Buying a Cessna 150/152: Aircraft Title and Lien Research

A Cessna 150 or 152 prebuy should include a separate title inquiry alongside the mechanical inspection. Maintenance records describe work and configuration; they do not answer every question about recorded mortgages, security interests or releases. This guide concerns the FAA recording system and preparation for a U.S. title review, not a determination that a particular aircraft can be purchased with clear title.

Understand what the FAA file can show

The FAA's Clear Title guidance describes clear title in terms of unreleased recorded interests such as mortgages, security agreements and liens. It explains that state law determines lien and security interests, that federal law does not require filing them with the FAA, and that the FAA does not perform title searches. A purchaser, attorney or title-search organization must examine the records.

Those boundaries matter when interpreting a reassuring search result. Ask what was searched and what the conclusion covers. Do not translate “nothing found in this file” into a broader legal conclusion without establishing the scope of the search and the applicable law.

Start with the aircraft's exact identity

Prepare the complete make, model and serial from the aircraft evidence, together with the registration used in the transaction. Follow the aircraft-identity guide when an advertisement uses a shorthand model name. Keep previous registration references visible when they appear in the file; do not combine two similarly described aircraft because their marketing names match.

The FAA aircraft-records guide explains the request route. Obtaining copies is a retrieval step. A title review still has to interpret the documents and connect the interests, releases and aircraft identity correctly. Order enough time for that interpretation before treating the file as complete.

Read releases as part of the chain

For each recorded interest raised by the review, ask where its release or other disposition is documented and which underlying instrument it addresses. Similar creditor names or dates can make an informal summary look persuasive while leaving the actual connection unclear. Preserve document identifiers rather than relying on a seller's recollection of having paid a loan.

The FAA guidance distinguishes a notice of conveyance recordation from a release. A confirmation that a document was recorded is not, by itself, the document that clears the recorded interest. Have the reviewer explain unresolved instruments in plain language and identify the next document needed.

Keep the purchase decisions separate

A satisfactory compression result does not resolve an ownership interest. A satisfactory title review does not establish the condition of the wing, validity of an alteration or continuity of engine records. These are parallel parts of the buying decision, each needing its own evidence and responsible reviewer.

Use the prebuy guide for the technical examination and damage-history research for repair evidence. Bring the title review's stated scope and unresolved items into the purchase discussion alongside those findings. This makes it possible to ask a concrete follow-up question without using a maintenance document to answer a legal recording question it was never designed to address.

Compare the evidence roles