88R5543 MZM-D
 
  By: Sherman, Sr. H.B. No. 1823
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to certain documents or instruments purporting to convey
  real or personal property.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Sections 51.901(a), (c), (d), and (e),
  Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (a)  If a clerk of the supreme court, clerk of the court of
  criminal appeals, clerk of a court of appeals, district clerk,
  county clerk, district and county clerk, or municipal clerk has a
  reasonable basis to believe in good faith that a document or
  instrument previously filed or recorded or offered or submitted for
  filing or for filing and recording is fraudulent, the clerk shall:
               (1)  if the document is a purported judgment or other
  document purporting to memorialize or evidence an act, an order, a
  directive, or process of a purported court, provide written notice
  of the filing, recording, or submission for filing or for filing and
  recording to the stated or last known address of the person against
  whom the purported judgment, act, order, directive, or process is
  rendered; or
               (2)  if the document or instrument purports to create a
  lien or assert a claim on real or personal property or an interest
  in real or personal property or to convey real or personal property,
  provide written notice of the filing, recording, or submission for
  filing or for filing and recording to the stated or last known
  address of the person named in the document or instrument as the
  obligor, [or] debtor, or grantor and to any other person named as
  owning any interest in the real or personal property described in
  the document or instrument.
         (c)  For purposes of this section, a document or instrument
  is presumed to be fraudulent if:
               (1)  the document is a purported judgment or other
  document purporting to memorialize or evidence an act, an order, a
  directive, or process of:
                     (A)  a purported court or a purported judicial
  entity not expressly created or established under the constitution
  or the laws of this state or of the United States; or
                     (B)  a purported judicial officer of a purported
  court or purported judicial entity described by Paragraph (A);
               (2)  the document or instrument purports to create a
  lien or assert a claim against real or personal property or an
  interest in real or personal property or to convey real or personal
  property and:
                     (A)  is not a document or instrument provided for
  by the constitution or laws of this state or of the United States;
                     (B)  is not created by implied or express consent
  or agreement of the obligor, debtor, or the owner of the real or
  personal property or an interest in the real or personal property,
  if required under the laws of this state, or by implied or express
  consent or agreement of an agent, fiduciary, or other
  representative of that person; or
                     (C)  is not an equitable, constructive, or other
  lien imposed by a court with jurisdiction created or established
  under the constitution or laws of this state or of the United
  States; or
               (3)  the document or instrument purports to create a
  lien or assert a claim against real or personal property or an
  interest in real or personal property or to convey real or personal
  property and the document or instrument is filed by an inmate or on
  behalf of an inmate.
         (d)  If a county clerk believes in good faith that a document
  filed with the county clerk to create a lien or make a conveyance is
  fraudulent, the clerk shall:
               (1)  request the assistance of the county or district
  attorney to determine whether the document is fraudulent before
  filing or recording the document;
               (2)  request that the prospective filer provide to the
  county clerk additional documentation supporting the existence of
  the lien or conveyance, such as a contract or other document that
  contains the alleged debtor or obligor's signature or the alleged
  grantor's signature, as applicable; and
               (3)  forward any additional documentation received to
  the county or district attorney.
         (e)  A presumption under Subsection (c)(3) relating to a
  security interest may be rebutted by providing the filing officer
  in the filing office in which the document is filed or recorded the
  original or a copy of a sworn and notarized document signed by the
  obligor, debtor, or owner of the property designated as collateral
  stating that the person entered into a security agreement with the
  inmate and authorized the filing of the financing statement as
  provided by Section 9.509, Business & Commerce Code.
         SECTION 2.  The heading to Section 51.903, Government Code,
  is amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 51.903.  ACTION ON FRAUDULENT LIEN OR CLAIM AGAINST OR
  CONVEYANCE OF [ON] PROPERTY.
         SECTION 3.  Sections 51.903(a), (e), and (g), Government
  Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (a)  A person who is the purported debtor or obligor or who
  owns real or personal property or an interest in real or personal
  property and who has reason to believe that the document purporting
  to create a lien or assert a claim against the real or personal
  property or an interest in the real or personal property or to
  convey the real or personal property previously filed or submitted
  for filing and recording is fraudulent may complete and file with
  the district clerk a motion, verified by affidavit by a completed
  form for ordinary certificate of acknowledgment, of the same type
  described by Section 121.007, Civil Practice and Remedies Code,
  that contains, at a minimum, the information in the following
  suggested form:
 
