How Can You Find Out About Unrecorded Vessel Liens?

In reading your article on maritime liens in the last issue of The Log, I had a few questions that I was hoping you could follow up on. In that article, you indicated that a maritime lien may be valid even if it is not recorded with the Coast Guard. If that is the case, how can a boat buyer know if a lien has been placed on the vessel? Similarly, how can a boat owner find out if an unrecorded lien has been placed on a boat that he or she already owns? We received quite a few emails after our discussion of maritime liens in the last installment of this column. Boat owners are uncomfortable with the idea that an unrecorded lien may be lurking out there somewhere, and they want to know more about the nature of these claims. This discussion may be more suited to a semester-long class in law school, but a brief overview may be helpful, nonetheless. Much of the confusion surrounding the operation of maritime liens is due to the fact that they differ considerably from liens against real property. If a contractor has a claim on real property, he files a claim of...