Lien. The word gets thrown around like a hot potato on a construction project. Here on the Lien Blog, I use the word constantly, and advocate to credit managers to "file a lien" to protect a company's rights to payment.

But what exactly is a lien? How does it work?  What does it do and not do?  This is something we've really glossed over here on the Lien Blog, and I feel like its time for a little 101 on the meaning of "lien."