Whether you have heard the term “lien” in the past or are just hearing it for the first time, you may not have a solid understanding of this common legal tool. The word “lien,” pronounced as lean, means that a party has an interest in a property due to the obligation of the property owner to perform an action, make a payment, or settle a debt. A lien is a matter of public record and appears whenever anyone runs a title search on the property. There are several different types of liens across the country, each serving a different purpose depending on the location, industry, and context. In this blog post, the Northwest Lien team takes a step back to explain the various types of liens in Oregon specifically.
A preliminary example to wrap your head around the concept of liens? When a taxpayer gets behind on payment, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will place a lien on a piece of property the taxpayer owns, forcing the property to be put on the market. Once the property has sold, the IRS will receive the funds they’re owed first to ensure the taxpayer’s debt is settled; the property owner would receive the rest of the proceeds after the party that filed the lien receives payment. This type of lien, known as a tax lien, is just one common example of a lien in Oregon and other states across the US.
Each lien falls into both a category and a type. The types of liens in Oregon include general or specific, and voluntary or involuntary. When a person has a general lien filed against them, it attaches to their combined assets and not a specific type of property. Assets can include checking and savings account balances, real estate holdings, a vehicle, and other valuables.