A security interest is a property interest create by agreement or by operation of law over assets to secure the performance of an obligation (usually but not always the payment of a debt) which gives the beneficiary of the security interest certain preferential rights in relation to the assets. The rights vary according to the type of security interest, but in most cases (and in most countries) the main rights and purpose of the security interest is to allow the holder to seize, and usually sell, the property to discharge the debt that the security interest secures.