Lien

A charge on specific property that is designed to secure payment of a debt or performance of an obligation. A debtor may still be responsible for a lien after a discharge.

Additional Sources

Answers.com

The right to take and hold or sell the property of a debtor as security or payment for a debt or duty.

Duhaime Legal Dictionary

A property right which remains attached to an object that has been sold, but not totally paid for, until complete payment has been made.

Encyclopedia Britannica

In property law, claim or charge upon property securing the payment of some debt or the satisfaction of some obligation or duty. Although the term is of French derivation, the lien as a legal principle was a recognized property right in early Roman law.

The English common law early recognized the creditor’s possessory lien, a right of a creditor to retain possession of a debtor’s goods until the satisfaction of the debt, generally the payment of the purchase price. In time, the common law developed two kinds of possessory liens: specific liens and general liens. The specific lien extended only to the indebtedness of the property owner for the value of services rendered to or in connection with his property—that is, the price for the repair or improvement of the property. The general lien extends not only to the value of services rendered in regard to the specific property but also to all indebtedness on general account by the property owner to the creditor. Whether a creditor had a general or specific possessory lien came to be determined by custom and trade usage. This classification of creditor’s possessory liens was largely superseded in the eventual refinement of common-law contract remedies.

In addition to the common-law possessory liens, there are also equitable and statutory liens. Courts of equity will in certain situations recognize a creditor’s interest in a debtor’s property even though the property remains in the debtor’s possession. An example of a statutory lien in general use in the United States is the mechanic’s lien, most commonly of statutory creation, that confers upon builders, contractors, and others furnishing labour and materials for land improvement an interest in the land so improved as security for payment for their services.

FindLaw

A charge or encumbrance upon property for the satisfaction of a debt or other duty that is created by agreement of the parties or esp. by operation of law.

Law.com Dictionary

n. any official claim or charge against property or funds for payment of a debt or an amount owed for services rendered. A lien is usually a formal document signed by the party to whom money is owed and sometimes by the debtor who agrees to the amount due. A lien carries with it the right to sell property, if necessary, to obtain the money. A mortgage or a deed of trust is a form of lien, and any lien against real property must be recorded with the County Recorder to be enforceable, including an abstract of judgment which turns a judgment into a lien against the judgment debtor's property. There are numerous types of liens including: a mechanic's lien against the real property upon which a workman, contractor or supplier has provided work or materials, an attorney's lien for fees to be paid from funds recovered by his/her efforts, a medical lien for medical bills to be paid from funds recovered for an injury, a landlord's lien against a tenant's property for unpaid rent or damages, a tax lien to enforce the government's claim of unpaid taxes, or the security agreement (UCC-1) authorized by the Uniform Commercial Code. Most liens are enforceable in the order in which they were recorded or filed (in the case of security agreements), except tax liens, which have priority over the private citizen's claim.

Lect Law Library

LIEN - The right to retain the lawful possession of the property of another until the owner fulfills a legal duty to the person holding the property, such as the payment of lawful charges for work done on the property. A mortgage is a common lien.

In its widest meaning this term includes every case in which real or personal property is charged with the payment of any debt or duty; every such charge being denominated a lien on the property. In a more limited sense it is defined to be a right of detaining the property of another until some claim be satisfied.

Legal-Dictionary.org

A claim on a piece of property, as security for a debt.

Merriam Webster

1 : a charge upon real or personal property for the satisfaction of some debt or duty ordinarily arising by operation of law

2 : the security interest created by a mortgage

The Free (Legal) Dictionary

A lien is an encumbrance on one person's property to secure a debt the property owner owes to another person. The statement that someone's property is "tied up" describes the effect of liens on both real and Personal Property. Lien is a French word meaning "knot or binding" that was brought to Britain with the French language during the Norman Conquest in 1066.

Wikipedia

In law, a lien is a form of security interest granted over an item of property to secure the payment of a debt or performance of some other obligation. The owner of the property, who grants the lien, is referred to as the lienor and the person who has the benefit of the lien is referred to as the lienee.