How to proceed with closing when an old lien appears on the title report

Once, during a title search before a property closing, the issue didn't seem major at first: the title report showed a contractor lien from ten years ago that hadn't been released. The seller claimed it had been paid off long ago, but the closing date was very close. Everyone's story sounded reasonable, but they didn't add up when put together. I first asked everyone to pause to prevent the…