Registration of Aircraft in Oklahoma City

Here's a hypothetical for you. You are buying an aircraft from a person
who is in financial trouble and creditors are lined up to collect. That
means liens will probably be filed in Ok City.

So you do a title search. On your own. And you find some liens and get
them all paid, then file your bill of sale by mailing it to the FAA in Ok
City. Could you have faxed it? In the meantime, more liens have come in,
some by mail and some by fax. Some creditors have also sent liens by mail on
the same day you mail your bill of sale, and because one or more creditors
were closer to Ok City, their parcels got there first. Should you have used
a title company like AOPA and paid them $200, since their agents have
immediate access to the public documents in Ok City?

The upshot of your purchase is that you took the aircraft subject to $25,000
in liens, making your investment a very poor one. You now have an aircraft
worth $40,000 but you owe $25,000 more than the $35,000 you paid for it.
You will have paid $60,000 for a $40,000 aircraft because of those shocking
surprise liens. Poor you. You have no recourse against the seller because
he is insolvent and judgment-proof.