Yes. The lien is simply a method by which a debt is secured. If
the lien is on the house and the house is lost, the only thing the
creditor loses is the security for the debt. The debt remains
payable. If a person buys a house and borrows $100,000 to help pay
for it, that person signs a promissory note to establish the debt
and signs a mortgage to establish the bank's lien on the house as
security for the debt. If the house burns down and there is no fire
insurance, the bank has lost the security for the debt but it has
not lost the debt. The mortgage (security) is useless because there
is no house, but the promissory note (debt) remains in effect.