A lien is a legal right or claim against assets that are typically used as collateral to satisfy a debt. It is a form of security interest granted over an item of property to secure the payment of a debt or performance of some other obligation. The owner of the property, who grants the lien, is referred to as the lienee and the person who has the lien is referred to as the lienor. There are different types of liens, including:

• Real Estate Lien: A legal right to seize and sell real estate property if a contract is not fulfilled. Some real estate liens are automatically put in place, such as in the case of a mortgage lien.

• Floating Lien: A lien on inventory or other unfixed property.

• Tax Lien: A lien imposed by law upon a property to secure the payment of taxes.

• Carriers Lien: A carriers right to retain possession of cargo until the cargo owner pays shipping costs.

• Demurrage Lien: A carriers lien on goods for any unpaid demurrage charges.

• Dragnet Lien: A lien that is enlarged to cover any additional property acquired by the lienee.

In the United States, the term lien generally refers to a wide range of encumbrances and would include other forms of mortgage or charge. The Michigan Law Enforcement Information Network (LEIN) is a statewide computerized information system that assists the criminal justice community in the performance of its duties by providing and maintaining a computerized filing system of accurate and timely documented criminal justice information readily available to all criminal justice agencies.