That should help to remove a key obstacle for people who are trying to refinance or sell their homes, IRS Commissioner Douglas H. Shulman said.

When someone is delinquent on federal taxes, the IRS generally places a lien on the person's house and other property. The lien makes it difficult for someone to refinance or sell the house.

The homeowner can request, in essence, that the IRS set aside the lien, but this can take a month, Shulman said. The IRS is making an effort to speed up that process "so that we will not be the party delaying" a closing or refinancing, Shulman said in a conference call yesterday.

For example, in some cases, a homeowner who is trying to refinance or restructure a mortgage loan may ask for the IRS' lien to take a back seat to the lender's position, allowing the refinancing to move forward. The IRS said yesterday that it is speeding up that process. "That may mean they can stay in their homes," Shulman said.

In other cases, a homeowner who is selling a home for less than the amount of the mortgage may ask the IRS to essentially set aside the lien solely for the purpose of letting the sale go through. The IRS said yesterday that it is speeding up the processing of requests in such situations, too.

In either case, processing can take 30 days, Shulman said. The IRS is setting aside staff and taking other steps to expedite such requests. He did not say how much more quickly the requests will be processed as a result, or how many such requests the agency receives.

To take advantage of the faster processing, homeowners will first go through their lenders to get things started, said Frederick W. Schindler, IRS director of collection policy.

The point of the IRS' announcement yesterday was to raise awareness of the options that homeowners have when facing tax liens, and to let people know that the IRS is speeding up the handling of homeowner requests related to liens, Shulman said.

"We will ensure we have the resources in place to resolve these issues quickly and homeowners can complete their transactions," Shulman said in a statement.

Dennis B. Langley, president of the Urban League of Rhode Island, a community group based in Providence, said that the measure announced by the IRS yesterday "should make a difference."

Langley, whose organization includes a foreclosure prevention unit, said the IRS needs to work more with taxpayers to resolve problems. "I think there should be some discretion on the IRS' part," he said.

When it comes to working with homeowners or others who have fallen behind on their tax obligations, the IRS needs to be more lenient, "based on the times we are in," Langley said.

There are more than 1 million federal tax liens outstanding nationwide, the IRS said. The agency issues more than 600,000 federal tax-lien notices each year.

The measure that Shulman announced yesterday is the first in a series of steps that the agency will take in coming months that are aimed especially at people who have always paid their taxes on time but who have fallen behind on their tax payments lately "because of these extraordinary times," he said.

For now, Shulman said he has given instructions to all IRS personnel to work with taxpayers on mortgage-related issues. "We are going to go the extra mile," he said.

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