Title 35, Liens

The general statutes relating to liens apply to all liens, including mortgages and pledges, unless from the context relating to any of them a different intention appears, and except as modified by the provisions of chapter 41-09.

A lien is a charge imposed upon specific property by which it is made security for the performance of an act.

Liens are either general or special: 1. A general lien is one which the holder thereof is entitled to enforce as a security for the performance of all the obligations, or all of a particular class of obligations, which exist in the holder's favor against the owner of the property…

A lien or security interest is created by contract or by operation of law. No lien arises by operation of law until the time at which the act secured by the lien is to be performed. A security interest in personal property is governed by chapter 41-09, except that a bill of sale …

An agreement may be made to create a lien upon property not yet in existence or not yet acquired by the party agreeing to give the lien. In such case, the lien agreed upon attaches from the time when the party agreeing to give it acquires an interest in the things and to the exte…

1. No security interest, including a security interest under chapter 41-09, in a vehicle, including a manufactured home, which is not inventory held for sale is valid as against subsequent purchasers and encumbrances of the property in good faith and for value unless the security…

A lien document relating to a real estate transaction and containing a written provision securing the repayment of future advances, whether or not the lien creditor is obligated to make such future advances, has priority over all subsequent encumbrances to the extent of all sums …

A lien may be created by contract to take immediate effect as security for the performance of obligations not then in existence.

When the holder of a special lien is compelled to satisfy a prior lien for the holder's own protection, the holder may enforce payment of the amount so paid by the holder as a part of the claim for which the holder's own lien exists.

Notwithstanding an agreement to the contrary, a lien or a contract for a lien transfers no title to the property subject to the lien.

The recorder shall file and index a statutory lien upon personal property required by law to be filed in the recorder's office, designating the person filing the lien as lien creditor and the person against whom the lien is filed as debtor.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law concerning the filing of lien statements, the lien statement filed against an individual must contain the last-known address of the debtor in order to be valid.

All contracts for the forfeiture of property subject to a lien in satisfaction of the obligation secured thereby and all contracts in restraint of the right of redemption from a lien are void.

The creation of a lien does not of itself imply that any person is bound to perform the act for which the lien is a security.

The existence of a lien upon property does not of itself entitle the person in whose favor it exists to a lien upon the same property for the performance of any other obligation than that which the lien originally secured.

Any person holding property by virtue of a lien thereon is not entitled to compensation from the owner thereof for any trouble or expense which the person holding the property incurs respecting it, except to the same extent as a borrower under sections 47-12-08 and 47-12-09.

Other things being equal, different liens upon the same property have priority according to the time of their creation.

When a person has a lien upon several things and other persons have subordinate liens upon or interests in some but not all of the same things, the person having the prior lien, if that person can do so without the risk of loss to that person or of injustice to other persons, on …

Every person having an interest in property that is subject to a lien has a right to redeem it from the lien at any time after the claim is due and before the person's right of redemption is foreclosed.

Any person who has a lien inferior to another upon the same property has a right: 1. To redeem the property in the same manner as its owner might from the superior lien; and 2. To be subrogated to all the benefits of the superior lien when necessary for the protection of the pers…

Redemption from a lien is made by performing or offering to perform the act for the performance of which it is a security and paying or offering to pay the damages, if any, to which the holder of the lien is entitled for delay. If the act requires the delivery of money, property,…

A lien is accessory to the act for the performance of which it is a security, whether any person is bound for such performance or not, and is extinguishable in like manner with any other accessory obligation.

The sale of any property in satisfaction of a lien, or in case of personal property, the wrongful conversion thereof by the person holding the lien, extinguishes the lien thereon. In an action for the conversion of personal property, the defendant may show in mitigation of damage…

The voluntary restoration of property to its owner by the holder of a lien which is dependent upon possession extinguishes the lien as to such property unless otherwise agreed by the parties, and notwithstanding any such agreement, extinguishes it as to creditors of the owner and…

A lien is not extinguished by the lapse of the time within which an action can be brought upon the principal obligation under the provisions of the laws of this state.

The partial performance of an act secured by a lien does not extinguish the lien upon any part of the property subject thereto even if it is divisible.

Any lien or mortgage upon property may be satisfied by the mortgagor before the date of maturity by the payment or tender of the full amount which would be due on the date of maturity.

