Hi John,
I'm afraid I'm still at the early part of the process as there was an issue with an old lien that the FAA found on the books (the lien was from 1966!!!!).
I got the FAA CD-ROM, and I actually saw the lien on the books. I made the assumption, however, that since the airplane had been auctioned in the '90's...and the bill of sale indicated "Free and Clear"...that the FAA would see it as "free and clear".
Of course, when you assume, you make a, um, "rear-end" out of "u" and "me". Suffice to say, the FAA didn't see it that way, and I had to:
(a) Get a document from the bank to prove the loan was discharged (this took 3 weeks)
(b) Get another document to show prove the bank that sent the first letter had the signing authority to relieve the lien.
So...if I had to do this again, I would pay the $100 for someone to do a title search to get an "FAA perspective" on any "stuff" you can see on the FAA CD-ROM.
