Nonconsensual Liens Effect Your Wallet & Property

A creditor can, in some circumstances, get a lien on your property without your consent. These secured debts are termed nonconsensual liens. A creditor with a nonconsensual lien claims you owe them money, and to secure payment they places a lien on your property. To get paid, the creditor may be able to force the sale of the property. This is called a foreclosure. In practice, however, few creditors holding nonconsensual liens foreclose on property because of the time and expense involved. Instead, creditors generally wait to get paid until you sell the property.

There are three major types of nonconsensual liens.

• Judicial liens
A judicial lien can be placed on your property only after somebody sues you and wins a money judgment against you. In most states, the judgment creditor then must record (file) the judgment with the local land records office. The recorded judgment creates a lien on your real property. In a few states, a judgment entered against you by a court automatically creates a lien on the real property you own in that county—that is, the judgment creditor doesn’t have to record the judgment to get the lien. In some states, judicial liens apply to personal property as well.

• Statutory liens
Some liens are created automatically by law. For example, when you hire someone to work on your house, the worker or supplier of materials automatically gets a mechanic’s lien (also called materialman’s lien) on the house if you don’t pay. So does a homeowners’ association, in some states, if you don’t pay your association dues.

• Tax liens
Federal, state and local governments have the authority to impose liens on your property if you owe delinquent taxes.


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