Aircraft Lien: Drafting, FAA Filing, and Enforcement

To file an aircraft lien, you draft your own claim-of-lien document that meets your state’s requirements, then mail the signed original along with a $5 recording fee to the FAA Aircraft Registration Branch in Oklahoma City. The federal registry is the single national filing point, but the lien right itself comes from state law, so a clean FAA filing on top of a defective state claim will not protect you. Both layers have to work.

Start With Your State’s Rules

The right to place a lien on an aircraft originates in the laws of the state where the work was performed, not in any federal statute. States differ on nearly every detail that matters, and getting the state layer wrong can wipe out your security interest before the FAA ever sees your paperwork.

Filing and Foreclosure Deadlines

Most states impose a window that runs from your last day of service. These deadlines typically range from 90 days to 18 months, though some jurisdictions impose no specific filing deadline for possessory liens. Missing the deadline doesn’t erase the debt, but it strips away the security interest and leaves you with an unsecured claim that is far harder to collect. Calendar the deadline the day you finish the work rather than waiting for negotiations to break down.

Possession

Some states require the mechanic or repair station to keep physical possession of the aircraft for the lien to remain enforceable. Under that rule, releasing the airplane back to the owner before payment can destroy the lien entirely. Other states have moved away from a strict possession requirement; Florida, for example, has clarified by statute that possession is not required for perfection purposes and that notice is sufficient. Find out which rule applies before you let the aircraft leave your facility, because that decision may be irreversible.

Draft the Claim of Lien

There is no standard FAA form for filing the claim. You draft your own document (or use a template prepared by your attorney) and submit the original to the registry. AC Form 8050-41 is not the filing form despite a common misconception. It is the Conveyance Recordation Notice that the FAA sends back after it records your lien.¹

At a minimum, your claim of lien must include:

Your full legal name and mailing address as claimant.
The specific dollar amount owed.
The dates on which labor, materials, or services were last furnished.¹
The aircraft N-number, make, model, and manufacturer’s serial number of the airframe.
If the lien covers engines or propellers individually, 14 C.F.R. Part 49 requires each component to be identified by make, model, horsepower rating, and manufacturer’s serial number.²

Serial numbers are not optional detail. A lien that describes the wrong engine or omits a propeller serial number may not legally attach to the component you intended to secure. Verify every serial number against the aircraft’s records or the FAA’s online registration database before you submit anything.

Under 49 U.S.C. § 44107(c), documents filed for recording generally must be acknowledged before a notary public or another officer authorized to acknowledge deeds.³ The statute gives the FAA Administrator discretion to waive this requirement, so check the registry’s current instructions before assuming notarization is or isn’t needed for your specific filing.

Mail It to the FAA Registry in Oklahoma City

There is no electronic portal for lien documents. You mail the original signed claim to the Aircraft Registration Branch.¹ Use a trackable method so you can confirm delivery.

USPS mail: FAA Aircraft Registration Branch, P.O. Box 25504, Oklahoma City, OK 73125-0504.
Commercial delivery (FedEx, UPS): FAA Aircraft Registration Branch, Registry Building Room 118, 6425 South Denning, Oklahoma City, OK 73169-6937.⁴

Include a $5 recording fee for each aircraft covered by the claim, paid by check or money order made payable to the Federal Aviation Administration. If the lien also covers a specifically identified engine or propeller recorded separately under Subpart D of Part 49, an additional $5 applies per component.²

What You Get Back, and What It Actually Does

After the registry processes your submission, it returns AC Form 8050-41, the Conveyance Recordation Notice. This form describes the aircraft, lists the parties and the date of the claim, and shows the FAA recording number and date of recordation.¹ Keep it. You will need it when the time comes to release the lien, and the recording number is your proof that the claim is in the public record. Processing times vary with the registry’s backlog and can range from several weeks to a few months.

Federal recording under 49 U.S.C. § 44108 determines who can be bound. Until a lien is filed for recording with the FAA, it is valid only against the person who owes the debt, that person’s heirs, and anyone who already knew about the claim. A buyer or lender who checks the FAA’s records and finds nothing has no obligation to honor an unrecorded lien. The other direction of that rule is worth stating plainly: the FAA’s acceptance of your filing does not mean the agency has determined your lien is valid or enforceable. Validity is a state-law question. Recording gives your valid lien reach against strangers; it does not rescue a defective one.

