the owner of the corporation owning property that has lien filed is not always in Texas as his residence is in CA so need to know about any exceptions
1 reply
Mar 6, 2019
That's a good question. § 53-055 of the Texas Property Code creates the notice requirement for filed liens, so let's start there. That section reads, in part, as follows: "A person who files an affidavit must send a copy of the affidavit by registered or certified mail to the owner or reputed owner at the owner’s last known business or residence address not later than the fifth day after the date the affidavit is filed with the county clerk." (Emphasis added). As you'll notice, this requires that notice of the lien filing be sent - but it does not state that the notice must be received or signed for in order to be considered valid notice. Further, the section allows notice to be sent to the owner's last known business or residential address - so a claimant can send notice to a location they know the owner lives or conducts business. Finally, when in doubt, sending notice to additional locations where the owner might be found is often a good idea. That way, there's little room for arguing that the lien claimant didn't do everything in their power to put the owner on notice of their lien claim. But ultimately, if a claimant follows the required procedure for sending notice, as set out by § 53-055(a) and (b), notice of a filed lien claim should be effective. Finally, it's also worth keeping in mind that corporations can own property all by themselves - and if a corporation is the owner of the property, then that corporation should be notified of the lien filing (not necessarily the owner of the corporation itself). For more on Texas lien and notice laws, this resource should be helpful: Texas Lien & Notice FAQs + Statutes.