A mortgage, judgment, or other lien upon real or personal property may be satisfied, assigned, or foreclosed by the following persons upon complying with the provisions of this section: 1. By an executor or administrator appointed in another state or foreign country to administer…

Within sixty days after any mortgage or other lien upon real property is satisfied or within thirty days of receipt of a written demand of the owner of the property, whichever is shorter, the owners of the mortgage or other lien shall execute a certificate of discharge duly ackno…

When a statutory lien on personal property has been satisfied, the holder of the lien, within thirty days after satisfaction, shall cause a certificate of discharge to be transmitted to the recorder or the clerk of court of the county where such lien is filed. Such satisfaction m…

Upon default in the payment of a debt secured by a statutory lien on personal property, unless a different procedure is otherwise expressly prescribed by law, such lien may be foreclosed by action as prescribed in chapter 32-20.

The costs and fees for the foreclosure of a statutory lien on personal property are the same as are provided in the foreclosure of a security interest in personal property. The person making the sale shall make a written report of all proceedings in such foreclosure, specifying t…

A mortgage of real property can be created, renewed, or extended only by writing, executed with the formalities required in the case of a grant of real property.

1. A mortgage is a contract by which specific real property capable of being transferred is hypothecated for the performance of an act without requiring a change in possession, and includes a transfer of an interest in real property, other than a trust, made only to secure the pe…

1. A mortgage is a lien upon everything that would pass by a grant of the property, and upon nothing more. 2. A mortgage is a lien upon the property mortgaged in the hands of everyone claiming under the mortgagor subsequently to its execution, except purchasers and encumbrancers …

The following statement must be signed at the time of the loan application by both the borrower and lender on loans that are insured or guaranteed by the United States veterans' administration: I understand that the veterans' administration may attempt to hold me liable for the g…

Mortgages of real property may be acknowledged or proved, certified, and recorded in like manner and with like effect as grants of real property.

A power of attorney to execute a mortgage must be in writing subscribed, acknowledged or proved, certified, and recorded in like manner as powers of attorney for grants of real property.

The recorder may not record a mortgage of real property unless the mortgage contains the post-office address of the mortgagee. An assignment of a mortgage on real property which does not contain the post-office address of the assignee may not be received for record.

A mortgage of real property may be made in substantially the following form: NORTH DAKOTA STANDARD FORM THIS INDENTURE, Made this ____________ day of __________ A.D. Two thousand ____________________ between _____________ whose post-office address is _________ of the county of __…

An assignment of a mortgage may be recorded or filed in the same manner as a mortgage, and the record thereof operates as notice to all persons subsequently deriving title to the mortgage from the assignor. When the mortgage is executed as security for money due or to become due …

The record of a mortgage duly made operates as notice to all subsequent purchasers and encumbrancers.

Every grant of real property or of any estate therein which appears by any other writing to be intended as a mortgage within the meaning of chapter 35-01 must be recorded as a mortgage. If the grant and other writing explanatory of its true character are not recorded together at …

When a grant of real property purports to be an absolute conveyance but is intended to be defeasible on the performance of certain conditions, the grant is not defeated or affected as against subsequent purchasers or encumbrancers in good faith and for value, unless an instrument…

A mortgage given for the purchase price of real property at the time of its conveyance has priority over all other liens created against the purchaser, subject to the operation of the recording laws.

A certificate of the discharge of a mortgage and proof or acknowledgment of the discharge must be recorded at length and a reference made in the record to the book and page or document number where the mortgage is recorded and of the minute of the discharge, made upon the record …

1. Unless extended or modified as specified in sections 35-03-15 and 35-03-15.1, the lien created by a mortgage of North Dakota real estate and all notice from the record of the lien expires as to all persons and for all purposes as follows: a. If the final maturity date is ascer…

1. Expiration of a real estate mortgage lien as provided in sections 35-03-14 and 35-03-15.1 does not occur if prior to the date the expiration otherwise would become effective: a. An action or proceeding to foreclose is timely and properly commenced and the summons and complaint…

1. Expiration of a real estate mortgage under section 35-03-14 does not occur if before the date the expiration would become effective a mortgage modification is recorded in the office of the recorder. A modified mortgage expires as provided under section 35-03-14, unless the mod…

A recorded mortgage must be discharged upon the record by the recorder having custody of the mortgage on the presentation of a certificate of discharge signed by the mortgagee, the mortgagee's executors, administrators, guardians, trustees, assigns, personal representatives, or s…