{"id":50017,"date":"2026-06-08T16:39:46","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T13:39:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/?post_type=glossary_term&p=50017"},"modified":"2026-08-18T14:32:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T11:32:37","slug":"lien","status":"publish","type":"glossary_term","link":"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/glossary\/lien\/","title":{"rendered":"Lien"},"content":{"rendered":"

A lien is a legal claim against a property that backs a debt or obligation. Unpaid mortgages, contractor bills (mechanic’s liens), overdue property taxes, and court judgments can all create one, and most have to be cleared before the property can be sold or refinanced.<\/p>\n

Liens are recorded publicly and surface during the title search. They can slow or complicate a deal, which is where title insurance earns its place, protecting buyers and lenders against undisclosed or fraudulent liens that appear after closing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Understand liens in commercial real estate: how mortgage, tax, and mechanic’s liens arise, how title searches find them, and what title insurance covers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","glossary_category":[8644],"class_list":["post-50017","glossary_term","type-glossary_term","status-publish","hentry","glossary_category-legal-contracts","wpautop"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLien | CRE Glossary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A lien is a legal claim against a property securing a debt, which generally must be cleared before the property can be sold or refinanced..\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/glossary\/lien\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lien\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" 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