I just received a notice telling me I have a lean on my house... what does this mean?

Meep, you must owe a good deal of money to someone and they are trying to use the equity in your home to collect their money.

A Lien is a notice of interest in a property or asset. A Lien prevents the property from changing hands until the amount of the lien has been paid.

When you take a loan out on your property, the lender takes a lien against the property to protects its interest.

If you have work done on your home and you do not pay it the tradesman will sue, you, obtain a judgement and then file a lien against the property. This is usually called a mechanic's lien.

Most areas do not allow liens to be placed on a primary residence for unsecured debt. Also, a lienholder can usually not force the sale of the property to satisfy the lien, they have to wait until the property is sold.

So who do you own money to? How told you the lien was filed? What dod they tell you about the lien?

This could also be a tax lien. Who sent you the notice?