Real Property

  1. Law
  2. Tennessee Code
  3. Judgments
  4. Lien of Judgment
  5. Real Property

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  1. Judgments and decrees obtained before July 1, 1967, in any court of record of this state, in the county where the debtor resides at the time of rendition, shall be liens upon the debtor's land in that county from the time the same were rendered.
    1. Except as provided in subdivision (b)(2), judgments and decrees obtained from and after July 1, 1967, in any court of record and judgments in excess of five hundred dollars ($500) obtained from and after July 1, 1969, in any court of general sessions of this state shall be liens upon the debtor's land from the time a certified copy of the judgment or decree shall be registered in the lien book in the register's office of the county where the land is located. If such records are kept elsewhere, no lien shall take effect from the rendition of such judgments or decrees unless and until a certified copy of the same is registered as otherwise provided by law.
    2. Judgments and decrees obtained by a governmental entity from and after July 1, 2005, in any court in counties having a metropolitan form of government with a population of more than five hundred thousand (500,000), according to the 2000 federal census or any subsequent federal census, shall be liens upon the debtor's land from the time a certified copy of the judgment or decree is registered in the lien book in the register's office of the county where the land is located. If such records are kept elsewhere, no lien shall take effect from the rendition of such judgments or decrees, unless and until a certified copy of the lien is registered as otherwise provided by law.
  3. Attachments, orders, injunctions and other writs affecting title, use or possession of real estate, issued by any court, shall be effective against any person having, or later acquiring, an interest in such property who is not a party to the action wherein such attachment, order, injunction or other writ is issued only after an appropriate copy or abstract, or a notice of lis pendens, is recorded in the register's office of the county wherein the property is situated. If an abstract is used, the contents shall be as prescribed in § 25-5-108.

Code 1858, § 2980 (deriv. Acts 1831, ch. 90, § 7; 1833, ch. 92, § 6); Shan., § 4708; Code 1932, § 8043; Acts 1957, ch. 310, § 1; 1967, ch. 375, § 1; 1969, ch. 33, § 1; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 25-501; Acts 1983, ch. 212, § 1; 2005, ch. 306, §§ 1, 2.

Compiler's Notes. For tables of U.S. decennial populations of Tennessee counties, see Volume 13 and its supplement.

Cross-References. Priority of mechanics' and materialmen's lien, §66-11-109.

Rights of third parties, §25-5-107.

Textbooks. Gibson's Suits in Chancery (7th ed., Inman), §§ 89, 98, 471.

Tennessee Jurisprudence, 12 Tenn. Juris., Executions, § 14; 16 Tenn. Juris., Judgments and Decrees, §§ 27, 30-33; 19 Tenn. Juris., Mortgages and Deeds of Trust, § 20; 21 Tenn. Juris., Recording Acts, § 2.

Law Reviews.

Enforcing Money Judgments in Tennessee (Lonnie C. Rich), 4 Mem. St. U.L. Rev. 65.

Selected Tennessee Legislation of 1983 (N. L. Resener, J. A. Whitson, K. J. Miller), 50 Tenn. L. Rev. 785 (1983).

Selected Tennessee Legislation of 1986, 54 Tenn. L. Rev. 457 (1987).

Survey of Tennessee Property Law, VII. Registration of Instruments (Toxey H. Sewell), 46 Tenn. L. Rev. 193.

The Many Lives of a Tennessee Judgment Lien (Stephen M. Sumner), 20 No. 2 Tenn. B.J. 31 (1984).

The New Bankruptcy Code, Part II: The Interests of Secured Creditors Under the New Bankruptcy Code (Howard B. Pickard), 10 Mem. St. U.L. Rev. 215.

The Tennessee Recording System (Toxey H. Sewell), 50 Tenn. L. Rev. 1 (1982).


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