Right of retention (tilbageholdsret)
Also known as lien, possessory lien
A right of retention is the right to keep something in your possession until the bill for the work on it has been paid.
- Requires
- Possession of the item
- Secures
- The claim for the work
- Ends on
- Release of the item
In practice
The garage that repaired the car can keep it until the bill is paid. That is the right of retention in its classic form, and it is strong precisely because it needs neither an agreement nor registration — it follows from having the item and having spent money on it.
The precondition is that possession. Release the item and the right generally goes with it, leaving the claim as an ordinary receivable. That is what makes the decision to hand it over the most important one in the whole process.
Nor does the right reach further than the claim for the work on that particular item. You cannot retain something in order to collect an older, unpaid bill for something else.
Where it commonly goes wrong
- Releasing the item against a promise to pay. The promise is not security; the item was.
- Retaining for a claim unrelated to the item. The basis is then missing, and holding on to it can make you liable in damages.