Virginia · LienGuardAI

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.

Relevant case law: Leaders of the “Virginia Patriots,” a local Patriot Network tax-protest group in Newport News, sold false wage-tax theories, helped members prepare bogus returns, and circulated materials describing abusive tactics against IRS personnel — including how to file common-law liens and compile lists of IRS employees. The United States sued under the tax-injunction statutes. The Eastern District of Virginia permanently enjoined the defendants from, among other things, inducing or aiding the filing of common-law liens or other unauthorized instruments encumbering the property of IRS or court personnel. Verified. (United States v. Shugarman, 596 F. Supp. 186 (E.D. Va. 1984).)

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 Virginia's UCC records

Free basic search. SCC CIS UCC/federal-tax-lien search by debtor name or file number; free unofficial results/images. Certified UCC-11 searches are paid.

Refusal / removal authority

Va. Code §8.9A-516(b)(8) requires the State Corporation Commission filing office to refuse an initial financing statement or amendment that appears not created under Title 8.9A, presented for an improper purpose (hinder/harass), materially false or fraudulent, or lists debtor and secured party as substantially the same person / individual debtor as a transmitting utility. §8.9A-516(c)(3) lets the office later void and remove a record that should have been rejected under (b)(8).

Citations VA §8.9A-516 VA §8.9A-516

Full citations

Va. Code §8.9A-516(b)(8)
Va. Code §8.9A-516(c)(3)

The SCC refuses under (b)(8); post-filing review/void/remove under (c)(3).

If it's already filed: Void/remove under (c)(3); information statement / §8.9A-518 / §8.9A-625.

Real-property liens

§55.1-339 et seq. is ordinary deed-of-trust / lien release on payment, not fraudulent-lien law. The live false-lien tool is §18.2-213.2 (Class 5 felony); the conviction order directs the clerk to release the lien, which is treated as never filed.

Citations VA §18.2-213.2

Full citations

Va. Code §18.2-213.2

Criminal prosecution; court-ordered clerk release on conviction.

If it's already recorded: Release-as-never-filed under §18.2-213.2; no separate civil petition-to-strike statute confirmed.

Real-property records are held by the circuit-court clerk where the property sits.

Get notified before it happens

Virginia has a free "property fraud alert" service — 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 VADeed Alert →

OES statewide portal already live (rollout by circuit still uneven). Statute §17.1-258.3:1’s mandatory free property-alert system for clerks with e-filing land-records systems takes effect July 1, 2027 — do not treat the mandate as current law before then.

If the path runs through court

Virginia doesn't have a self-filed administrative form for this — the verified remedy runs through a court, which generally means an attorney rather than a fill-in-the-blank document.

Criminal Prosecution and Conviction-Ordered Release

Virginia's dedicated real-property tool is criminal: §18.2-213.2 makes a false lien a Class 5 felony, and a conviction comes with a court order directing the clerk to release the lien, which is then treated as never having been filed. This site's research didn't confirm a separate civil petition-to-strike statute for Virginia real property — §55.1-339 is about ordinary deed-of-trust release on payment, a different topic entirely.

This generally requires an attorney. Clearing the lien this way depends on a criminal conviction, which means a police report and prosecution, not a civil filing you can initiate alone — and without a confirmed civil alternative, this is the main path this site can point to.

Citation VA §18.2-213.2

People consulting an attorney about a filing like this often bring:

A copy of the filing, if available, and where and when it was filed or recorded (office, date, and document or instrument number)
Any notices, letters, or other correspondence about it
Records for the property or account it names, such as a deed, title, or loan papers
Notes on any contact with the filer or the filing office, with dates
This page's citations and their check dates

How this usually works in Virginia

A summary of the tools Virginia 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.

1Virginia's free SCC CIS UCC search is linked on this page.
2§8.9A-516(b)(8) lets the SCC refuse filings matching its triggers, and under (c)(3) the filing office may review, void, and remove a record it becomes aware may have been wrongfully filed.
3§55.1-339 is not a fraudulent-lien cleanup statute.
4§18.2-213.2 makes filing a false lien against land or personal property a crime.

What to expect

Virginia's SCC UCC screen is one of the stronger statutory packages; land-record relief is conviction-tied. 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.