OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
S.B. 206 Bill Analysis
135th General Assembly
Click here for S.B. 206’s Fiscal Note
Version: As Reported by House Civil Justice
Primary Sponsor: Sen. Hackett
Effective date:
Margaret E. Marcy, Attorney
SUMMARY
Abandoned and derelict aircraft
▪ Authorizes a person to recoup unpaid storage costs from the owner of an aircraft by
perfecting a lien on the aircraft.
▪ Establishes specific notification procedures that apply before the director of a public-use
airport may perfect a lien on an abandoned aircraft for storage costs and for labor on or
furnishing materials for the abandoned aircraft.
▪ Establishes a process to dispose of a derelict aircraft located on a public-use airport’s
property through either public auction or through an aircraft salvage or scrap metal
dealer.
▪ Specifies that the owner of a derelict aircraft remains liable for any remaining costs, fees,
and charges if the price of the aircraft does not cover the amount owed to the airport.
▪ Establishes a procedure for any excess proceeds from the disposal of a derelict aircraft to
be distributed to other lienholders, the owner of the aircraft, or the Unclaimed Funds
Trust Fund, as circumstances warrant.
Priority of property tax certificate liens
▪ Requires that, before a delinquent property tax certificate purchaser can hold the first
lien position in any foreclosure of the property, the purchaser must first offer to sell the
certificate to the person who held the immediately junior lien at the time of the certificate
sale, if any.
 This analysis was prepared before the report of the House Civil Justice Committee appeared in the House
Journal. Note that the legislative history may be incomplete.
December 10, 2024
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Mechanic’s liens
▪ Changes the default expiration date of a notice of commencement from six years to four
years.
▪ Requires the notice of commencement to include a statement advising of that four-year
expiration date.
▪ Allows the person who contracted for an improvement, upon its completion, to request
that the county recorder indicate that the notice of commencement is expired.
Self-service storage facilities
▪ Authorizes an owner of a self-storage facility to dispose of stored property of occupants
whose rental agreement is expired or has been terminated.
▪ Modifies the threshold of liability relating to self-service storage spaces.
Oil and Gas Land Management Commission leases
▪ Increases from three to five years the term of the standard lease used by a state agency
when leasing oil and gas rights on property owned or managed by the state agency.
DETAILED ANALYSIS
Abandoned and derelict aircraft
Introduction
The bill adds unpaid storage costs to the list of costs that a person may recoup through
the placement of a lien on an aircraft. It also establishes notification procedures that apply when
perfecting a lien with respect to an abandoned aircraft located at a public-use airport.
Additionally, it establishes a process for a public-use airport to sell a derelict aircraft left on the
airport’s property.
While current law establishes a process for placing a lien on an aircraft for performing
labor on (i.e., repairing, servicing, and maintaining) or furnishing materials for an aircraft, it does
not establish a process for storage liens or for getting rid of derelict aircraft left on an airport’s
property.
Abandoned and derelict aircraft meaning
Under the bill, an abandoned aircraft is one located on the premises of a public-use
airport (i.e., an airport available for use by the general public without the prior approval of the
owner or operator, except as federal laws or regulations require) when the owner or operator of
the aircraft has not paid any tie-down, hangar, rent, or storage costs for use of the premises for
at least 90 consecutive days.1 A derelict aircraft, in contrast, is one that meets all of the following:
1 R.C. 1311.71.
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1. It is located on the premises of a public-use airport.
2. It is not in a flyable condition.
3. It does not comply with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations that
would allow it to be operated or flown.
4. It does not have a written repair plan that is approved and signed by either an FAA
certified airframe and power plant mechanic or a person otherwise authorized to perform
maintenance on the aircraft, in accordance with FAA regulations.
5. The owner or operator of the aircraft has not paid any tie-down, hangar, rent, or storage
costs for use of the premises for at least 90 consecutive days.2
An abandoned aircraft might also be a derelict aircraft, if it meets the additional conditions
related to derelict aircraft.
