§ 12.002.Liability

The liability provision, and its three elements must all be present.

A person may not make, present, or use a document with knowledge that it is a fraudulent court record or a fraudulent lien or claim against property, intent that it be given the same legal effect as a court record or a document evidencing a valid lien, and intent to cause another person to suffer physical injury, financial injury, or mental anguish or emotional distress.

Knowledge and two separate intents. A person who files a lien believing it valid is outside the section however wrong they are, and a person who files a document known to be worthless without intending to injure anyone is outside it too.

The third element is what makes this a chapter about harassment rather than about defective paperwork.

Subsection (a-1) adds a separate prohibition aimed at inmate filings. An inmate, or a person not licensed under the title insurance law who files on behalf of a known inmate, may not file an abstract of judgment, an instrument concerning property, or a financing statement.

The next subsection supplies the cure rather than an exception: such a filing is permitted if the document itself states that the filer is an inmate, or is filing for one.

So the restriction is about disclosure, not prohibition. A clerk and anyone searching the records can see the origin of the filing, which is what allows a suspect lien to be identified before it does damage.

The remedy is substantial. A violator 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 in an amount determined by the court.

"Each injured person" multiplies the exposure, and the $10,000 floor makes a claim worth bringing where the practical loss is a clouded title rather than money.

Subsection (c) protects a mechanic’s lien claimant under the Property Code, who is not liable unless the person acts with intent to defraud.