Texas
Real authority, but you have to go through a referral 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 3, 2026: Gov't Code §§51.901, 405.022; Bus. & Com. Code §9.5185; Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §12.002.
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
Not free — a paid search or account is required. Login/account required. All search/order goes through the SOS Portal, paid per search, account required.
Refusal / removal authority
If the Secretary of State believes in good faith that a document filed to create a lien is fraudulent, it must ask the Attorney General to determine whether it is fraudulent before filing it, and ask the filer for supporting documentation (Gov't Code §405.022(a)). The express power to refuse is narrower: under §405.022(g), added by SB 16, the SoS may refuse a record purporting to create a lien on real property once the AG determines it is fraudulent. For an ordinary UCC financing statement, Bus. & Com. Code §9.520(a) still limits refusal to the uniform grounds in §9.516(b), which include no fraud ground.
TX §405.022
TX §9.516
TX §95.200
TX §405.022
Full citations
- Tex. Gov't Code §405.022(a), (g)
- Tex. Bus. & Com. Code §9.516(b) / §9.520(a)
- 1 TAC §95.200–.204
- SB 16 (2025), new §405.022(e)-(g)
SoS forms a good-faith belief that a lien document is fraudulent → asks the AG for a determination before filing and asks the filer for supporting documentation. Filings made by or for an inmate are presumed fraudulent. As of SB 16 (signed Sept. 17, 2025, effective Dec. 4, 2025), the SoS may refuse a real-property lien record — notwithstanding §9.520 — once the AG determines it is fraudulent (§405.022(g)); SB 16 also added an affidavit-and-termination path for Texas Department of Criminal Justice employees and board members named in inmate-filed real-property lien documents (§405.022(e)).
If it's already filed: Information statement under §9.518. Bus. & Com. Code §9.5185 (fraudulent filing): a person named as debtor may file an affidavit under penalty of perjury with the filing office (the SoS publishes a form affidavit), with prior written notice to the secured party; a filer of a forged, materially false, or groundless financing statement is liable for the greater of $10,000 or actual damages plus costs and attorney's fees, and the owner may sue for release. Civil Practice & Remedies Code ch. 12 also applies to fraudulent liens.
Real-property liens
Texas layers several mechanisms on real-property records. A county clerk who believes in good faith that a lien or claim document is fraudulent must ask the county or district attorney for help before recording it and ask the filer for supporting documentation, and must refuse to record it if the attorney finds probable cause of fraud or the filer does not supply the documentation (Gov't Code §51.901(d)). For a deed or other conveyance filed after January 1, 2026, if someone tells the county clerk it is fraudulent, the clerk must notify law enforcement and pass on the photo-ID information the presenter gave at filing (§51.901(g), added by SB 16; in-person presenters must show photo ID under Prop. Code §12.001(b)(2) and Local Gov't Code §191.010). Separately, and since 1997, a purported debtor or owner can file a motion with the district clerk for expedited judicial review of a fraudulent lien (§51.903).
TX §51.901
TX §51.901
TX §51.903
TX §12.001
Full citations
- Tex. Gov't Code §51.901(d)
- Tex. Gov't Code §51.901(g) (added by SB 16, eff. Jan. 1, 2026)
- Tex. Gov't Code §51.903 (in place since 1997)
- Tex. Prop. Code §12.001(b)(2)
At recording: clerk's good-faith belief → county/district attorney review and a request for the filer's documentation → refusal on a probable-cause finding or missing documentation (§51.901(d)); §51.901(c) lists documents presumed fraudulent. After recording of a conveyance (filed after Jan. 1, 2026): an individual's fraud allegation → clerk notice to law enforcement with the presenter's photo-ID information (§51.901(g)). Separately — and predating SB 16 by nearly three decades — a targeted owner or purported debtor can file a verified motion for expedited, potentially ex parte court review of a fraudulent lien under §51.903.
If it's already recorded: Civil Practice & Remedies Code §12.002: liability for the greater of $10,000 or actual damages, plus court costs, attorney's fees, and exemplary damages set by the court; plus the real-property theft and fraud offenses created by SB 16.
Real-property lien records are indexed by county, not centrally by the state — check with the County Clerk in the county where the property sits.
Deed fraud — a different problem from a lien
A lien is a claim against your property, like an IOU note glued to the title. A fraudulent deed is someone claiming they now own the property outright. Texas has its own, separate process for that. Deed fraud →
A lien is a claim against your property; a fraudulent deed is someone claiming they now own it outright. A separate 2025 law, SB 1734, gives an owner a way to challenge a deed that fraudulently transfers title away from them — a different problem from the lien mechanisms above, with its own affidavit process.
The owner records a notarized affidavit challenging the deed (§5.0206), then sends copies to the grantor and grantee by certified/registered mail and files a certificate of mailing. The grantor or grantee then has 120 days from that certificate to file a controverting affidavit. If no one does, the owner can petition the district court under §51.9035 — and the court's review "may be made ex parte without delay or notice of any kind."
TX §5.0206
TX §5.0207
TX §51.9035
TX SB 1734
Full citations
- Tex. Prop. Code §5.0206
- Tex. Prop. Code §5.0207
- Tex. Gov't Code §51.9035
- SB 1734 (2025), eff. Sept. 1, 2025
Get notified before it happens
A free "property fraud alert" service is available in at least part of Texas — 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 Dallas County Property Alert →
Texas's 2nd-largest county. Harris County, the state's largest, has no dedicated property-fraud alert. Tarrant and Hidalgo Counties also run their own.
Form set out in the statute: Motion for Judicial Review of Documentation or Instrument Purporting to Create a Lien or Claim
Texas has no agency form for this; Gov't Code §51.903(a) itself sets out a suggested form for a motion, verified by affidavit, filed with the district clerk by a purported debtor or obligor or the property owner. A district judge may rule on the documents alone, without testimony or notice to the other side. If the judge finds the document fraudulent, the finding is indexed in the same class of records as the original filing and mailed to the movant and the filer within seven days.
Read §51.903 (including its suggested form) on statutes.capitol.texas.gov →
LienGuardAI does not publish templates or fill-in documents; the official version is the one on the government source, and it can change.
TX §51.903
How this usually works in Texas
A summary of the tools Texas 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.
- 1Texas UCC records are searchable through the Secretary of State (linked on this page); county clerks hold real-property records.
- 2When the Secretary of State believes in good faith that a lien document is fraudulent, it asks the Attorney General for a determination before filing; this is not a same-day decision.
- 3A UCC information statement (§9.518) puts a rebuttal on the public record without waiting for that process, and §9.5185 provides a debtor affidavit and civil remedies for fraudulent financing statements.
- 4For real-property liens, county clerks must refuse a document after a county or district attorney finds probable cause of fraud (§51.901(d)), and §51.903 provides expedited court review; SB 16 (2025) added AG-determined refusal of real-property lien records at the Secretary of State.
What to expect
Texas has real teeth here, but the AG-referral design means this is a multi-step administrative process, not a same-day fix; it can take weeks rather than hours. 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.