Priority When a Mortgage Is Already on File

One of the most contested issues in aircraft lien law is what happens when a mechanic’s lien collides with a bank’s pre-existing mortgage or security interest. The federal recording statute tracks these claims but does not explicitly resolve which one comes first, and courts have gone different directions.

Some states give an artisan’s lien automatic priority over a recorded mortgage, reasoning that the mechanic’s work preserved or enhanced the value of the collateral and that the lender impliedly consented to necessary repairs. Other states subordinate mechanic’s liens to any security interest that was already on file with the FAA. A third group doesn’t address aircraft liens specifically, leaving courts to apply general lien-priority principles from commercial law.

If you are filing on an aircraft that already carries a recorded mortgage, don’t assume your claim takes priority. Getting the answer wrong can mean paying for foreclosure proceedings only to discover that the bank’s interest eats the entire sale price. This is a situation where consulting a local aviation attorney before you act is genuinely worth the cost.

Enforcing the Lien If Payment Doesn’t Come

Recording a lien with the FAA puts the world on notice, but it does not force the owner to pay. If the debt stays unpaid, enforcement typically requires a foreclosure action in state court. You file suit, obtain a judgment against the owner, and then have the court order a public sale of the aircraft. A sheriff or similar officer conducts the sale, and the proceeds go first to satisfy your lien. Any surplus is returned to the owner. If nobody bids at the sale, some states allow the lienholder to take the aircraft for the amount of the lien.

Foreclosure deadlines are unforgiving. States that allow the action typically require you to initiate court proceedings within roughly 90 days to 18 months after the last day of work. Once that window closes, the lien becomes unenforceable against the aircraft even though the underlying debt survives as an unsecured obligation.

Releasing the Lien Once You’re Paid

Once the debt is paid, you are responsible for clearing the FAA record. An unreleased lien clouds the title and can block the owner from selling or refinancing, and unreasonable delay in releasing a satisfied lien can create legal liability for the lienholder.

The FAA accepts two methods:

Sign and return AC Form 8050-41. The Conveyance Recordation Notice the FAA sent you includes a release statement at the bottom. Sign below that statement and mail the form back to the Aircraft Registration Branch.⁵
Draft a release letter that identifies the recorded lien (FAA recording number, N-number, and all relevant serial numbers) and states that you release all rights and interest in the aircraft. Sign and mail it in.¹

The release must come from the original lienholder or an authorized representative of the company that filed the claim. The FAA’s own instructions describe either method without specifying notarization of the release itself, but many title companies and buyers will insist on it. Notarizing is inexpensive and removes an easy objection.

Large Aircraft and the International Registry

The United States ratified the Cape Town Treaty through the Cape Town Treaty Implementation Act of 2004, which recognizes the International Registry of Mobile Assets as a secondary filing point for interests in qualifying airframes, helicopters, and aircraft engines.⁶ The treaty applies only above specific size thresholds: airframes type-certified to carry at least eight people (including crew) or goods exceeding 2,750 kilograms; engines producing at least 1,750 pounds of thrust (jet) or at least 550 rated takeoff shaft horsepower (turbine or piston); helicopters certified to carry at least five people or goods exceeding 450 kilograms.⁷

The FAA Civil Aviation Registry serves as the United States Entry Point to the International Registry.³ For qualifying aircraft, a registration on the International Registry may be necessary for your interest to have priority under the Convention’s first-to-file framework. Most mechanic’s liens on general-aviation aircraft fall below these thresholds and are unaffected, but if the work involved turbine-powered commercial equipment, ask an aviation attorney whether an International Registry filing is warranted before you rely on the FAA recording alone.

1
Federal Aviation Administration. Record an Aircraft Claim of Lien
2
eCFR. 14 CFR Part 49 – Recording of Aircraft Titles and Security Documents
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 49 USC 44107 – Recordation of Conveyances, Leases, and Security Instruments
4
Federal Aviation Administration. Aircraft Registration
5
Federal Aviation Administration. Aircraft Registration – Clear Title
6
Federal Aviation Administration. Aircraft Registration – The Cape Town Treaty
7
UNIDROIT. Aircraft Protocol