Judgement and Lien Searches

Basically a lien is a legal instrument giving a person, business, etc. the legal right to take, hold or sell another person’s property for debt or restitution of some sort. There are many forms of liens, judgment liens pertain to lawsuits, tax liens, contractual liens, and so forth.

In U.S. law, lien is the broadest term for any sort of charge or encumbrance against an item of property that secures the payment of a debt or performance of some other obligation.

A lien is a formal notice of rights to property being pledged for a debt should the debt not be repaid as agreed. For instance, if a bank makes a loan to a business for the purchase of new equipment, the bank will obtain the serial numbers from the equipment (as well as a description of the equipment) and file a UCC lien against the equipment. This is available for other lenders to search (who may be considering making a loan to the company) to notify them that the bank has rights to the equipment should the business default on the loan.