Silent Automatic Lien

A quiet but deadly debt collection device, dealt out by the IRS.

You run a nutritional supplement business focused on a salivation suppressant product for heavy droolers. You’ve fallen on hard times. You don’t have enough money to meet all your obligations, so you start skimping on your taxes. The IRS doesn’t just wait for you to pay. If you ignore their series of increasingly nasty letters, they might move to a second stage of the collection process: the silent automatic lien.

With this procedure, they put a lien on your property, making it possible for them to seize items if you continue to shirk your tax obligations. The lien is referred to as "silent" because it doesn’t show up in public records. It doesn’t affect your credit score or interrupt your ability to do business. The IRS is just using it as leverage to get you to pay.