A secured creditor is a

creditor A creditor or lender is a party (e.g., person, organization, company, or government) that has a claim on the services of a second party. It is a person or institution to whom money is owed. The first party, in general, has provided some property ...

with the benefit of a security interest over some or all of the assets of the

debtor A debtor or debitor is a legal entity (legal person) that owes a debt to another entity. The entity may be an individual, a firm, a government, a company or other legal person. The counterparty is called a creditor. When the counterpart of this ...

. In the event of the

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debto ...

of the debtor, the secured creditor can enforce security against the assets of the debtor and avoid competing for a distribution on liquidation with the unsecured creditors. In most legal systems, secured creditors also have the option of releasing their security and proving in the

liquidation Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and many other countries. The assets and property of the company are redistrib ...

, although, in practice, they would rarely do so. Any creditor with a lien on all or a portion of an asset, such as a mortgage on real estate or a bank loan, is said to be a secured creditor.

References

{{finance-stub Credit Bankruptcy Insolvency

See also

References