On June 12, 2023, the FAA implemented a new process to make ancillary files accessible in the Public Documents Room (PD Room) for title review purposes. PD Room employees of companies holding permits with the FAA (“Federal Contractors”) were required to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (“NDA”), finalized following input by several members of NAFA’s Regulatory Committee, in order to obtain access to these documents.
Ancillary documents supporting aircraft registrations have been required to be filed with the FAA and have been available to the public, title companies, financial institutions and others needing to determine aircraft ownership for more than 60 years. Ancillary documents include LLC statements, trust agreements, powers of attorney, name changes, certificates of incorporations, estate records, board resolutions, guardianships, receiverships and bankruptcy documents utilized by the title service industry to confirm ownership, other title interests such as liens and leases and to ensure that submissions to the FAA Aircraft Registry (“Registry”) are in recordable form.
On December 12, 2022, the Registry announced that it was denying PD Room permit holders access to ancillary documents citing concerns over the inadvertent release of proprietary data and personal identification information (“PII”). Efforts were immediately made by a sub-committee of NAFA’s Regulatory Committee, partnering with representatives from NBAA and GAMA, to obtain an audience with Registry officials in order to discuss industry needs for access to the ancillary documents and solutions for restoring access. Interim solutions involving obtaining and submitting of consent forms from document owners and requests for redacted ancillary documents from the Registry proved unworkable for both the FAA and the title service industry.
Acknowledging that they were unable to address the backlog of requests for redacted ancillary documents, the Registry announced on May 9, 2023, a new process to restore access to the documents by having PD Room employees of permit holders execute an NDA. Comments and revisions to the NDA were made by NAFA’s Regulatory Committee members, and the FAA issued a revised version. Access to the ancillary documents was restored by the Registry on June 12, 2023, to PD Room employees who had submitted signed NDAs. Key features of the NDAs, further confirmed through communications with the Registry, are:
1.Ancillary files may be shared internally within the PD Room employee’s company, provided the files do not contain any sensitive personal Identification information (“SPII”). The ancillary documents may not be disclosed to anyone, and the FAA must be notified if SPII is found in the files.
2.SPII was defined in the NDA as “…information that is linked or linkable to an individual which, if lost, compromised, or disclosed without authorization, could result in substantial harm, embarrassment, inconvenience or unfairness to an individual. This includes social security numbers, driver’s license or state ID numbers, passport numbers, alien registration numbers, financial account numbers and biometric identifiers.”
3.The information in an ancillary file that does not contain SPII may be used for title search reports, preparing transaction and registration documents, discussions with transaction party representatives, and other things normally done in the ordinary course of business.
4.The ancillary files themselves may not be shared with anyone outside the PD Room employee’s company, such as buyers, sellers, attorneys, brokers or lenders unless a vetted copy is first requested from and provided by the Registry.
5.The NDA contains several very onerous provisions for anyone violating the terms of the NDA, particularly anyone attempting to sell SPII or profit from the sale of SPII.
In summary, the new process for access to ancillary documents seems to be working well and has permitted users of these documents to get back to business as it was before the FAA implemented the restrictions in December 2022. As a side note, I met personally with Kevin West, Manager, Aircraft Registration Branch, AFB-710, in Washington D.C. last week, and he shared the good news that Registry’s backlog in processing registration documents has now been reduced to 43 days!
Bruce L. Marshall
Chair – NAFA Regulatory Committee
EVP and General Counsel - AIC Title Service