A Texas affidavit of completion is an optional sworn statement a property owner records with the county clerk to establish, as a matter of public record, the date construction under the original contract finished. Filing one shortens the window in which subcontractors, suppliers, and the original contractor can attach a mechanic’s lien to the property, but only if the document contains six specific elements, is recorded within 10 days of actual completion, and copies reach the right parties on time. Get any of those pieces wrong and the tool loses most of its power.
What the Affidavit Must Contain
Texas Property Code Section 53.106 lists six items every affidavit must include:
- The owner’s full legal name and address.
- The original contractor’s name and address.
- A legal description of the property sufficient to identify it, typically lot-and-block or metes-and-bounds rather than a street address alone.
- A description of the work performed under the original contract.
- A statement that the improvements under the original contract are complete, together with the date of completion.
- A conspicuous warning that a claimant may not have a lien on retained funds unless the claimant files a lien affidavit within the time and manner required by Chapter 53.1State of Texas. Texas Property Code Section 53.106 – Affidavit of Completion
The retained-funds warning is the element most often botched. “Conspicuous” means the language has to stand out visually from the surrounding text, usually through bold type, larger font, or all caps. Warnings buried in ordinary paragraph text invite a challenge that the affidavit is noncompliant.
Because this is an affidavit, the owner has to sign it under oath before a notary public. Sign it, get it notarized, and only then take it to the clerk.2Texas Secretary of State. Notary Public Educational Information
Why the 10-Day Window Is the Whole Point
Timing controls whether the affidavit does what you want it to do. File within 10 days of the actual completion date and the date you list in the affidavit is prima facie evidence of when the work ended. File later than that and the law treats the filing date, not the completion date, as the official completion date for lien-deadline purposes.1State of Texas. Texas Property Code Section 53.106 – Affidavit of Completion
That distinction matters because every mechanic’s lien deadline runs from the completion date. A late affidavit pushes those deadlines further into the future, giving potential claimants more time, not less. Wait a month to file and you have handed every subcontractor and supplier an extra month of lien exposure.
One built-in protection for claimants: the shifted completion date does not apply to any party who was entitled to receive a copy of the affidavit but did not get one.1State of Texas. Texas Property Code Section 53.106 – Affidavit of Completion Miss a required notice and that party’s deadlines run from actual completion.
Filing With the County Clerk
File the notarized affidavit with the county clerk in the county where the property sits.1State of Texas. Texas Property Code Section 53.106 – Affidavit of Completion Once recorded, it appears in the property’s chain of title and anyone running a title search will see it. Ask for a file-stamped copy on the way out; that stamp is your proof of the filing date if anyone later disputes it.
Most Texas counties charge a base recording fee of around $25 for the first page,3Dallas County. Recording Division – Filing Fees and Payment Information with additional pages typically running $4 each.4Travis County Clerk. Recording Fee Information Many counties accept electronic filing under the same fee schedule.
Who Must Receive Copies, and By When
Recording the affidavit is only part of the obligation. The statute requires the owner to send copies to three groups.
The Original Contractor and Prior Notice-Senders
A copy must go to the original contractor and to every claimant who previously sent the owner a notice under Section 53.056 (unpaid labor or materials) or Section 53.057 (unpaid retainage). The deadline is the later of three days after the affidavit is filed, or ten days after the owner receives the claimant’s notice of lien liability.1State of Texas. Texas Property Code Section 53.106 – Affidavit of Completion
For the original contractor, who does not send a lien-liability notice, the practical deadline is three days after filing. For a subcontractor whose notice arrived shortly before filing, the ten-days-from-receipt clock may give you a bit more room.
Anyone Who Requests a Copy
Any person who furnished labor or materials on the project and sends the owner a written request for a copy of the affidavit is also entitled to one. The deadline is the later of the date the affidavit is filed or ten days after the request is received.1State of Texas. Texas Property Code Section 53.106 – Affidavit of Completion
How to Deliver the Copies
Section 53.106 does not prescribe a delivery method; the statute simply says the copy must be “sent.” Other Chapter 53 provisions expressly require registered or certified mail for claimant notices, but the affidavit-copy provision does not. Certified mail with return receipt requested is still the practical choice because it produces documentary proof if a recipient later denies receiving the affidavit.
How the Affidavit Shortens Lien Deadlines
Without a recorded completion date, the deadline for filing a mechanic’s lien in Texas depends on the claimant and the project type. On non-residential work, an original contractor has until the 15th day of the fourth month after the month the work was completed. Subcontractors and suppliers have until the 15th day of the fourth month after the month they last provided labor or materials. Residential projects shave one month off each of those windows.5State of Texas. Texas Property Code 53.052 – Filing of Affidavit
On any sizeable project, the completion date is often disputed. Punch-list work, warranty callbacks, and last-minute change orders all give claimants an argument that work continued later than the owner thinks. A properly filed affidavit closes that argument by putting a specific completion date in the public record, and every lien deadline then runs from that date.1State of Texas. Texas Property Code Section 53.106 – Affidavit of Completion
The affidavit also drives the retainage deadline. A claimant seeking a lien on retained funds must file by the 15th day of the third month after the month the original contract was completed.5State of Texas. Texas Property Code 53.052 – Filing of Affidavit The conspicuous warning inside the affidavit alerts claimants to that shorter window, and the recorded completion date is what starts it running.
Title Insurance, Sales, and Refinances
Owners who plan to sell or refinance soon after construction usually run into a mechanic’s lien exception on the title policy. To remove it, the title company typically wants evidence that the improvements are complete, that the owner has accepted the work, and that all bills for labor and materials have been paid.6Texas Department of Insurance. Basic Manual of Title Insurance, Section IV
A recorded affidavit of completion handles the completion piece. It does not, on its own, prove payment. Title companies still typically ask for lien waivers from contractors and suppliers, paid invoices, or a contractor’s final affidavit. Gather those documents alongside the affidavit if closing is on the calendar.
Risks of a Sloppy or False Filing
Filing a false affidavit to squeeze out a legitimate claim is a serious mistake. Under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 12.002, anyone who knowingly makes or uses a fraudulent lien or claim against real property is liable to each injured person for the greater of $10,000 or actual damages, plus court costs, reasonable attorney’s fees, and exemplary damages set by the court.7Justia. Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code 12.002 – Liability
Any proceeding to foreclose a mechanic’s lien or to declare a lien invalid also allows the court to award costs and reasonable attorney’s fees as it deems equitable, though for residential construction disputes the court has discretion not to impose those costs on the property owner.8State of Texas. Texas Property Code Section 53.156 – Costs and Attorneys Fees
Two lower-stakes but common errors are worth flagging. First, if a subcontractor sent a Section 53.056 notice and never receives a copy of the affidavit, the shifted completion date does not apply to that subcontractor. They keep the longer original deadline while the owner assumes the clock is running faster. Review every lien-liability notice from the project and cross-check the copy list before sending. Second, verify that the legal description in the affidavit matches the original construction contract and the county’s property records. A mismatch weakens the affidavit’s force in a title search and gives claimants an opening to dispute what property it actually covers.