Smith County Release of Lien (Deed of Trust) Form

In Texas, paying off a note secured by real estate finishes the debt but not the paperwork. The deed of trust recorded when the loan was made stays in the county records until the lien holder signs and records a release, and until then every title search on the property shows an apparently live lien. This form prepares that release: the instrument the holder of a paid note records to clear a Texas deed of trust lien, with a plain language guide and a completed example included.

A lien does not clear itself

No Texas statute releases a paid deed of trust automatically, and no statute prescribes a form for the holder's release, so the instrument follows the settled Texas practice pattern. It identifies the holder of the note and lien, the borrower, the note by date, amount, maker, and payee, the deed of trust by trustee, document number, recording date, and county, and the property by its formal legal description. It then performs the act the records are waiting for: the holder acknowledges that the note has been paid in full and releases and forever discharges the property from the deed of trust lien and from every other lien or security interest the holder holds for the same note. Recorded with the county clerk of the county where the property is located, that language closes the loop the deed of trust opened.

Written for the private and seller financed note

Institutional mortgage servicing has its own machinery and its own clock: Finance Code Section 343.108, added in 2023, gives a home loan mortgagee or servicer 60 days after receiving the correct payoff amount to deliver or file a release, and 30 days where the borrower delivers a written request soon after payoff. Private lending has no such machinery. A seller who carried the financing on a sale, a family member who funded a purchase, or a small entity holding a note secured by Texas real estate signs the release personally, and this form recites that direct release, signed and acknowledged before a notary. The guide also describes the backstop for the opposite problem, a lien holder who never acts: Property Code Section 12.017 lets a title insurance company record a statutory affidavit that operates as a release when a paid mortgage sits unreleased.

The vendor's lien rides along

Texas seller financing typically secures one note twice. The deed from seller to buyer retains a vendor's lien, and the buyer signs a deed of trust on top of it. A release naming only the deed of trust can leave the vendor's lien sitting of record. The form carries an optional section identifying the deed that retained the vendor's lien, and the operative release language expressly reaches it, along with any other lien securing the same note, so one recorded instrument discharges the whole arrangement.

The package includes the blank release as a fillable PDF, a guide that walks through each numbered section with an example entry for every blank, and a completed example showing a realistic seller financed payoff. The confidentiality notice of Property Code Section 11.008 appears at the top of the first page, and the layout follows the recording standards of Local Government Code Section 191.007. The materials are informational and are not legal advice.