Repossession is a term used to denote a financial institution taking back an object that was either used as collateral or rented or leased. Repossession is a "self-help" type of action in which the party having right of ownership of the property in question takes the property back from the party having right of possession without invoking court proceedings. The property may then be sold by either the financial institution or third party sellers. The extent to which repossession is authorized, and how it may be executed, greatly varies in different jurisdictions (see below).
When a lender cannot find the collateral, cannot peacefully obtain it through self-help repossession, or the jurisdiction does not allow self-help repossession, the alternative legal remedy to order the borrower to return the goods (prior to judgment) is replevin.
The security interest over the collateral is often known as a lien. The lender/creditor is known as the lienholder.