Lien

len, a right to detain or hold the property of another until the debt due from him is paid. The mender of a clock is entitled to retain it until his proper charges are paid. A horseshoer may retain the animal until the just cost of shoeing has been tendered him. A blacksmith may hold a wagon until repairs have been paid for. In most states, carpenters, plasterers, and other workmen are given a thirty or sixty days' lien by law on the building on which they have worked. Even though the owner of the building should sell, the lien is a prior claim until the time of its expiration. Workmen in a lumber camp or in a sawmill have a lien on the logs and lumber. The several states set a time limit.