Washington · 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: A taxpayer refused to file Washington business-and-occupation tax returns or pay a $368.65 assessment, then sued Department of Revenue employees, the governor, and state lawyers under federal civil-rights statutes, initially seeking $75 million from each of six revenue officers. He also recorded what he called “common law liens” against many of the defendants’ real property, and even tried to lien the judge who dismissed his case. The Court of Appeals affirmed dismissal of the suit and held the liens had no legal basis — even treated as lis pendens they were invalid — and properly ordered them cancelled from the county records. Verified. (Shutt v. Moore, 26 Wn. App. 450, 613 P.2d 1188 (1980).)

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 Washington's UCC records

Free basic search. DOL public UCC Online Search / browse; free name browse without login. Purchases/copies may prompt for payment.

Refusal / removal authority

RCW 62A.9A-516(b) / 520(a) authorize refusal only on uniform mechanical grounds — there is no statutory fraud screen in Article 9A. Department of Licensing filing-office rules in WAC 308-391-202 add refusal grounds (NCCL under RCW 60.70.030, outside UCC scope, filer not entitled under 62A.9A-509, form/legibility). Label this honestly as admin/practice authority under RCW 62A.9A-526 rulemaking, not as a statutory clerk-decides fraud ground.

Citations WAC 308-391-202 WAC 308-391-203 RCW 62A.9A-516(b) (mechanical only)

Full citations

WAC 308-391-202
WAC 308-391-203
RCW 62A.9A-516(b) (mechanical only)

DOL may refuse under the WAC grounds; petition for review follows APA procedures referenced in the filing-office rules.

If it's already filed: WAC refusal/removal procedures; information statement / Article 9A remedies; NCCL tools where a UCC record is treated as an NCCL.

Real-property liens

RCW chapter 60.70 is the live NCCL statute: RP NCCLs unenforceable; no duty to accept unauthorized common-law liens (and no general duty to reject, except official/employee duty liens must not be accepted without a court order); government-attorney notice-of-invalid-lien path; immunity; superior-court show-cause strike (§60.70.060). Separately, RCW 40.16.030 makes knowingly offering a false or forged instrument for filing/recording a class C felony — useful for forged deeds beyond NCCL scope.

Citations RCW ch. 60.70 RCW 60.70.030 RCW 60.70.060 RCW 40.16.030

Full citations

RCW ch. 60.70
RCW 60.70.030
RCW 60.70.060
RCW 40.16.030

No-duty / must-not-accept rules at recording; notice of invalid lien (official-duty filings via government counsel); superior-court petition to strike; criminal referral under §40.16.030 where facts fit.

If it's already recorded: Court release under §60.70.060; immunity under §60.70.050; class C felony exposure under §40.16.030.

Real-property records are held by the county auditor / recording officer where the property sits.

Get notified before it happens

A free "property fraud alert" service is available in at least part of Washington — 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 King County Recording Activity Notification System →

Washington's largest county (Seattle). Snohomish, Pierce, Whatcom, and Clark Counties run separate confirmed programs.

If you're a government official or employee

Official/employee duty-based liens must not be accepted without a court order; if accepted, designated government counsel may file a notice of invalid lien. Such claims are invalid without a court order or authorizing statute (§60.70.070).

Citation RCW 60.70.030(2)–(3), 60.70.070

Full citation

RCW 60.70.030(2)–(3), 60.70.070

If the path runs through court

Washington 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.

Superior-Court Petition to Strike an Invalid Lien

Washington's NCCL chapter already gives recording officers no duty to accept an unauthorized common-law lien, and a heightened must-not-accept rule for official/employee duty-based liens without a court order — so the front door is fairly well protected. If something is recorded anyway, RCW 60.70.060 provides a superior-court petition to strike it (may be ex parte; show cause 6–21 days), with immunity for the recording officer under §60.70.050 either way. For forged deeds outside NCCL scope, see also RCW 40.16.030.

This generally requires an attorney. This is a superior-court petition, not an administrative request to the county auditor — the recording officer's immunity means they won't unwind a recorded lien on their own once it's on file.

Citation RCW 60.70.060

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 Washington

A summary of the tools Washington 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.

1Washington DOL's public UCC search is linked on this page.
2Washington's UCC fraud refusal rests on agency rule WAC 308-391-202 (DOL practice), not on a statutory RCW 9-516 ground.
3For a nonconsensual common-law lien on land, chapter 60.70 provides a show-cause proceeding (§60.70.060); the notice of invalid lien under §60.70.030(3) is filed by a government attorney, not by a private owner.
4For forged or false instruments beyond those liens, RCW 40.16.030 (offering a false instrument for filing) is the criminal statute.

What to expect

Washington's land-record NCCL chapter is statutory and useful (moderate strength); the UCC fraud screen is real but softer because it lives in WAC, not RCW 9-516. 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.