A Lien Search Before a Listing?

I was recently in a seminar where the ugly topic of short sales was part of the discussion. The usual horror stories and screaming in the night, you know what I mean. In any event, someone made the suggestion that before you take a listing for a short sale, do a lien search (no, not a title search) on the property in order to determine who has a piece of the pie. For example, a person may be short selling their home and completely forgot about a local bond loan they took out that does not have to be paid until selling. How many people would remember that after 10 or 15 years? They haven't been paying on it so they figure it was a freebe. Most folks would believe it was something the state government gave them (how generous right?) as a gift to buy their home. It's also good to know how many subordinate loans will have to be waded through to get those 3rd party approvals. Doing a lien search might not even be a bad idea for someone selling their home even when it is not a short sale. How about this scenario. Mr. Seller says I want to sell my house for $200,000. Ok Mr. Seller, let's put it on the market for you. Three days goes by and you get an offer. (I know, 3 days, yeah right! Hey it's a story, lighten up.) Anyways, you get this offer for $195,000 and Mr Seller says, I'll take it. Great, we have a deal! ooops, not so fast. After subtracting commissions, transfer taxes, etc, Mr. Seller is short in satisfying his loan that he took out 15 years ago. Why? because he forgot he took out a HELOC. Mr. Seller thinks, Hey it's a line of credit.  Hello, it's a loan Mr. Seller and guess what, there's a second lien on your house as a result. Well, I think you get the gist of this. What do you think, good idea, not a good idea?