CopyCited 1 times | Published | United States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. Florida. | 21 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. B 451, 2008 Bankr. LEXIS 2876, 50 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 187
...the amount of $250,000 against Aircraft 504, for labor, material or services allegedly performed on Aircraft 504 [D.E. 1, Ex. 4]. Debtor has argued that Defendant's assertion of a perfected lien in Aircraft 504 is contrary to Fla. Stat. §§
713.58,
329.51, and
329.01 because Defendant failed to timely file the FAA Claim of Lien prior to the petition date pursuant to Fla....
...an Aircraft 504. Defendant has argued that it has perfected liens in Aircraft 504 for work performed on Aircraft 504 and for work performed on other aircraft of Debtor in compliance with applicable Florida Statutes, including Fla. Stat. §§
713.58,
329.51, and
329.01, and as permitted under 11 U.S.C....
...nforceable against the owner of the aircraft. Second, a notice of lien must be recorded in the office of the Federal Aviation Administrator of the United States, before a statutory lien claimed becomes valid against any third party. See Fla. Stat. §§
329.51 and
329.01; 49 U.S.C....
...§ 44107(a)(2) did not require the filing and recordation of statutory mechanic's lien in parts and components). As a result, the Court must determine whether Florida allows for the perfection of a mechanic's lien against an aircraft solely by possession. Fla. Stat. § 329.51 provides: Any lien claimed on an aircraft under s....
...any office of this state. Any instrument required to be recorded by the *620 provisions of this section takes effect from the date of its recordation and not from the date of its execution. It is clear from the language of Fla. Stat §§
329.01 and
329.51 that perfection of a mechanic's lien under Florida law requires the two-step filing process suggested by Debtor....
...The Court notes that the determination of enforceability of the mechanic's lien under Florida law is separate and apart from the determination of validity of the lien against third parties and the priority of the lien against competing lien interests. In fact, the ultimate sentence of Fla. Stat. §
329.51 states that it does "not affect the priority of competing interests in any aircraft or the lienor's obligation to record the lien under section
329.01." Fla....
...B.R. at 99 n. 16. The court further noted that the FAA published legal opinions in the Federal Register determining which states have enacted laws that require the filing of artisan's liens with the FAA. Id. In 1984, after Florida enacted Fla. Stat. § 329.51, the FAA issued a legal opinion that Florida had "passed legislation which, in [its] opinion, allows the Aircraft Registry to accept artisan liens from [Florida]." 49 F.R....
...ising under Fla. Stat. §
713.58 to take priority over a properly filed chattel mortgage recorded with the FAA, the Court is not persuaded by its reasoning or holding, given that Carolina was decided before the Florida legislature enacted Fla. Stat. §
329.51 in 1984 and the United States Supreme Court rendered its decision in Philko Aviation, Inc....
...earing house for recordation of titles so that a person, wherever he may be, will know where he can find ready access to the claims against, or liens, or other legal interests in the aircraft." Id. at 411,
103 S.Ct. 2476. Therefore, while Fla. Stat. §
329.51 creates an enforceable interest in an aircraft for services or labor performed against the owner of an aircraft, in order for a claim of lien to be valid as against third parties, notice must be given by filing the claim of lien with the FAA, pursuant to both 49 U.S.C. § 44108 and Fla. Stat. §
329.01. As stated earlier, Fla. Stat. §
329.51 clearly requires a mechanic seeking to enforce a statutory lien against an aircraft pursuant to Fla....
...§
713.74, which provides, in relevant part, that, "There shall be no lien upon personal property as against purchasers and creditors without notice unless the person claiming the lien is in possession of the property upon which the lien is claimed." Notwithstanding these cases, the plain language of Fla. Stat. §
329.51 requires that any person seeking to enforce a lien arising under Fla. Stat. §
713.58 against an aircraft, describe, among other things, "the aircraft upon which the lienor has expended labor, services, fuel, or material". [Emphasis added]. Fla. Stat. §
329.51 makes no provision for enforceability of a lien against other personal "property ... used in the business, occupation, or employment" of an owner of aircraft. Based on the limited holding of Southern Attractions, the plain language of Fla. Stat. §
329.51, and the fact that no other case has relied on Southern Attractions for the proposition espoused by Defendant, the Court does not find Southern Attractions persuasive or applicable to the case at bar....
...with the FAA prior to the petition date and that the FAA Claim of Lien is avoidable pursuant to Bankruptcy Code §§ 544 and 545 and is invalid against Debtor and its bankruptcy estate. Further, the Court finds, as a matter of law, that Fla. Stat. §§
329.51 and
329.01 prohibit possessory interests created by statute or contract from taking priority over the interest of Debtor as a debtor in possession, as well as the validly perfected interests of third parties, without notice, unless a notice of lien is timely filed and recorded with the FAA....
CopyCited 1 times | Published | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal | 2005 WL 957595
...mechanic's lien on an airplane was invalid. Because the lien was not properly filed according to Florida law, we affirm. Likewise, we affirm the related order granting attorney's fees. The primary question in this case is whether the requirement in section 329.51, Florida Statutes (2004), that a lienor must file a verified notice of lien for repairs to an airplane in the county where the airplane was located at the time the services were last furnished is preempted by federal law, which require...
...After Tack I defaulted under the security agreement, it released the aircraft back to Textron. At the time of the release, the aircraft was in the *729 physical possession of appellant, Creston Aviation, Inc., which claimed a lien on the aircraft for services under Florida Statutes sections
329.01 and
329.51....
...he unpaid balance for fuel and maintenance services provided to the aircraft and sought to foreclose against Tack I and Textron a claim of lien, which it filed with the Federal Aviation Administration pursuant to Florida Statutes sections
329.01 and
329.51. Along with the complaint, Creston filed a Notice of Lis Pendens. By way of summary judgment, the trial court found that Creston's lien was not enforceable because Creston did not comply with section
329.51, which provides that notice of any lien claimed on an aircraft under section
713.58 must be filed in the county where the aircraft was located at the time the labor, services, fuel or materials was last furnished....
