Avionics News May 2013 - 77

As we will see in the next issue,
in order to be broadly enforceable,
a lien-by-agreement must usually be
filed with the FAA registry. The registry has its own detail requirements,
and it makes sense for the repair station’s lien documentation to carefully
cover these requirements.
There are very few federal lien
laws, and even fewer federal lien
laws that might provide a repair
station with a private right to a
lien. Thus, in order for a lien-byagreement to be valid, it generally

with an attorney to develop your
lien-by-agreement documentation
so that it includes all the necessary
information to make it valid and is
enforceable in your state.
LIENS-BY-LAW
There also are various laws that
allow someone to impose a lien
against an aircraft without an agreement, as long as the right fact pattern
has arisen.
One variety of these liens-by-law
is a lien for the value added to an

Like any tool, liens are valuable when they
are used correctly; but when used incorrectly,
they may fail to fulfill their expected function,
and in some cases they can actually injure
the person who wields them.
must be based on a state lien law and
must meet state law requirements.
For aircraft, this can include particular elements that vary by state. For
example, it is usually important to
have the lien agreement in a written document that is signed by the
appropriate parties. Who are the
appropriate parties? This can vary,
as well. In some states, the aircraft
owner must sign the agreement. In
other states, the agreement may be
signed by other parties, like a work
order someone in lawful possession
of the aircraft. There may be a need
to provide additional notice to certain parties in order for the lien to be
enforceable under state law.
Because of the subtle nuances that
vary by state, it is important to work

aircraft by maintenance or alteration. In some states, there is a law
that permits a person who repairs an
aircraft to assert a lien for the value
of the labor plus any parts or other
materials that have been furnished as
part of the repair. The value will usually be limited to the value asserted
in a written document between the
parties (like a repair quote that has
been accepted). And if there is no
agreement as to the value of the
work, then generally, the lien may be
asserted for the reasonable value of
the labor and materials.
Some states require that the repairing party must retain possession of
the aircraft in order for the lien to be
validly asserted. In California, for
example, one who performs work

on an aircraft has an automatic lien
against the aircraft for the value of
“making repairs or performing labor
upon, and furnishing supplies or
materials for, and for the storage,
repair, or safekeeping of, any aircraft, also for reasonable charges for
the use of any landing aid furnished
such aircraft and reasonable landing
fees.” In order to assert this automatic lien, the person who is entitled
to the lien must retain possession of
the aircraft.
If your repair station wants to
retain possession of the aircraft in
order to assert your possessory lien,
then can you keep the aircraft? The
answer may depend on state law. For
example, Missouri has a law that
explicitly permits retention of the
aircraft until payment of the debt.
Note that Missouri also permits
retention of a properly documented
lien after surrendering possession
of the aircraft if the lien is properly
recorded within 180 days.
Many states have some sort of law
that permits a repairing party to assert
a lien without retaining possession of
the aircraft. Usually, in these cases,
the repairing party must file the lien
with the FAA registry in order to
make it valid (read more on this in the
next issue). California, for example,
has one law that lets a repairing party
assert a lien for payment if they retain
possession of the aircraft, and another
law that permits them to assert a lien
upon filing notice with the FAA registry.
As you can see, there are often a
variety of lien options available to
repair stations that wish to protect their
right to get paid by filing liens. q
avionics news

•

may

2013

77
Avionics News May 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News May 2013
