Avionics News August 2013 - 66

legislative

B Y
J A S O N
D I C K S T E I N
AEA GENERAL COUNSEL

Collecting on Your Lien
Protecting Your Right to Get Paid (Part 4)

A

lien is a tool creditors use in
order to improve the chances
they will get paid on a debt.
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.
This year, Avionics News is providing
a series of articles examining liens and
providing guidance on what Aircraft
Electronics Association members ought
to be thinking about when considering
the use of liens as a tool for helping to
ensure payment.
During the last several months, we
examined basic forms of liens that may
be useful to repair stations and fundamental validity questions. We also
examined the filing of liens with the
Federal Aviation Administration registry
in order to perfect the lien and establish
priority so that the lien may be enforceable against subsequent aircraft owners.
In addition, we examined some of the
industry’s questions about what happens
if an aircraft registration expires when
there is a lien against it, or immediately
before a lien can be filed.
Now, after all the work is done and
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avionics news

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august

2013

you have taken all the steps to ensure
your lien is enforceable and valid, it is
finally time to collect. In this month’s
article, we’ll look at the different ways
to enforce valid liens in several states.
At all times, it is important to remember that the laws on the enforcements
of liens will vary from state to state;
therefore, it is always wise to seek legal
counsel to ensure that your rights are
properly protected and enforced.
POSSESSION OF THE
AIRCRAFT REQUIRED
Recall that Florida law requires a
lien to be properly filed with the FAA
in order to be valid and for purposes of
establishing priority, but it also requires
the lien to be properly filed in the county
in which the aircraft was located at the
time the service for which payment
sought was performed.
Liens on aircraft in Florida also are
possessory. This means you must retain
possession of the aircraft in order for
your lien to remain valid.
Assuming you have retained possession of the aircraft, Florida law permits
a few different avenues by which to collect your payment. By statute, you are
allowed to hold the aircraft to which the

lien is attached for 90 days. The purpose
of this retention period is to create a
form of leverage to compel payment.
In many cases, merely retaining the aircraft, or being in a position to threaten to
sell the aircraft to satisfy the debt, may
be enough to compel payment.
If the retention of the aircraft and the
threat of selling the aircraft to recoup
what is owed do not motivate the aircraft’s owner to pay, Florida permits you
to sell the aircraft at a public auction
to satisfy the debt. The public auction
of the property belonging to another is
not something to be taken lightly, so
it is very important to follow the law.
Consultation with an attorney is highly
encouraged.
A public auction of the property may
not occur until three months after the
amount owed became due. A number of
specific requirements must be followed:
Public notice stating the time and place
of the auction must be posted for 10 days
in three public places in the county. One
of the public places must be at the courthouse. Another public place must be in
some conspicuous place in your place of
business. Such notice requirements are
very common in lien sales, as we will
see below.
Avionics News August 2013

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