J.V. Air Maintenance v. Westwind Leasing
Decided September 25, 2019, No. 3D18-2212. Complete nine-page opinion and footnotes retrieved/read in an unofficial-hosted court PDF.
Facts and holding
The owner disputed its aircraft repair bill and demanded return after three months. The trial court canceled a proposed nonjudicial sale and ordered return; the appeal concerned return. Affirmed: section 85.011 limits retention against the owner’s demand to three months. A perfected lien does not automatically disappear upon compulsory surrender. The court distinguishes unperfected claims and expressly reserves third-party rights.
Sale and current-law limits
The additional statutory synthesis, identified as not crucial to the holding, recognizes section 85.031(2)‘s auction when completed repair goods remain unclaimed/unpaid after three months. It is not permission to ignore an owner’s return demand. Judicial enforcement remains distinct.
Footnote 2 expressly considers the July 1, 2019 amendment removing possession as a perfection requirement; it does not change the retention holding. Chapter 2019-88 and current section 329.51 control over the opinion’s historical perfection discussion.
Later decisions checked
florida-aersale-v-total-air-services-2022 cites this case but separately decides fuel perfection. The June 17, 2026 appeal, No. 3D25-1569 reverses dismissal of Westwind’s counterclaims for lack of prosecution, not the 2019 retention rule or a completed auction’s title. These actual checks are not a comprehensive citator certification.
Applies in
florida · aircraft-mechanics-liens-and-non-judicial-sales
Legal information, not legal advice.
Independent Primary-Text Comparison — 2026-10-17
2019 amendment discussed in footnote did not expand detention right; lien existence and possession remain different. Current operative comparison: § 85.011; § 85.031; § 329.51. Full holding verification is not a comprehensive still-good-law certificate. Where the former source URL failed, the working full-opinion source now appears in metadata; original failed receipts remain separate in the review evidence.
Legal information, not legal advice. Verify against the cited primary sources and consult a licensed Florida attorney before acting.