Judgment vs. Writ vs. Lien

These three words get used interchangeably, but they mean different things, and the difference decides how urgent your situation is and how it gets solved. If a creditor is coming after you, or a claim has appeared on your property, knowing exactly which one you’re facing is the first step to dealing with it calmly.

In plain terms: a judgment is a court order that you owe money; a writ of seizure and sale is the tool a creditor uses to enforce that judgment against your property; and a lien is a registered claim against a specific property. This guide explains each, how they affect your home’s title, and how an equity-based mortgage can clear them. For the service, see our judgment & lien mortgage page. Mechanics vary by province; this is the Ontario framing, and it is general information, not legal advice, so confirm your specifics with a lawyer.

A judgment is a court’s decision that you owe a creditor a specific amount of money. It follows a lawsuit: a creditor (a lender, a supplier, an ex-business partner, sometimes a former landlord or a collection agency that bought your debt) sues, and if they win, the court issues the judgment.

On its own, a judgment is a piece of paper. It confirms the debt, but it doesn’t automatically attach to your house. The danger is what a judgment lets the creditor do next: with a judgment in hand, they can take enforcement steps, such as garnishing wages, seizing bank accounts or, most seriously for a homeowner, filing a writ that binds your property. A judgment can also appear on your credit report: credit bureaus usually keep judgments for 6 years, and TransUnion keeps them for 7 years in Ontario¹. So a judgment is best dealt with before it becomes a writ.

A writ of seizure and sale is the enforcement instrument a creditor files after winning a judgment. In Ontario it’s filed with the sheriff (the court enforcement office) in the area where you own property, and once it’s entered in the sheriff’s index it binds land you own in that area².

This is the point at which a paper debt becomes a claim on your home. A writ lasts six years from issue and can be renewed before it expires for further six-year periods³. A filed writ clouds your title: if you sell or refinance, it normally has to be paid out of the proceeds. Left unresolved, a writ can escalate: the creditor can direct the sheriff to seize and sell your interest in the property². That outcome is not instant. In Ontario no step to sell land can be taken until four months after the writ is filed, and no sale can be held until six months after filing³. But the risk is real, which is why a writ should be treated with urgency.

A lien is a legal claim against a specific asset (for a homeowner, usually the house) that secures a debt. Unlike a bare judgment, a lien is tied directly to the property. Common types include:

• Construction (contractor’s) lien: claimed by a contractor, subcontractor or supplier who wasn’t paid for work on the property. Under Ontario’s Construction Act a lien generally must be preserved within 60 days of the triggering event (such as completion of the contract) and then perfected by starting a court action within a further 90 days, or it expires⁴. A perfected lien is enforced through that court action.
• Tax lien: unpaid municipal property taxes are a special lien on the land that ranks ahead of other claims, including mortgages, except the Crown⁵. Separately, the CRA can place a lien on a home to secure an unpaid tax debt once it has certified the debt⁶.
• Support / family arrears: unpaid child or spousal support can be enforced against property.

Like a writ, a lien clouds your title and blocks an A-lender from financing until it’s cleared.

The common thread is title. A bank or other A-lender funds a mortgage only when it can register with a clean priority. A judgment-turned-writ, or a lien, threatens the lender’s security, so the bank’s underwriting simply won’t approve the deal until title is clear. That’s why a homeowner with strong income and a perfect payment history can still get declined: it’s the title, not the borrower.

The three differ mainly in urgency. A bare judgment (no writ yet) gives you the most room: clear it before a writ is filed. A filed writ or an active construction lien is more pressing, because enforcement is already in motion. Knowing which you’re facing tells you how much time you have and which financing tier fits.

Whichever it is, the solution is usually the same, and it runs on equity, not income. A federally regulated bank can’t refinance above 80% of your home’s value⁷, and it won’t fund at all while the title is clouded. An alternative lender (a B-lender/alt-A or a private lender) lends against your home’s value in an amount sized to cover your existing mortgage plus the payout plus costs. At funding, the money flows to your real estate lawyer in trust, not to you, and the lawyer pays the creditor or lien claimant directly, obtains the discharge or withdrawal, and registers it so the claim comes off title.

Where a construction lien is genuinely disputed, the claimed amount plus security for costs can be paid into court instead, which vacates the lien from title while the dispute is resolved⁴. When it’s done, you hold a clean title and a single new mortgage in place of the judgment, the interest and the enforcement threat. See the full mechanism and lender ladder on our judgment & lien mortgage page.

Find out exactly what’s registered and what’s owing, confirm your equity, and get a financing plan in place early. More runway means cheaper options and more lenders to choose from.

In practice: get the total owing (principal, interest and costs) from the creditor or your lawyer; get a current value for your home; and start the financing conversation the day you learn of a writ, not the week of an enforcement date. That is what keeps the affordable options on the table.

Mortgage Squad Advisors (FSRA #13737) arranges equity-based financing to clear judgments, writs and liens, discloses every fee up front, and maps the exit back to bank pricing. Start on our judgment & lien mortgage page, or get a confidential assessment: no obligation, no credit pull to begin. This guide is general information, not legal advice; confirm your situation with a licensed lawyer.