Embraer Aircraft Maintenance Services, Inc. v. AeroCentury Corp. (2017)

Court/date: Tennessee Supreme Court, November 27, 2017. Docket: M2016-00649-SC-R23-CV. Justice Holly Kirby wrote the unanimous opinion answering a certified question from the Middle District of Tennessee. Full opinion text and the twelve-page linked PDF were retrieved on 2026-10-17 from the Caselaw Access Project’s unofficial verbatim copy at source_url, retrieved 2026-10-18 (raw JSON and hash kept with the Tennessee final-review evidence); the court host returns a bot challenge.

Source note (2026-10-18):

• Links on this page to https://static.case.law/sw3d/538/cases/0404-01.json are an (unofficial Caselaw Access Project copy, retrieved before 2026-10-18; host disallows automated access); no official or otherwise permitted full-text copy was located on 2026-10-18.

Facts

Embraer repaired AeroCentury’s aircraft under an arrangement with its lessee, Colgan. Colgan failed to pay the USD 351,465.20 invoice. Embraer filed county and FAA lien notices, then sought foreclosure in federal court. During the suit, AeroCentury leased and sold the aircraft to a Ukrainian company, so Embraer sought the sale proceeds instead. These facts were assumed from the federal certification order; the Tennessee court had no evidentiary record.

Holding and reasoning

Section 66-21-101 permits original attachment of the personal property subject to a statutory lien when the lien statute supplies no specific enforcement method. It does not create a lien on proceeds. Because Embraer’s § 66-19-101 repair lien did not cover the sale proceeds, § 66-21-101 supplied no remedy to reach them. The court expressly preserved other potentially available statutory or common- law remedies and declined the second, open-ended certified question about what all those remedies might be. The opinion therefore does not hold that every proceeds claim or conversion remedy fails.

Practical impact

An aircraft repair-lien claimant must distinguish attachment of the aircraft from a separately supported proceeds claim. A buyer or lender must investigate the lien, county recording, FAA record and notice history; this opinion is not an adjudication clearing a purchaser’s title or ranking all liens.

Sources and status

• Full opinion, CAP unofficial verbatim copy (retrieved 2026-10-18).
• Earlier reproduction links (Justia) are no longer used: that host now returns a security challenge.
• good_law_status: needs_verification: later-treatment research has not established a current status.

Applies in tennessee.

Legal information, not legal advice. Verify against the cited primary sources before acting.