Owning an airplane can bring great joy to your life. You love flying every chance you get, especially on beautiful bright days where the sky looks amazing. Unfortunately, you may run into a time where you, as a first-time owner, arrive at your plane hangar to find that there is a problem with your aircraft. You may have a notice saying that your plane is grounded, or it has been seized because of a lien placed on it. You might be angry and confused about what is going on, but situations like this occur all the time. It may be that an aircraft claim of lien has been placed on your aircraft, and you need to resolve the problem before you can fly again or risk further problems.
Reasons for an Aircraft Claim of Lien
There can be many reasons that a lien was placed on your airplane. It could be that there are outstanding taxes owed on your property, and the government has set a lien. Maybe you had work done on your plane, and there was an issue with the bill, and the mechanic filed a claim to put a lien on the aircraft. Your property can also be seized for other reasons, such as failure to pay child support or owed state or federal taxes. In some cases, it could be that there was a lien from the previous owner that was never satisfied, and you as the new owner are responsible for the plane now.
Recording a Lien
Sometimes you may be on the other side of the fence and have a need to record an aircraft claim of lien. If your company has done work on an aircraft and the full cost of the work or repairs was never paid by the owner, you may be left with no other choice but to record a lien. The FAA allows for the filing, and you will need to fill out the correct form and send it to the FAA for approval. The form itself is not always so easy to find, and it can seem complicated to fill out if you have never done it before. Luckily, here at the National Aviation Center, we can make things better for you.
Help with a Claim of Lien
Whether you need to record an aircraft claim of lien or want to make sure there are no liens on a plane you are thinking about buying, we at the National Aviation Center are here to assist you. We have all the FAA forms in electronic versions on our website, including the claim of lien form and the requesting of an abstract form, both of which might be useful to you. You can fill out and file the correct forms and send them to us so we can look them over and make sure they are in order before they get to the FAA.
With our assistance, you can take care of all your airplane’s necessary paperwork, so you know you never have any issues that surprise you again. Please be advised that prior to the recording by the FAA of a lien against an aircraft, a mechanics lien must be filed with the state in which the dispute or work on the aircraft occurred. The lien must comply with the requirements for recording claims of lien in the State having jurisdiction over the claim. Not all States record claims of liens. FAA may only record liens if the applicable State law provides for recording claims of liens.