Storage liens
As indicated above, the existing process for placing a lien on an aircraft applies to costs
for labor performed on, and materials furnished for, an aircraft. The bill applies this process to
costs incurred for the storage of an aircraft. The existing process establishes procedures for
perfecting the lien, which include the following:
▪ Filing an affidavit with the FAA to perfect the lien;
▪ Specifications for what must be included in the affidavit, such as the amount owed to the
lien claimant and a description of the aircraft;
▪ A 90-day period in which to file the affidavit;
▪ Serving a copy of the affidavit on the owner;
▪ Lien priority processes;
▪ Enforcement of the lien through the court with jurisdiction in the county in which either
the storage took place or in which the public-use airport’s primary place of business is
located (when in Ohio);
▪ Processes for an aircraft owner to take to release the lien or commence a suit on the lien;
and
▪ Processes for the lien claimant (the airport) to maintain the lien (a lien otherwise lasts six
years, unless released sooner) and the awarding of attorney’s fees.3
2 R.C. 4561.26.
3R.C. 1311.72, 1311.73, 1311.74, not in the bill, 1311.75, 1311.76, 1311.77, 1311.78, not in the bill,
1311.79, not in the bill, and 1311.80, not in the bill.
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Additional procedures for abandoned aircraft
The bill establishes a notification procedure that the director of a public-use airport must
complete before the director may perfect a lien on an abandoned aircraft. Specifically, the
director must search the airport’s appropriate records and contact the FAA’s Aircraft Registration
Branch and the Office of Aviation (with the Ohio Department of Transportation) to determine the
name and address of the abandoned aircraft’s last registered owner. Within 20 days of receiving
that information, the director must then send notice to the owner identified by the FAA and the
Office of Aviation. The notice must include all of the following:
▪ A description of the abandoned aircraft, including its FAA N-Number, manufacturer name,
model designation, and serial number;
▪ The location of the abandoned aircraft on the airport premises;
▪ The amount of any fees and charges for the use of the airport by the abandoned aircraft
that have accrued; and
▪ That the airport may seek to perfect a lien if within 30 calendar days after the receipt of
notice or notification that delivery was not possible the owner does not remove the
abandoned aircraft and pay all of the accrued fees and charges.
The notice may be sent either by certified or express mail with return receipt requested,
by certified mail with electronic tracking, by a commercial carrier service utilizing any form of
delivery requiring a signed receipt, or by personal service. If the owner does not respond to the
notice, does not remove the abandoned aircraft, and does not pay the accrued fees and charges
in full within 30 days of receipt of the notice (or notification that delivery was not possible), the
director may proceed in perfecting a lien on the abandoned aircraft. The failure of the owner to
receive the notice of removal does not invalidate a perfected lien, if the director of the public-
use airport complied with the notice procedures.4
Disposal process for derelict aircraft
Notification
The bill also establishes procedures for a director of a public-use airport to dispose of a
derelict aircraft that is located on the airport premises. Before disposal, the director must follow
a similar search and notice procedure as it would for placing a lien on an abandoned aircraft.
Namely, the director must search its own records and contact the FAA Aircraft Registration
Branch and the Office of Aviation to find the last registered owner and any person having legal
or equitable interest in the derelict aircraft.
Within 20 days of receiving that information, the director must send a notice by the same
methods of certified or express mail with return receipt requested, by certified mail with
electronic tracking, by a commercial carrier service utilizing any form of delivery requiring a
signed receipt, or by personal service. In addition to the notice sent to the owner and any person
4 R.C. 1311.721.
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with a legal or equitable interest in the derelict aircraft, the director also must file a copy of the
notice with the FAA’s Aircraft Registration Branch and post of copy of the notice on the airport’s
website.
The notice itself is similar to the notice sent regarding a lien on an abandoned aircraft.
Thus, the notice must identify the aircraft, its location, and the fees and charges that have
accrued. However, the notice also must specify that the airport may remove, sell, scrap, or
otherwise dispose of the derelict aircraft if, within 30 calendar days after the date of receipt of
the notice or notification that delivery was not possible, the owner does not remove the derelict
aircraft from the airport and pay all accrued fees and charges.5
Disposal
If the owner does not pay the accrued fees and charges in full and remove the derelict
aircraft within 30 days of receipt of the notice (or notification that delivery was not possible), the
director may do one of the following:
▪ Sell the derelict aircraft at public auction; or
▪ Dispose of the derelict aircraft through an aircraft salvage or scrap metal dealer.
