Lease Contracts and the FAA

• A lease contract specifies the structure and terms of the lease. A lease temporarily grants rights of use for a particular property to an entity other than the owner. Most leases are for real property, such as land that can be used as an air field of some type although some leases can also be used for assets such as planes. When land is leased to the FAA, the lease is signed by the FAA, which keeps a copy for its records, but the contract itself is not necessarily filed with the FAA as a process in completing the deal.
  
  

Lease Terms

• Creating a lease with the FAA does incur certain requirements that the lease must meet, and the FAA will review leases for terms to make sure it meets these qualifications. For example, the FAA cannot agree to a lease that lasts more than 20 years. The FAA also has a choice when it comes to a firm-term lease authority clause, which requires commitment for future rental payments. In these cases, a Real Estate Contracting Officer helps file the contract at the appropriate local government facilities.
  
  

Sub-Leases

• When creating a lease with the FAA, the owner of the property must be willing to let the FAA sub-lease, or lease to others in its own right. This allows the FAA to make money off the land even if it is not used for any particular aviation purposes and gives the FAA more flexibility when it comes to lease terms. In this case, the FAA must receive and record a right of entry permit for special types of ingress involving this sub-lease.
  
  

FAA Registry

• In some cases, the owner of an aircraft or aircraft property of some type will lease the asset to another person or organization. The aircraft already falls under the purview of the FAA, and the lease is generally a private matter between the two parties, but there are some exceptions. When a lease agreement is created, it must be filed with the FAA at the closing for truth-in-leasing, or confirmation of the property and related terms.