Tennessee
Class E false-lien crime + officials-only register affidavit; no general private RP petition 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.
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 Tennessee's UCC records
Free basic search. Current CAB portal, supersedes the older tnbear.tn.gov path. Images/certified copies are paid.
Refusal / removal authority
Tennessee has no general pre-filing UCC fraud screen (uniform §47-9-516(b) only). The distinctive tool is §47-9-513(e): a public official named as debtor may file a notarized affidavit; the secured party has 20 business days to petition for administrative-law-judge review (with cost bond) or the filing is voided/removed. Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1360-08-06 implements the affidavit/petition procedures.
TN §47-9-513
Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1360-08-06
Full citations
- Tenn. Code §47-9-513(e)
- Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1360-08-06
Public-official affidavit → 20-business-day petition window → ALJ determination; void/remove if no timely petition or no reasonable basis/legal cause.
If it's already filed: §47-9-513(e) void/remove; information statement / §47-9-518 / §47-9-625.
Real-property liens
§66-21-108 is repealed, and §39-14-116 is about hindering secured creditors, not fraudulent liens. Live tools: §39-17-117 Class E felony for knowingly preparing/signing/filing a lien or document intending to encumber property with no reasonable basis or legal cause (conviction may trigger circuit-court removal/void/clear-cloud); and §66-21-105 officials-only notarized affidavit at the register (“Contested - Under Review”) with a 20-business-day chancery window. Not a TX-style owner deed affidavit and not a general private civil petition.
TN §39-17-117
TN §66-21-105
Full citations
- Tenn. Code §39-17-117
- Tenn. Code §66-21-105
Criminal referral under §39-17-117 (cleanup under (b) is conviction-tied and discretionary). Public officials may use the §66-21-105 register affidavit path. For ordinary owners the civil route is a quiet-title action; §39-17-117 does not create a private right of action.
If it's already recorded: Class E felony + optional conviction-tied removal under §39-17-117(b); officials-only §66-21-105 contest/release certification.
Real-property records are held by the register of deeds where the property sits.
Get notified before it happens
A free "property fraud alert" service is available in at least part of Tennessee — 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 Shelby County Property Fraud Alert →
Tennessee's largest county (Memphis). Davidson, Hamilton, Knox, and Washington Counties run separate confirmed programs.
If you're a government official or employee
Public-official tools on both sides: UCC §47-9-513(e) affidavit/ALJ void-remove, and land-records §66-21-105 notarized contest affidavit at the register (“Contested - Under Review”; 20-business-day chancery window; certification may serve as release).
TN §47-9-513
Full citation
- Tenn. Code §§47-9-513(e), 66-21-105
Official form: Form SS-4306 — UCC Fraudulent Lien Notarized Affidavit
Who this is for: Officials only: the statute and the form's own instructions limit it to people meeting §47-9-513(e)(1)'s “public official” definition (current or retired elected or appointed officials, certain department heads and senior public employees, first responders, and law enforcement officers). Tennessee has no general pre-filing UCC fraud tool for other debtors.
Tennessee's Secretary of State publishes form SS-4306 for §47-9-513(e), with no filing fee; it can also be requested from TNSOS.UCC@tn.gov or (615) 741-3276. The form requires the affiant to attest to meeting the public-official definition and that the filing lacks a reasonable basis. After it is filed, the secured party has 20 business days to petition for administrative-law-judge review; without a timely petition, the filing is voided and removed.
Find form SS-4306 on sos.tn.gov →
LienGuardAI does not publish templates or fill-in documents; the official version is the one on the government source, and it can change.
TN §47-9-513
How this usually works in Tennessee
A summary of the tools Tennessee 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.
- 1Tennessee's free CAB UCC debtor search is linked on this page.
- 2For public officials named as UCC debtors, §47-9-513(e) provides an affidavit and administrative-law-judge path; §66-21-105 provides a parallel register affidavit for land records.
- 3Tennessee has no general pre-filing fraud refusal for ordinary debtors, and §39-17-117 does not create a private civil cause of action.
- 4§66-21-108 and §39-14-116 are repealed.
What to expect
Tennessee's strongest administrative tools are public-official-only on both UCC and land; private owners mainly have the Class E criminal path plus ordinary court cleanup. 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.