If sold at public auction, the director must give notice of the date, time, and place of the
sale at least ten calendar days prior to the sale in a written publication of general circulation in
the airport’s county. The director also may give written notice to any person known to have an
interest in purchasing the derelict aircraft.
If disposed of through an aircraft salvage or scrap metal dealer, the director may
negotiate with the dealer for the price to be received or paid by the director, based on the
circumstances. The director must prepare and maintain all information pertaining to the
establishment of that price and its justification. The negotiated price (whatever it may be) is
considered a commercially reasonable price.
If the final price of the derelict aircraft is less than the accrued fees and charges against
the derelict aircraft (or the director must pay for it to be salvaged/scrapped), the prior owner of
the derelict aircraft remains liable to the airport for any remaining fees, charges, and the costs
paid to the dealer. The airport may recover those fees, charges, and costs by any remedies
otherwise provided by law.
If the final sale price is more than the accrued fees and charges against the aircraft, the
director must pay all excess proceeds to the following individuals, as applicable:
1. Any other known lienholders, according to the priority of the liens;
2. The owner of the aircraft, if the owner can be determined and located;
3. The Director of Commerce, to be deposited as unclaimed funds into the Unclaimed Funds
Trust Fund, if the owner cannot be determined or located.
5 R.C. 4561.26.
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Any good faith purchaser or recipient of the derelict aircraft sold or obtained through the
process established by the bill takes the derelict aircraft free and clear of the rights or liens of
any other person holding legal or equitable interest to the aircraft, regardless of whether that
interest was recorded. The purchaser or recipient must notify the FAA and the Office of Aviation
of the change in registered ownership.6
Priority of property tax certificate liens
One option for counties to collect delinquent real property taxes is through the sale of tax
certificates. Those certificates transfer the state’s lien on property for delinquent taxes to a
private person who then attempts to collect the amounts owed, plus an amount of interest
determined at the time the certificate is sold. Under continuing law, the state’s lien is superior to
all other liens, which means that, if the underlying property is foreclosed upon, the state
generally gets paid before any other lien holders, such as those holding a mortgage on the
property.7
Under current law, when a tax certificate is sold, the state’s first lien position is
transferred to the purchaser. The bill eliminates the automatic first priority for tax certificate
liens and instead predicates first priority for such liens on two conditions:
▪ Within 90 days of the certificate sale, the certificate buyer notifies the person, if any, who
held the lien immediately junior to the state’s tax lien at the time of the certificate sale
offering that person a right of first refusal to purchase the certificate at its original
purchase price. The certificate holder must record that notice with the county recorder.
▪ The junior lienholder fails to exercise the right of first refusal within 90 days of receiving
the notice.
If those conditions are met, or if there is no junior lienholder, the certificate holder has first lien
position. If the junior lienholder exercises the right to purchase the certificate, the first lien
position will transfer to that lienholder.8
Mechanic’s liens
Background
A mechanic’s lien is a lien that gives a person who performs labor or supplies material
that improves real property a right to impose a lien on that property to secure payment for the
material supplied or the work performed. Chapter 1311 of the Revised Code sets forth a process
that a contractor or material supplier must follow in order to preserve those lien rights. This
process involves two key documents: the “notice of commencement” and the “notice of
6 R.C. 4561.27.
7 R.C. 323.11 and 5721.10, not in the bill.
8 R.C. 5721.35(B) and 5721.37(H), with conforming changes in R.C. 5301.25, 5721.06, 5721.32, and
5721.33.
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furnishing.” A third document, the “affidavit for mechanic’s lien,” must be filed with the county
recorder if the contractor or material supplier wish to actually place a lien on the real property.
Prior to any labor or materials being furnished for an improvement of real property, the
owner or lessee who contracts for the labor or materials must record in the office of the county
recorder a notice of commencement and must serve a copy of the notice on the original
contractor. The notice of commencement is an affidavit that provides specific information on the
property, including the owner, the contractor, and any lending institution involved in financing
the improvement.
Certain subcontractors or material suppliers, who are not under direct contract with the
owner or lessee, but rather are working under an agreement with the original contractor, must
serve a notice of furnishing, within a specified time frame, in order to preserve the
subcontract