I was laid off twice between 2001-2003, after working in my current
job for a year I filed my back state and federal back taxes in summer
of last year.  It turned out that the federal government owned me
money, but I owned money to the state.  I called the MD state
comptrollers office during the summer of last year to try to set up a
payment plan; however, I was told by a clerk to call back later
because they hadn't processed all of the years yet and it would be
better if I set up a plan encompassing the whole amount instead of
part of it.  So I waited, and in the meantime I had to move
unexpectedly around September/October.  It turns out around this time
the comptrollers office sent me a letter notifying me of what I owed
and informing me of their intent to file a lien against me.  In the
move I never received this letter.  I recently got myself settled
after the new year, and I called the comptrollers office to try to set
up the payment, which was when I was informed that they filed a lien
against me.

My first question is do I have any recourse whatsoever in the state of M.D.

Second, just how negatively will this impact my credit rating, I did a
some web searches for tax liens and it?s seemed to be always mentioned
with bankruptcy.  Is it as bad or worse than bankruptcy and how long
does it stay on my credit report, can I get it removed if I pay in
full?  I was planning on trying to buy a house this year, am I
completly screwed until I'm 30 now?