Also known as:landlord's lien · landlord's liens · landlords lien · landlord lien · possessory lien
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A lien arising by statute or common law in favor of a landlord to secure unpaid rent. The lien typically attaches to the tenant's personal property located on the leased premises. It is excluded from the scope of UCC Article 9.
Sources & Authorities
How it applies
Common Examples
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Landlord Lien Excluded From Article 9
Lena Lawson leases warehouse space to Luke Latham under a lease granting her a lien on all stored tools and equipment for unpaid rent. Luke buys the equipment on credit from a supplier and grants a security interest to Lighthouse Shipping. When Luke defaults on both obligations, Lena asserts her landlord lien while Lighthouse claims priority under its perfected security interest. The court treats Lena's interest as a landlord's lien outside Article 9, so priority is resolved under non-Article 9 state law rather than the UCC filing rules.
Possessory Landlord Lien Priority Over Security Interest
Lena Lawson leases garage space to Luke Latham and retains possession of his delivery van after he defaults on rent. Luke had previously granted a security interest in the van to Linden Bank. Lena asserts her possessory landlord lien for the unpaid rent. Because the lien is possessory and created by operation of law, it takes priority over the bank's security interest under the applicable rule.
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Uniform Acts
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Common questions
Frequently Asked
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Are landlords' liens governed by UCC Article 9?+
No. UCC section 9-109(d)(1) expressly excludes a landlord's lien, other than an agricultural lien, from the scope of Article 9. The exclusion means the article's rules on creation, perfection, and priority do not apply to the landlord's lien itself. Priority disputes between a landlord's lien and an Article 9 security interest must instead be resolved under other applicable state law.
How does a possessory landlord's lien interact with a prior security interest?+
A possessory lien on goods has priority over a security interest in the goods unless the creating statute expressly provides otherwise. The lien must secure payment for services or materials furnished in the ordinary course of business, arise by statute or rule of law, and depend on continued possession. This priority rule protects service providers who improve the value of goods while in possession.
Does the exclusion of landlords' liens from Article 9 automatically give the landlord priority?+
No. The exclusion removes the landlord's lien from Article 9's creation, perfection, and priority rules but does not itself establish superiority. Priority between the excluded lien and a perfected security interest is determined under whatever non-Article 9 state law governs landlord liens and their ranking against consensual security interests.
694 P.2d 1129 (Wash. App. 1985)Property
…at the end of said ten days." [^maj-6]: Olin has made no claim to a superior right to the collateral by virtue of a statutory landlord's lien. RCW 60.72.010. Any such claim would fail because of Olin's disposition of the property and failure to enforce the lien within 2 months. Culp v. McMehan , 123 Wash. 499, 501-02, 212 P.…
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