I never really understood what the hell these sovcits say because English ain't my native language and I can't understand a word of legalese even in my mother tongue, so I didn't really bother with it's English counterpart. Seeing the French word for "link" being randomly used here tell me that all they're saying is just pure bullshit to sound smart.
I don't know if that's always true, but this is not an exception to that.
"right to hold property of another until debt is paid," 1530s, from French lien "a band or tie" (12c.), from Latin ligamen "bond," from ligare "to bind, tie" (from PIE root *leig- "to tie, bind"). The word was in Middle English in the literal sense "a bond, fetter," also figuratively, "moral restraint."
also from 1530s
I work in storage. In my state, if you don't pay your shit for like 30 days we can put a lien on it. We have to notify. If you continue to not pay it, we advertise twice in the paper, 1 week apart, then we auction you off on a website, where you can buy your own shit. Or if you lose, you have up until the moment the actual winner hands me cash money + deposit to pay your past due and resume ownership. All of this is like on a 90 day timeline.
And he did agree to that when he signed the lease on the storage space. It's in the actual lease itself. The lease, depending on state, is required to delineate all of the steps. So he knows he is wrong. He knows he owes money. And he's just mad. Boohoo. Pay your damn bill.
Certain loans and contracts can prevent you from being able to sell something without the lien being lifted.
For example, if you have a mortgage on a house, or in some cases if you're paying a contractor to do renovations, you can't just sell the house out from underneath them and run with the cash. Someone "buying" shit with a lien on it could outright lose it in some circumstances (though it would be pretty hard to get there for land because the process is so protracted).
It’s impressive that you can read their nonsense well enough to pick up on that. Other people have filled in enough context for you, but I wanted to compliment you on your English.