The laws governing aviation liens in Florida are very confusing and complicated. There are different statutes to follow, and federal laws also play a role. It’s unclear whether a repairman’s right to claim a lien is affected if they let go of the aircraft before filing the lien. A court case tried to answer this, but it caused more confusion. The Florida Legislature recently changed the law to say that possession is not needed for a lien, only notice. This article explains this change and what it means for the future. In Florida, there are laws about putting a lien on an aircraft if someone does work on it and isn’t paid. These laws say that the person who did the work can keep possession of the aircraft for 90 days if they were already in possession when the lien started. There is also a specific law for aircraft liens that says the lien can be enforced by recording a notice within 90 days of doing the work. There is some confusion about how these laws work together, and whether possession of the aircraft is needed to put a lien on it. When looking at Florida laws about placing liens on aircraft, lawyers have found that lining up certain sections has raised more questions than answers. It’s unclear how possession and notice affect perfecting a lien on an aircraft under Florida law. In the case of In re Tradewinds Airlines, a cargo airline sent its plane to a maintenance company for a check-up. The company refused to return the plane, claiming they had a right to keep it because of unpaid maintenance fees. The court ruled that the maintenance company didn’t follow the correct steps to claim the lien on the plane, so they had to give it back to the airline. This case shows how important it is to follow the right procedures when claiming a lien on someone else’s property. The court said that having possession of an aircraft is not enough to claim a lien against it under Florida law. The court rejected the argument that another law about aircraft liens changed the requirement to have possession. A maintenance company tried to foreclose on a lien for unpaid work on a Boeing 767, but the court said they couldn’t do that because they had already given the plane back to its owner. The maintenance company tried to claim a lien on an aircraft, but the courts said they couldn’t because they didn’t have possession of the plane. One judge disagreed and said the company could have a lien if they filed the right paperwork. The case went to the Florida Supreme Court, but they decided not to hear it, so the issue of possession versus notice for aircraft maintenance companies is still unresolved. An airplane leasing company didn’t want to pay for a repair bill it thought was too high. The company that did the repairs then kept the airplane and tried to sell it to get their money. The court said they couldn’t do that and had to give the airplane back. A company that fixes planes was worried that they would lose their right to keep a plane if they had to give it back after three months. The court said that they wouldn’t lose their right to the plane just because they had to give it back. The law was changed in 2019 to make it clearer for plane repair companies to keep their rights to a plane. Now, they just have to follow the rules for filing a claim and they can keep their rights to the plane. The Florida Legislature made changes to the law about how people can recover money owed for work on airplanes. It’s not clear how these changes will affect the way people handle airplane maintenance and payment. To avoid long legal battles, maintenance repair providers and airplane owners should use contracts to settle payment disputes. Otherwise, they could end up losing money and assets if a disagreement goes to court.
Source: https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/aircraft-lien-law/
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