West 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: After the IRS garnished a taxpayer’s West Virginia wages for unpaid taxes, he recorded an approximately $5 million lien and related papers in Mercer County against the IRS agent (who worked under a pseudonym) and the hotel owner who processed the garnishment. He also recorded financing statements to “perfect” that claim — one in Maryland against the agent and one in West Virginia against the hotel owner. A jury convicted him of filing or attempting to file a false lien against a federal employee and of trying to interfere with tax administration; he received concurrent sentences of 60 and 36 months. The Fourth Circuit affirmed, holding that using the agent’s work pseudonym was no defense to an attempt charge. Verified. (United States v. Reed, 75 F.4th 396 (4th Cir. 2023).)

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 West Virginia's UCC records

Not free — a paid search or account is required. SoS online debtor/filing-number search is publicly reachable but results are purchased (search fee) — treat as paid.

Refusal / removal authority

W. Va. Code §46-9-516(b)(4) lets the filing office refuse an initial financing statement or amendment if it believes in good faith the record was communicated in violation of §46-9-516a (fraudulent-record prohibition). §46-9-516a adds criminal/civil penalties, debtor affidavit, SoS admin review/termination, and Kanawha Circuit Court reinstatement/acceptance actions. Note: (b)(8) is continuation timing — not the fraud ground.

Citations WV §46-9-516 WV §46-9-516a

Full citations

W. Va. Code §46-9-516(b)(4)
W. Va. Code §46-9-516a

Good-faith refuse under (b)(4); affidavit → SoS documentation request / termination; court action to reinstate or compel acceptance.

If it's already filed: §46-9-516a termination/admin path; information statement / §46-9-518 / §46-9-625.

Real-property liens

Chapter 38, Article 16 is the live NCCL scheme (not a forged-deed affidavit): NCCLs are nullities (§38-16-301); clerks have no duty to accept and no duty to reject (§38-16-302); official-lien notice path (§38-16-303); clerk shall give written notice within 2 business days on a reasonable good-faith belief a filing is a fraudulent NCCL (§38-16-401); owner/debtor verified motion in circuit court that may be ruled ex parte on documents alone with no filing fee (§38-16-403). Separately, §61-5-27 lets a recorder refuse a clearly fraudulent lien/legal process against a public official/employee and provides a government-attorney notice that invalidates/removes a recorded one.

Citations WV §38-16-301 WV §38-16-401 WV §61-5-27

Full citations

W. Va. Code §38-16-301–306
W. Va. Code §38-16-401–403
W. Va. Code §61-5-27

Clerk notice under §38-16-401; no-fee ex parte circuit review under §38-16-403; officials also have §61-5-27 refuse/notice tools.

If it's already recorded: §38-16-403 findings indexed with the original record class; §38-16-404 fees/costs; §61-5-27 felony/civil for official-target harassment.

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

If you're a government official or employee

Recorder may refuse a clearly fraudulent lien or legal process against a public official or employee; government attorney may record a no-fee notice that invalidates and removes a recorded one. Felony 1–10 years / ≤$2,000 plus civil damages and fees. Distinct from the general Art. 16 NCCL package.

Citation WV §61-5-27

Full citation

W. Va. Code §61-5-27

Official form required by law, not located: Affidavit of fraudulent filing

§46-9-516a(d) says the Secretary of State “shall adopt and make available a form affidavit,” but this research could not locate it on the office's public UCC pages; the only West Virginia UCC dispute form confirmed was the general UCC-5 Information Statement. The statute lets a debtor named in a filed record file a sworn affidavit, under penalty of perjury, that the record was communicated in violation of the statute's fraudulent-record prohibition, which starts the Secretary of State's documentation-request and termination process. The UCC division (online system at apps.wv.gov/sos/ucc/) can say whether a current form exists.

LienGuardAI does not publish templates or fill-in documents.

Citation WV §46-9-516a

How this usually works in West Virginia

A summary of the tools West 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.

1West Virginia's online UCC search is fee-based (linked on this page).
2§46-9-516(b)(4) and §46-9-516a address UCC filings that are unauthorized and intended to harass; (b)(8) is not the relevant ground.
3§46-9-516a provides an affidavit path for the Secretary of State to terminate a fraudulent record (described in the form section above).
4For nonconsensual common-law liens on land, chapter 38-16 provides nullity, clerk notice, and a no-fee §38-16-403 circuit motion; §61-5-27 adds protections for public officials.

What to expect

West Virginia has tools on both sides: the §46-9-516(b)(4) / §46-9-516a UCC refusal and affidavit path, and the no-fee §38-16-403 ex parte circuit review for land records. 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.