ask a maritime attorney

By David Weil

Founded in 1971

WRITE TO: P.O. Box 1337 Newport Beach, CA 92659 (949) 660-6150 (800) 873-7327

QUESTION:

I was in a very small accident in the waters adjacent to my marina in early 2021. The other boat alleged that my boat had nicked his swim step. My insurance company paid him for the repair, and I thought the matter had concluded. I was wrong. A year later the owner of the boat hired a law firm to allege that he was injured, and he threatened to sue me. There has been no movement on the lawsuit, and I sold the boat earlier this year. I am reaching out to you now because I received a letter from the law firm last week, advising that the owner of the other boat somehow managed to get a lien on my old boat. I have no interest in the boat at all, and even if I did there is no judgement against me. Does Maritime law allow a boat to be “arrested” when I no longer own the boat and when there is no money owed?

ANSWER: Our reader has a few different issues on the table. Let’s start with the most basic: She should immediately forward the attorney’s letter to her insurance agent or broker. The policy that covered the property damage claim will also cover the injury claim. The fact that the injury claim may be frivolous doesn’t matter. Even if it is frivolous, it will cost her thousands of dollars to prove her position to a judge, and she won’t be able to recover those costs associated with that defense. I cannot say this strongly enough to anyone in this position- - Work with your insurance company. This is why you have liability coverage with your boat policy.

The “lien” is a separate issue altogether, but before we get into this, we need to distinguish between a “lien” and a “Notice of Claim of Lien.” A lien is a financial security device that provides collateral to secure payment of an obligation. Different types of liens may arise from different types of claims, and they may have different requirements for enforcement. A maritime lien, for example, may be enforced by filing a lawsuit in Federal Court without recording anything with the Coast Guard. Conversely, as the name of the document suggests, a “Notice of Claim of Lien” (a “NCL”) is just that –a NOTICE that somebody has a claim. Basically, they claim to have a lien, but it cannot be conclusively determined until it is litigat-

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