MISC. DOCKET NO. ______
 
In Re: A Purported In the ______ Judicial District
 
Lien or Claim Against In and For ___________________
 
or Conveyance By  
 
(Name of Purported County, Texas
 
Debtor or Grantor)
  Motion for Judicial Review of Documentation or Instrument
  Purporting to Create a Lien or Claim or Make a Conveyance
         Now Comes (name) and files this motion requesting a judicial
  determination of the status of documentation or an instrument
  purporting to create [an interest in real or personal property or] a
  lien or assert a claim on real or personal property or an interest
  in real or personal property or to convey real or personal property
  filed in the office of the Clerk of (county name) County, Texas, and
  in support of the motion would show the court as follows:
  I.
         (Name), movant herein, is the purported obligor or debtor or
  person who owns the real or personal property or the interest in
  real or personal property described in the documentation or
  instrument.
  II.
         On (date), in the exercise of the county clerk's official
  duties as County Clerk of (county name) County, Texas, the county
  clerk received and filed and recorded the documentation or
  instrument attached hereto and containing (number) pages. Said
  documentation or instrument purports to have created a lien or
  asserted a claim on real or personal property or an interest in real
  or personal property against, or to have made a conveyance of
  property by, one (name of purported debtor or grantor).
  III.
         Movant alleges that the documentation or instrument attached
  hereto is fraudulent, as defined by Section 51.901(c)(2),
  Government Code, and that the documentation or instrument should
  therefore not be accorded lien or conveyance status.
  IV.
         Movant attests that assertions herein are true and correct.
  V.
         Movant does not request the court to make a finding as to any
  underlying claim of the parties involved and acknowledges that this
  motion does not seek to invalidate a legitimate lien, claim, or
  conveyance. Movant further acknowledges that movant may be subject
  to sanctions, as provided by Chapter 10, Civil Practice and
  Remedies Code, if this motion is determined to be frivolous.
  PRAYER
         Movant requests the court to review the attached
  documentation or instrument and enter an order determining whether
  it should be accorded lien or conveyance status, together with such
  other orders as the court deems appropriate.
  Respectfully submitted,
  _________________________
  (Signature and typed name and address)
         (e)  After reviewing the documentation or instrument
  attached to a motion under this section, the district judge shall
  enter an appropriate finding of fact and conclusion of law, which
  must be filed and indexed in the same class of records in which the
  subject documentation or instrument was originally filed. A copy
  of the finding of fact and conclusion of law shall be sent, by first
  class mail, to the movant and to the person who filed the fraudulent
  lien, [or] claim, or conveyance at the last known address of each
  person within seven days of the date that the finding of fact and
  conclusion of law is issued by the judge.
         (g)  A suggested form order appropriate to comply with this
  section is as follows:
 
MISC. DOCKET NO. ______
 
In Re: A Purported In the ______ Judicial District
 
Lien or Claim Against In and For ___________________
 
or Conveyance By  
 
(Name of Purported County, Texas
 
Debtor or Grantor)
  Judicial Finding of Fact and Conclusion of Law Regarding a
  Documentation or Instrument Purporting to Create a Lien or Claim or
  Make a Conveyance
         On the (number) day of (month), (year), in the above entitled
  and numbered cause, this court reviewed a motion, verified by
  affidavit, of (name) and the documentation or instrument attached
  thereto. No testimony was taken from any party, nor was there any
  notice of the court's review, the court having made the
  determination that a decision could be made solely on review of the
  documentation or instrument under the authority vested in the court
  under Subchapter J, Chapter 51, Government Code.
         The court finds as follows (only an item checked and
  initialed is a valid court ruling):
  _______ The documentation or instrument attached to the motion
  herein IS asserted against real or personal property or an interest
  in real or personal property and:
               (1)  IS provided for by specific state or federal
  statutes or constitutional provisions;
               (2)  IS created by implied or express consent or
  agreement of the obligor, debtor, or the owner of the real or
  personal property or an interest in the real or personal property,
  if required under the laws of this state, or by consent of an agent,
  fiduciary, or other representative of that person; or
               (3)  IS an equitable, constructive, or other lien
  imposed by a court of competent jurisdiction created or established
  under the constitution or laws of this state or of the United
  States.
  _______ The documentation or instrument attached to the motion
  herein:
               (1)  IS NOT provided for by specific state or federal
  statutes or constitutional provisions;
               (2)  IS NOT created by implied or express consent or
  agreement of the obligor, debtor, or the owner of the real or
  personal property or an interest in the real or personal property,
  if required under the law of this state or by implied or express
  consent or agreement of an agent, fiduciary, or other
  representative of that person;
               (3)  IS NOT an equitable, constructive, or other lien
  imposed by a court of competent jurisdiction created by or
  established under the constitution or laws of this state or the
  United States; or
               (4)  IS NOT asserted against real or personal property
  or an interest in real or personal property. There is no valid
  lien,  [or] claim, or conveyance created by this documentation or
  instrument.
         This court makes no finding as to any underlying claims of the
  parties involved, and expressly limits its finding of fact and
  conclusion of law to the review of a ministerial act. The county
  clerk shall file this finding of fact and conclusion of law in the
  same class of records as the subject documentation or instrument
  was originally filed, and the court directs the county clerk to
  index it using the same names that were used in indexing the subject
  documentation or instrument.
         SIGNED ON THIS THE ________ DAY OF ____________________.
  _______________________________
                                        DISTRICT JUDGE
                                        ________ JUDICIAL DISTRICT
                                        _____________ COUNTY, TEXAS
         SECTION 4.  Sections 51.901 and 51.903, Government Code, as
  amended by this Act, apply with respect to a document or instrument
  filed or submitted for filing before, on, or after the effective
  date of this Act.
         SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.