I'm buying a hangar that is currently placed on land that is leased by the airport. (Airport leases the land from the land owner) The person Im buying the hangar from doesn't own the land and isnt the lease holder but he techincally owns that section of the hangar structure (long T hangar). Kind of an interesting setup but Im turning to you guys for advice. I normally dont do handshake deals and would just like to have something in writing that says this particular space is mine. What are your thoughts? Im not so sure it would do any good since the person Im buying the hangar from isnt the land owner or the lease holder.

I wouldn’t touch it without ink. I’m jaded though; even with ink it would depend on the terms.

We own a T-hangar on a land lease. 5 other t-hangars in our co-op. The seller told us the airport always renews the lease even though that’s not what the lease says. We took his word which he truly believed because that’s how it had always been. Airport changes their mind and decides to not renew any leases so they can gain ownership of the hangars and become landlords. After a year of fighting we get a new lease of ten years and a ‘guarantee’ that will be it.

We would have been better off renting.

Written every time. Your interpretation of what was said ten years later may well differ from his.

Interesting quote from a lawyer "a verbal agreement isn't worth the paper it's written on".

Sweet Merciful God....

INK man, INK!

Sorry, I guess I didnt really phrase it correctly. Of course ink would be the best route, but I'm just not sure any contract would mean anything in the future anyway. How does one own a fraction of a 6 place hangar on leased land when you dont even have your name on the lease?

I own my hangar on our municipal airport. In 1991 I got a 30 year lease that the city lawyer drafted. A year ago one of the city council members decided the airport was costing too much and wanted to sell it to the adjoining state park for more camping area. It made the headlines,even AOPA got wind of it and it wasn't looking good for a little while. Eventually it was found out that after the Air Tractors, spraying crops and donating 25 cents an acre for using the runway, the airport was actually making money. After some sleepless nights I have a 15 year lease which is more than enough for me. I can't sell my hangar and it will become the city's when I'm out of the picture.

ington6 wrote:Sorry, I guess I didnt really phrase it correctly. Of course ink would be the best route, but I'm just not sure any contract would mean anything in the future anyway. How does one own a fraction of a 6 place hangar on leased land when you dont even have your name on the lease?

I am in a similar situation.
The airport leases the land to a hangar condominium association, of which I am a member.
There are condo assn membership fees which go to cover my part of the lease payments,
replacement & liability insurance, and the shared electrical service.
The hangar itself is a piece of real property,
the title is in my name & I pay property tax on it to the county every year.

I have to believe that the airport (who leases the land from the owner) must in turn have a written agreement
to document their subleasing it to your hangar group.
You need to talk to the person in charge of that hangar group,
and maybe also the airport manager.
I know from experience that a lot of people don't understand the ownership/leasehold details,
they just know "I own this hangar".

I bought a hangar on the Glendale, Arizona airport. Right now I can sell it for more than I paid. The current lease runs through 2035. If the city wants to sell the airport to developers at the end of the lease, I lose everything. The terms of some hanger land leases are horrible. The options though are not good. No really good options.

Ink it