Lien

A legal claim made against a debtor’s property. Generally, this comes in the form of a judgment that is then recorded on property the debtor owns. For example, if a judgment creditor gets a judgment of $10,000.00 in child support arrearages, and the judgment debtor owns a home, the judgment creditor can record that judgment against the property, and whenever the home is sold, the first $10,000.00 of the proceeds (after the mortgage is paid off) will go to the judgment creditor to satisfy the judgment.