Owners of 12 homes in the Cranberry area will have a $1,800 lien placed on their properties until fees are paid for new sewer extensions, Carroll County officials said yesterday.

The hookups, now being installed, will replace a decrepit section of the county sewer system and connect the Westminster homes to the system operated by Baltimore City.

Under the plan, each homeowner will be charged $1,800 for the hookup, to be covered by the lien while the money is repaid over a 10-year period at 5 percent interest, said Eugene C. Curfman, Carroll's comptroller.

County officials have agreed to pay $700 per home toward the hookup, because the original price of $1,800 was increased to $2,400 by the Baltimore system, Curfman said.

Twenty homes will be added to the system, Curfman said. Hookup costs for eight homeowners who qualify as low-income will be covered by state grants.

The overall cost of the sewer conversion is $53,500.