Also known as: judicial lien · judgment lien
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A lien created by judicial process that attaches to a debtor's property upon entry of a judgment or issuance of a writ of execution. The lien permits the creditor to seize and sell the property to satisfy the underlying obligation. It arises only after a lawsuit and enforcement steps rather than by agreement or statute alone.
Jacob Jennings held a recorded judicial lien on Blackacre after winning a contract suit against the owner. A third-party payor satisfied the senior mortgage in full at the owner's request and expected to receive equivalent security. Subrogation assigned the senior mortgage position to the payor by operation of law, preserving its priority over Jacob's judicial lien and preventing the owner from obtaining unencumbered title.
Jensen Farms obtained a money judgment against Smith-Douglass and docketed it to create a judicial lien on the debtor's equipment. When Smith-Douglass filed bankruptcy, the trustee asserted the rights of a hypothetical lien creditor under section 544. The judicial lien allowed the trustee to avoid a prior unperfected security interest that a simple-contract creditor could not have reached.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
A judicial lien arises only after a lawsuit, judgment, and writ of execution or recording. A security interest is created by agreement between debtor and creditor and is perfected by filing or possession. Article 9 expressly reserves the term lien for judicial liens and treats security interests separately.
Supporting sources
Attachment occurs when the judgment is docketed or the writ is levied, depending on state law. The lien reaches property the debtor acquires after the judgment only if state recording or docketing rules so provide. It does not automatically reach property the debtor never owned.
Supporting sources
A purchase-money mortgage given as part of the same transaction that conveys title takes priority over a preexisting judicial lien even if the mortgagee knew of the lien. The rule protects the vendor or lender who enabled the debtor to acquire the property in the first place.
Supporting sources
Yes. The trustee steps into the shoes of a hypothetical creditor who obtains a judicial lien at the commencement of the case. If the judicial lien could have been obtained on property that a simple-contract creditor could reach, the trustee may avoid any transfer that such a creditor could have avoided.
Supporting sources