First in time, first in right definition
First in time, first in right means that the first of the two liens to attach and become “perfected”— in other words, enforceable against other liens— has priority. For example, a local government property tax lien is first in time, first in right compared with a lien for unpaid state income or sales taxes.18 If Carolina County forecloses on Parcel A for delinquent 2008 property taxes, the county’s property tax lien would be senior to state tax liens that attached to Parcel A after January 1, 2008—the date on which the 2008 property tax lien attached to real property— and junior to state tax liens that attached before that date.