Airplane Claim of Lien & Everything You Need to Know About Filing

Aircraft owners are well aware of how to submit all sorts of aviation-related documents, but those who merely work with airplanes might not be as familiar with some of those processes. The one most commonly needed by those who work closely will be an airplane claim of lien, which can help those who haven’t received proper payment for services provided to aircraft.

Properly Submit Your Airplane Claim of Lien

First off, what is the purpose of an airplane claim of lien? Well, if you are providing storage, repair, maintenance, or similar services to an aircraft, then you have the ability to assert a lien on that aircraft and, therefore, retain possession until you have been paid for the services in question. As the party asserting the claim, you are known as the lien claimant, and you will be able to resort to this as a way to receive some sort of payment when you haven’t received the agreed-upon one. The claim will often involve state and federal aviation laws, and it will have to be properly filed and perfected in order to be considered valid. This will involve registering it with the Federal Aviation Administration.

What has to be Included in a Claim of Lien?

An airplane claim of lien will have to include specific information in order to be valid and enforceable. You will need to take these into account so as to make sure the claim is recorded properly, so confirm that these are a part of the claim of lien when submitting it.

• The total amount of the claim.
• A description of the aircraft by N-Number, manufacturer name, model designation, and serial number.
• Specific dates on which the labor, the materials, or the services were last furnished.
• The signature in ink of the claimant, which must show the signer’s title as appropriate.
• A recording fee for each aircraft affected by the claim by way of a check or money order made payable to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Submit Your Claim

In order to file your claim of lien, all you need to do is fill out the corresponding form with all the information outlined above and submit it using our platform. We will make sure that it’s in order before passing it along to the Federal Aviation Administration. This will encumber the aircraft and usually prevent the owner from selling it before obtaining a release from the claimant party. 

Avoid Potential Mistakes

It’s important to note that often a common defense against submitted claims of lien is that these were not perfected properly because it either wasn’t filed within the proper time period after the last day of work or that the lien claimant did not follow the right procedures in order to perfect it. The defendant might also insist that the claimant is knowingly asking for a larger amount than that they are entitled to, therefore invalidating the whole claim. In order to avoid this, submit your forms through our platform. Here at the National Aviation Center, our team can help you submit your airplane claim of lien correctly. Any questions? Give us a call at 1-800-357-0893 or email us at [email protected].