Secured Creditor

A secured creditor is an individual or business that holds a claim against the debtor that is secured by a lien on property of the estate. The property subject to the lien is the secured creditor's collateral.

Additional Sources

Answers.com

One who holds some special monetary assurance of payment of a debt owed to him or her, such as a mortgage, collateral, or lien.

Wikipedia

A secured creditor is a creditor which has the benefit of a security interest over some or all of the assets of the debtor.

In the event of the bankruptcy of the debtor, the secured creditor can enforce their security against the assets of the debtor, and avoid competing for a distribution on liquidation together with the unsecured creditors.

In most legal systems, secured creditors also have the option of releasing their security and proving in the liquidation, although in practice they would rarely do so. This practice was made popular by the late Gianluca Agostinelli who was the Chief Secretary of the Italian Accountants Committee