Contractual Lien

Contractual lien, this is a contractual right to retain possession pending payment of sums due to the possessor. The contractual lien, which is often equated with a pledge, is to be distinguished from it in that possession is taken for purposes other than security and unless otherwise agreed the lienee has merely a right to detain the goods until payment of what is due to him, not a right to sell them on default in payment, Halsbury's Laws of England, Vol. 4(1), para 609, p. 265.