Indiana

UCC filings: Moderate Land records: Moderate

Secretary of State can refuse unauthorized or materially false UCC filings; real-property tools are thinner What the badges mean

Last verified: July 27, 2026 — confirm current text on the official site; this date is not a promise the law is unchanged.

Specific items rechecked October 13, 2026: Ind. Code §§32-28-13-1 to -9 (common-law liens, including the public-official rule and the recorder-certified release).

General information, not legal advice. Confirm current fees, forms, and deadlines on official government sites, and talk to an attorney about your situation. LienGuardAI does not file anything for you. See Legal Disclaimer & Terms of Use.

What we know so far: Worth being precise about who Indiana's UCC tools actually help. The Secretary of State's §26-1-9.1-901(a) refusal happens at the point of filing, on the office's own initiative — it can stop a bad filing from being accepted in the first place. For a filing that has already been accepted, §902 provides a motion for judicial review open to a person who believes the financing statement is fraudulent under §901. If the court finds it fraudulent, it may award costs (including filing and attorney's fees), declare the financing statement ineffective, and order the office that holds it to terminate or purge it. §902 also directs the Secretary of State to create and post a form to assist people filing without a lawyer. It is a court process, not an administrative affidavit like some other states have. On real property, §32-28-13 is the chapter for common-law liens: a person recording one must file a sworn statement in duplicate, and the recorder mails a copy to the property owner within three business days (§5). The owner's notice to commence suit (§6) and the recorder-certified release on the owner's affidavit (§7) are described above (checked 2026-10-13 against the official Indiana Code 2026, Title 32). The chapter reaches common-law liens, not every forged deed or mortgage. Two 2026 bills would have addressed fraudulent deeds specifically — SB 253 (recorder authority to refuse suspicious instruments, plus a mandatory county alert system) and HB 1125 (AG enforcement after the fact) — but they did not become law. The 2026 session adjourned sine die (IGA Notices); neither bill is in the official 2026 Digest of Enactments (updated 2026-03-02) or the Enrolled Act to Public Law table (LSA summary 2026-03-12). Last actions remain first-reading committee referrals (SB 253 → Local Government, 01/08/2026; HB 1125 → Judiciary, 01/05/2026). That deed-fraud gap remains.

Relevant case law: After Indiana Child Protective Services removed his daughter, a father flooded federal court with filings. When those did not go his way, he filed $10 million “Common Law Liens” with the Marion County Recorder against nearly every sitting Southern District of Indiana judge. A federal judge ordered the liens expunged. He later pleaded guilty to filing a false lien against a federal judge and received time served plus supervised release. The Seventh Circuit affirmed the conviction. Verified. (United States v. Swallers, 897 F.3d 875 (7th Cir. 2018).)

This is a plain-language summary of a published judicial opinion, not a complete report of the case. Confirm names, holdings, and procedural posture against the opinion itself.

UCC financing statements

Check if one exists

Search Indiana's UCC records

Free basic search. INBiz UCC Browse debtor-name search; free public form (CAPTCHA may block automated submits). Certified UCC Search is a separate paid path.

Refusal / removal authority

Indiana Code §26-1-9.1-901(a) lets the Secretary of State refuse a UCC record if the person is not authorized/required to file it, or if there is reasonable cause to believe it is materially false or fraudulent. The office has no duty to investigate beyond what's presented.

Citations IN §26-1-9.1-901 IN §26-1-9.1-902

Full citations

Ind. Code §26-1-9.1-901(a)
Ind. Code §26-1-9.1-902

Refusal at filing on the §901(a) grounds. For a filing already accepted, §902 provides a motion for judicial review by a person who believes the financing statement is fraudulent under §901.

If it's already filed: §26-1-9.1-518 information statement; §26-1-9.1-625 remedies; §902 judicial review — a court that finds the filing fraudulent may declare it ineffective, order the office holding it to terminate or purge it, and award costs including attorney's fees.

Real-property liens

Indiana's dedicated common-law lien chapter (§32-28-13) addresses illegitimate common-law lien claims (definition, recording, notice-to-sue, void/release). §32-28-13-4(b) says the chapter does not create a common-law lien and that a common-law lien "does not exist against the property of a public official for the performance or nonperformance of the public official's official duty." A common-law lien is void if the lienholder does not sue on it within 180 days after it is recorded (§4(c)). §36-2-11-25 is about federal-lien recording, not fraudulent private liens.

Citations IN §32-28-13 IN §32-28-13-4 IN §32-28-13-6 IN §32-28-13-7 IN §32-28-13-9

Full citations

Ind. Code §32-28-13
Ind. Code §32-28-13-4
Ind. Code §32-28-13-6
Ind. Code §32-28-13-7
Ind. Code §32-28-13-9

Under §32-28-13-6, a property owner who is not a public official or public employee may mail the lienholder a notice requiring it to commence suit on the common-law lien; if the lienholder does not sue within 30 days after the notice's postmark date, the lien is void. §32-28-13-7 then provides an affidavit of service of that notice, filed with the county recorder; the property is released when the recorder records the affidavit and certifies in its records that the lien is released. There is no general clerk counter-refusal statute for every false deed or mortgage.

If it's already recorded: Notice to commence suit (§6) and recorder-certified release on the owner's affidavit (§7); civil action for actual damages, costs and reasonable attorney's fees for a person injured by a common-law lien recorded under the chapter (§9). Talk to counsel for broader fraudulent-instrument theories.

Real-property records are held by the county recorder where the property sits.

Get notified before it happens

A free "property fraud alert" service is available in at least part of Indiana — it emails or mails you whenever a document gets recorded against your name, so you find out right away instead of months later. Sign up for Marion County Property Fraud Alerts →

Indiana's largest county (Indianapolis). 2026 SB 253 would have required every county to offer a property alert system; it did not become law (2026 session adjourned sine die; not in the Digest of Enactments).

If you're a government official or employee

A common-law lien does not exist against a public official's property for the performance or nonperformance of official duty (§4(b)). A property owner who is a public official or public employee and receives a statement of intention to hold a common-law lien may give the county recorder a sworn written notice of that status; the recorder then notifies the lienholder that the lien is void if suit is not commenced within 30 days after the postmark date of the recorder's notice (§6.5). "Public official" includes anyone who held office in the preceding four years (§3).

Citation IN §32-28-13-4

Full citation

Ind. Code §32-28-13-4(b); Ind. Code §32-28-13-6.5

How this usually works in Indiana

A summary of the tools Indiana law and filing offices provide — general information, not instructions for your facts. Confirm current practice with the filing office and talk to an attorney about your situation.

1Indiana's free UCC Browse search (CAPTCHA may apply) is linked on this page; county recorders hold land records.
2§26-1-9.1-901 is Indiana's authority for refusing a UCC filing that is unauthorized or materially false.
3For a common-law-lien-style claim, the governing chapter is §32-28-13, not the recorder's federal-lien statutes.
4A §518 information statement can put a dispute on the public record while court review under §902 is pending.

What to expect

Indiana's UCC refusal statute is real and usable; real-property coverage outside the common-law lien chapter is thinner. Confirm the current fee on the state's official site — filing and search fees change and are not published here.

Sources: the LienGuardAI fifty-state survey and UCC search portal review (How we verify). No dollar fee amounts are published here — always confirm the current fee on the state's own site.