LIEN ( Fr. /it a, bond, from Lat. ligamen, band. from ligare, to bind). In law, a security or kohl over goods or land, and the right to retain or take the same for a debt which is due. Liens exsit (1) at co lllll ton law, (2) in equity, 13 in admiralty, and (4) by statute; and each 4,1 these differs from the others in character an 1 in its effect upon the property. (I) Liens upon chattels were recognized and enforced at com mon law in favor of innkeepers. common carriers, attorneys. warehousemen. factors, and any one who had performed work upon a chattel in his possession—all of which attached by implication of law without any express agreement. A lien might also be created by a contract or agreement between the debtor and creditor by which the debtor deposited personal property with the cred itor as security for his debt (see PLEDGE), or in a particular business or trade by a usage so ex tensive and well established that the courts of law will recognize it. (See CusTom.) In general, a lien cannot be acquired against the owner of a chattel when possession is given to the would-be lienor by one wrongfully having possession of the chattel. Innkeepers may, however, acquire a lien on stolen goods brought to them by a thief. This constitutes the one important exception to the general rule. Possession of the property by the lienor is essential to a common-law lien; for as soon as the goods are voluntarily parted with by him the lieu is gone. The lienor's only right at common law' was to retain possession of the property until his claim was paid. He could not sell or otherwise dispose of it. Equity, however, early took jurisdiction to relieve the lienor by allowing him to foreclose his lien and collect the amount due from time proceeds of the judicial sale of the chattels. In many States the lienor now has statutory authority to sell chattels on which he has a lien and apply the proceeds to the pay ment of the debt.
A common-law lien may be either general or specific. it is general when it may be enforced for a general balance due from the owner to the lienor, and is not confined to the amount due upon or on account of the specific article over which it exists. (See LIEN, GENERAL.) A specific lien is one over specific goods for a debt contracted in respect to them alone, as for the price of them or for some labor or services expended upon them. Thus, a vendor of goods has a special lien upon them while they remain in his possession with the price due and unpaid. after the title to them has passed to the vendee. A miller has a special lien on the flour he has ground, an artisan on the article he has repaired, etc. Warehouse men and carriers have what has been called a general-special lien—i.e. if an owner place a large quantity of goods in their custody at one time, they may retain any portion of them in their possession for their charges upon the entire quantity. butt they have no lien for charges upon goods placed with them at other times. Com
mon carriers also have a lien for charges paid by them to connecting carriers upon the goods upon which a lien is claimed. The right of stop page in transitn—that is, the right of a vendor to retake goods in transit before delivery to vendee in cave of the insolvency of the vendee, as security for the purchase price—although originally equitable in character, is now recog nized and enforced by courts of law.
(2) Equitable liens, or those enforced by a court of equity only, are in the nature of constructive trusts (see TRUST) ; that is, the owner of prop e•ty is compelled to apply his property in cer tain cases specifically to the payment of his debt. Equitable liens, unlike common-law liens, may be either upon real or personal property and do not depend on the possession by the lienor. Equit able. like common-law liens, may arise by impli cation of law. Thus the vendor of real estate who has given a deed of the property to the vendee has a lien to secure the payment of the purchase price; and the vendee who has paid the purchase price without securing a deed has a lien upon the land to secure the money so paid. Of like character are the reciprocal liens of partnership upon the partnership property, and the lien of lis pendcns (q.v.). Equitable liens arise more frequently from contract or agreement. An agreement for a lien or security which falls short of a legal mortgage or pledge will be en forced in equity as between the parties and against third parties who are not purchasers for value. The rights of third parties with reference to equitable liens are now variously affected by statutes for the recording of lien and mortgage. See RECORDING ACTS.
(3) Liens in admiralty are similar to those in equity. Like the latter, they do not depend upon possession. They are enforced by means of a libel filed in the admiralty court upon the vessel or property upon which the lien is claimed. See ADMIRALTY LAW; MARITIME LAW.
(4) Important liens also exist by virtue of statutes. One of the most beneficent of these is the lien given to merchants and material men for work and material furnished for the erection of buildings, another is the judgment lien upon real property, and still another, the lien given to boarding-house keepers and innkeepers on the goods of their boarders for the amount of board furnished and unpaid for. Most statutory liens are acquired by filing a notice of the lien in the appro priate office for similar records, usually the office of the county clerk: and they are enforced by judicial proceedings corresponding to foreclosure. Consult the authorities referred to under such titles as CARRIER, COMMON; INN, INNKEEPER; PLEDGE; MORTGAGE; and also consult : L. A. Jones, Treatise on the Law of Liens. Common Law, Stat utory, and Equitable (2d ed., Boston, 1894) ; Knee land, Mechanics' Liens (3d ed., New York, 1893).