Fraudulent Filing of Financing Statement

From the Law Office of Alison Grinter in Dallas, Texas

1 Degree
2 Statute(s)
3 Caselaw
4 Collateral Consequences
5 Notes

Degree

Fraudulent Filing of a Financing Statement if the statement is forged is a 3rd degree felony, unless the person has been convicted under this section on 2 or more occasions, in which case it's a 2nd degree felony.
When the statement contains a material false statement or is groundless, it is a Class A Misdemeanor unless committed with the intent to defraud or harm another, in which case it's a state jail felony.

Statute(s)

§ 37.101. FRAUDULENT FILING OF FINANCING STATEMENT.
(a) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly presents for filing or causes to be presented for filing a financing statement that the person knows:
    (1) is forged;
    (2) contains a material false statement; or
    (3) is groundless.
(b) An offense under Subsection (a)(1) is a felony of the third degree, unless it is shown on the trial of the offense that the person had previously been convicted under this section on two or more occasions, in which event the offense is a felony of the second degree. An offense under Subsection (a)(2) or (a)(3) is a Class A misdemeanor, unless the person commits the offense with the intent to defraud or harm another, in which event the offense is a state jail felony.

Added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 189, § 10, eff. May 21, 1997.