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lien |
Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Legal, Financial, Acronyms, Wikipedia, Hutchinson | 0.04 sec. |
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lien, claim or charge held by one party, on property owned by a second party, as security for payment of some debt, obligation, or duty owed by that second party. A lien may arise by agreement between the parties or by operation of law from the relation of the parties or the circumstances of their dealings. A special lien applies only to a specific property and any obligations related to it. A general lien can be enforced on a property for any unfulfilled debt in similar lines of business. Laborer's liens establish priority for the payment of employees in favor of general creditors in cases of bankruptcy; mechanic's liens similarly provide priority for the payment of contractors who provided goods and services for building projects. The holder of a first lien takes precedence over all other encumbrances on a piece of property. A tax lien is held by the state or federal government on property which may be foreclosed for nonpayment of taxes. lienIn law, a charge or encumbrance on property for the satisfaction of a debt or other duty. Common law developed two kinds of possessory lien: the specific (a lien on the specific property involved in a transaction) and the general (a lien for the satisfaction of a balance due, not confined to a specific property involved in a transaction). Courts of equity may, through the device of the equitable lien, recognize a creditor's interest in a debtor's property. Statutory liens are also available; developers and building contractors, for example, may use their interest in an improved site as security for payment (a mechanic's lien). lien Law a right to retain possession of another's property pending discharge of a debt How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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| He acted in this manner, because he thought he had secured a sufficient lien on the young lady, by means of her "yes," and knew how important it was for one who could show none of the usual inducements for consent, to the parents, to obtain the good-will of the "old lady. Casaubon was out of the question, not merely because he declined duty of this sort, but because Featherstone had an especial dislike to him as the rector of his own parish, who had a lien on the land in the shape of tithe, also as the deliverer of morning sermons, which the old man, being in his pew and not at all sleepy, had been obliged to sit through with an inward snarl. There are deeds of trust, mortgages, certificates of release, transfers, judgments, foreclosures, writs of attachment, orders of sale, tax liens, petitions for letters of administration, and decrees of distribution. |
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