We got a call awhile back from the seller of a light twin who was in a panic when the aircraft was snagged in a prepurchase inspection because an old AD wasn’t signed off. The lack of AD compliance rightfully raised some red flags about the overall upkeep of the airplane, and the buyer was ready to walk away from it.
While the seller was quick to blame his maintenance shop for either forgetting the logbook sign-off or missing the AD compliance altogether (it required substantial teardown to determine if the AD was complied with), we reminded him that ultimately it is the owner’s responsibility to look after AD compliance, and not the mechanic’s. This topic is worth a look.