Travis County Recorder Mechanics Lien Filing

You can file your mechanics liens with the Travis County Clerk’s Recording Division by postal mail, by courier, or in person. The County Clerk also accepts electronic filings of documents from an authorized eRecording submitter.

In Person

You can bring your documents to the Travis County Clerk’s office located at:

5501 Airport Boulevard
Austin, TX
Telephone: (512) 854-9188
Email: recording@traviscountytx.gov

Hours: 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, M-F

Postal Mail

You can also mail your documents to the following address:

Recording Division
Travis County Clerk
P.O. Box 149325
Austin, TX 78714-9325

Commercial Carrier (FedEx, UPS, USPS Express or Priority Mail, etc.):

You can send your documents to the following address:

Recording Division
Travis County Clerk
5501 Airport Boulevard
Austin, TX 78751-1410

eRecording

The following entities may use eRecording to electronically file documents with the Travis County Clerk’s office:

– An attorney licensed in this state;
– A bank, savings and loan association, savings bank, or credit union doing business under laws of the United States or this state;
– A federally chartered lending institution, a federal government-sponsored entity, an instrumentality of the federal government, or a person approved as a mortgagee by the United States to make federally insured loans;
– A person licensed to make regulated loans in this state;
– A title insurance company or title insurance agent licensed to do business in this state; or
– An agency of this state.

Per Texas Local Government Code 195.003, the following organizations are authorized to use eRecording to electronically file documents with the County Clerk’s office:

ACS Corporate Headquarters
2828 North Haskell
Dallas, TX 75204
(214) 887-7461
erxsupport@acs-inc.com
www.erxchange.com

Corporation Service Company
2711 Centerville Road, Suite 400
Wilmington, DE 19808
(866) 652-0111
erecording@cscglobal.com
erecording.com

eRecording Partners Network
400 Second Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55401
(888) 325-3365
support@erecordingpartners.net
www.erecordingpartners.net

ETRCO, LLC.
3033 S. Parker Rd. Ste. 110
Aurora, CO. 80014
(303) 752-6444

Indecomm Global Services
1260 Energy Lane
ST. Paul, MN. 55401
(651) 766-2388

Simplifile, LC
4844 North 300 West, Suite 202
Provo, Utah 84604
(800) 460-5657
sales@simplifile.com
www.simplifile.com

Generally speaking, sending your mechanics lien for filing by mail can be problematic, as many county’s have backlogs to get through mailed filing requests. However, the current backlog and wait time for Travis County is not known. If you use an e-submitting service, like Levelset, or walk your filing into the county, you can avoid any backlogs and make certain your lien gets filed on time.

If the project is located in Travis county, then yes, you will want to record your lien with the Travis County, Texas Clerk’s office.

Generally, filing a lien in Texas is one of the more difficult states. Texas has a variety of required documents being exchanged and very strict deadlines for a valid lien claim.

The Travis County, Texas requirements for recording a mechanics lien are:

1. Verify you have the right to file a valid lien. This includes having sent a monthly notice for each month labor or materials were furnished on a project. A monthly notice must be sent the second and third month for every month work is performed. This can be confusing but basically this means if you furnished labor this month, your deadline to send a two month and third month notice are two and three months from now, respectively. It’s important to keep in mind that if you perform work on the same construction job in Texas for two consecutive months you will need to have sent a total of 4 notices to retain lien rights. So if work was performed in January, your deadline would be March and April for a 2 and 3 month notice. Keep in mind it’s a little more complex if the labor or materials furnished were for a Homestead project.

2. Draft your affidavit of lien (mechanics lien claim) for your specific role on the job. The forms are different for general contractors vs. subcontractors so make sure you use the correct form. Not doing so could invalidate your lien claim! Make sure all required fields are completed and call the county Clerk if you have questions about specific required fields. Again, submitting a mechanics lien claim in Texas not completed correctly could lead to an invalid claim returned to you, potentially leading to a missed lien deadline. Be sure to include other relevant attachments as well.

