Lien

A lien, in Saudi terms a privilege (haq al-imtiyaz), is an accessory right in rem granted by law to a particular creditor because of the nature of his debt, giving him priority over other creditors in being paid from the debtor's assets or from a specific property. The Saudi Civil Transactions Law lists 'the right of mortgage and the right of privilege' as accessory rights in rem (Article 26) and refers their rules to the laws specific to them (Article 719). The Saudi concept differs from the broad American lien. There is no general Saudi lien regime allowing any contractor or supplier to register a 'lien' on a client's property automatically; a privilege exists only where a statute creates it. In practice, priority over real estate comes through specific tools: a registered mortgage, which ranks by registration date; an execution or precautionary attachment annotated on the deed record by court order; annotation of property claims in the Real Estate Registry; and privileged debts that the court takes into account when distributing execution proceeds under the applicable rules. A right of retention, such as that of a person who spent money on another's property to hold it until repaid, does not by itself give priority in payment. For buyers and investors, what matters is that any restriction on disposing of a property normally appears in the deed status or the Real Estate Registry: mortgaged, attached, suspended or subject to a claim annotation. In areas under the Real Estate Registry, no registration may be made if the register contains restrictions preventing disposal. Checking the deed status before buying or financing is therefore the main way to uncover any lien or restriction that matters.