the.com/lien
A polite legal hostage situation — you keep your stuff, they keep the leverage.
means A legal claim on someone's property that lets a creditor seize or sell it if a debt doesn't get paid.
from From French 'lien' meaning 'bond' or 'tie,' which traces back to Latin 'ligamen' and the verb 'ligare' — 'to bind.' The same root gives us 'ligament' and 'ligature.' So a lien is literally a binding — not of rope, but of ownership to obligation, keeping your property tethered to a debt until it's settled.
- not ownership
- lienholder can't sell, just blocks you from doing so
- word origin
- french for bond, same root as ligament
- stays attached
- follows the asset even if you sell it
- common type
- mechanic's lien lets contractors claim unpaid work