I spoke with the lienholder and determined that this is a business dispute between him and the previous owner of the aircraft over a deposit that was placed on the aircraft. The previous owner claims the buyer never paid for the plane and he kept the deposit, the buyer claims he didn't get his deposit back after the seller renegged on the deal.
According to the FAA, this is a non-recordable lien and they won't do anything with it. There is a letter on file stating this. The state of Texas did record the lien and that is what has my buyer concerned.
I also spoke with the FSDO about the airworthiness issue. They think I will need a DAR inspection to get a new airworthiness certificate. The previous owner rented the aircraft as a part 141 flight school and claimed to know nothing about the airworthiness certificate being invalid. My mechanic is also surprised that the airworthiness certificate would be invalid. Now the plane needs to sit until I can get a new airworthiness certificate.
Thanks for the suggestions everyone. Hopefully I won't be hearing from any FAA enforcement officials...
