Avionics News August 2013 - 67

CAPABILITY,
Assuming your auction goes as
planned, the proceeds may be used to
retire the debt owed to you as well as
the costs of the sale. The remainder of
the proceeds must go to the next person legally entitled to them, whether it
is the owner or another lien holder. If
no one legally entitled to the proceeds
makes a claim, the remainder must be
deposited with the clerk of the court;
no windfalls allowed.
Finally, Florida law also permits
the enforcement of a lien to be pursued through actions at law. However,
given the costs of litigation in such a
matter, this should be used only as an
extreme remedy when a sale after three
months is for some reason otherwise
infeasible.
In all cases, it is imperative you
retain possession of the aircraft.
Relinquishing possession will extinguish your lien rights and leave you
with only ordinary contract remedies in
the courts. You must also act promptly;
an action must be brought within 12
months from the time the lien was
recorded, or the lien is lost.
POSSESSION NOT REQUIRED
Although many states require possession of the aircraft for a lien to
remain valid, this is not always the
case. In fact, many states have provisions both for possessory and nonpossessory lines.
Recall that Missouri has a law that
explicitly permits retention of the aircraft until payment of the debt, but it
also permits retention of a properly
documented lien after surrendering
possession of the aircraft if the lien
is properly recorded with the county
recorder within 180 days. The laws
of Kansas are similar; however, upon
relinquishing possession of the aircraft, the lien will only remain valid if
you file within 90 days at the office of
the register of deeds. You must file a
statement of the items of the account
and a description of the property on
which the lien is claimed, with the

name of the owner, the county where
the work was performed and in the
county of the residence of the owner,
if known.
You also may recall California has
one law that allows you to assert a lien
for payment, if you retain possession
of the aircraft, and another law that
permits you to assert a lien without
possession, by filing notice with the
FAA registry.
Not to be outdone, Texas law similarly permits a lien holder to retain possession of the aircraft until the amount
due is paid, but also provides that a lien
holder may retake possession of an
aircraft over which it has relinquished
possession, if the amount due has not
yet been paid.
In turn, we will briefly examine the
steps required to satisfy a lien in each
of these states.
Missouri requires a number of
steps that appear much like an ordinary trail to be taken to enforce your
lien. In the case in which you have a
valid lien, and have retained possession of the aircraft, you must first file
in circuit court a statement describing the property on which the lien is
claimed. The court will then issue a
summons to establish a hearing. If the
defendant (the person who owes you
payment) appears, the case will proceed as a normal trial. Assuming you
are able to establish the validity of the
lien, the court will order the aircraft
sold to satisfy the debt. Even if the
court finds that your lien is invalid, it
may still find the debt owed to you is
legitimate and order it paid.
What if the defendant does not
respond to the summons? In such
a case, the court will go about
ordering the proper steps for notice,
including publication in newspapers
or public postings to alert the defendant. The failure of the defendant to
appear will result in a default judgment against him or her.
Continued on page 76

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512-352-9000

www.georgetowninstruments.com
avionics news

•

august

2013

http://www.georgetowninstruments.com

Avionics News August 2013

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