(a) 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.
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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 25-5-101

  • Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
  • Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
  • Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
  • Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
(b)

(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.
(c) 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.
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