3. File your lien claim with the County Clerk’s office where work was performed.

4. Send a copy of your lien claim to the Property Owner and General Contractor (if you were a second-tier contractor or supplier). This is important as sending a copy of the lien may expedite payment as the Property Owner or General Contractor may not learn a lien was filed on the property if not contacted.

To learn more about filing your lien claim and other requirements, learn more from our How to File a Texas Mechanics Lien Step by Step Guide.

Paper Size: All documents must be on regular letter-sized paper: 8.5 by 11 inches. Other page sizes may incur additional recording fees.

Margin: Except for the first page (see below), a minimum of 0.5 inches must be left blank on all sides of the document.

First Page: 1.5 inches of margin must be left at the top of the first page.

Last Page: Last page must have at least 3 inches of space at the bottom or additional page fee applies.

The County Clerk’s Office accepts cash, checks, money orders, cashier’s checks, Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express credit cards.

There is a transaction fee when a credit card is used for payment: $3 charge for transactions less than $100 or a 3% charge for transactions of $100 or more.

Any returned checks carry a $30 returned check fee.

The Travis County Clerk’s “base fee” to file a mechanics lien is $26, and includes 1 page. Each additional page costs $4.00.

If your document does comply with margin and print requirements, you may also be charged additional fees.

Penalty Fees: Documents that do not meet specified requirements are charged an additional fee for each deficient page:
First Page: $3
Each Additional Page: $2
Missing Grantee’s Mailing Address: $25

Indexing Fee: If your lien mentions more than 5 names that must be indexed, you will be charged $0.25 for each additional name.

Fees to obtain a copy
There are also fees charged to get a copy back from the Clerk.

Plain Copy: $1 per page
Certified Copy: $5, plus cost of copies.

You can obtain a recorded copy of your lien in person, by phone, email or online.

In Person

You can visit the Travis County Clerk’s office located at:

5501 Airport Blvd.
Austin, TX 78751

Hours: 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday, except legal holidays

Phone

To request copies, you can call (512) 854-9188.

Email

You can email your request to TCCCopyCenterResearch@traviscountytx.gov. Be as specific as possible (full name, cause number, etc). If you are planning to pay with a credit card, include your phone number so a cashier may contact you for payment information. Do not send your credit card number in an email.

Plain copies cost $1.00 per page. There is a $5.00 per document charge for the certification service plus an additional cost of $1.00 per page.

Online

You can search Travis County’s Real Property Index online at:
http://www.tccsearch.org/RealEstate/SearchEntry.aspx

Copies of online documents printed using your computer are free. These copies will bear an “unofficial copy” watermark.

Request a Clerk Search of Records

To request a search, call (512) 854-9188 or email your request to TCCCopyCenterResearch@traviscountytx.gov. Be as specific as possible (full name, cause number, etc). If you are planning to pay with a credit card, include your phone number so a cashier may contact you for payment information. Do not send your credit card number in an email.

Costs for Record Searches:

1. Basic record search of electronic data – a search for one name or business is free plus the cost of copies.

2. Basic record search of microfilm or paper data – $10.00 per name per ten-year period searched plus the cost of copies.

3. 1981 to present misdemeanor record search – a search for one name which may include up to three AKAs (aliases) is free plus the cost of copies.

4. Prior to 1981 misdemeanor record search – a search for one name which may include up to three AKAs (aliases) is $10.00 plus the cost of copies. Additional AKAs are $10.00 each.

You can get the property’s legal description from the Travis County Clerk’s office in person.

You can search Travis County’s Real Property Index online at:
http://www.tccsearch.org/RealEstate/SearchEntry.aspx

You can also search for property legal descriptions online with the Travis County Appraisal District at: https://www.traviscad.org/property-search/

Determining if you have the right to file a lien in Travis County, Texas can be complicated. Texas has one of the most complex lien laws in the U.S. and filing a lien in Travis is no different. Generally, construction contractors who 1) furnish labor or materials 2) send all required documents before filing a lien, such as monthly notices 3) if a homestead, have a proper written contract 4) and meet any state deadlines and fees for your lien claim. You can learn more about Mechanics Liens in Texas and more specific requirements for filing a lien overall in our step by step guide.