Sec. 533.004. LIENS

(a) The department and each community center has a lien to secure reimbursement for the cost of providing support, maintenance, and treatment to a patient with mental illness or client with mental retardation in an amount equal to the amount of reimbursement sought.

(b) The amount of the reimbursement sought may not exceed:

(1) the amount the department is authorized to charge under Section 552.017 or under Subchapter D, Chapter 593, if the patient or client received the services in a department facility; or

(2) the amount the community center is authorized to charge under Section 534.017 if the patient or client received the services in a community center.

(c) The lien attaches to:

(1) all nonexempt real and personal property owned or later acquired by the patient or client or by a person legally responsible for the patient's or client's support;

(2) a judgment of a court in this state or a decision of a public agency in a proceeding brought by or on behalf of the patient or client to recover damages for an injury for which the patient or client was admitted to a department facility or community center; and

(3) the proceeds of a settlement of a cause of action or a claim by the patient or client for an injury for which the patient or client was admitted to a department facility or community center.

(d) To secure the lien, the department or community center must file written notice of the lien with the county clerk of the county in which:

(1) the patient or client, or the person legally responsible for the patient's or client's support, owns property; or

(2) the patient or client received or is receiving services.

(e) The notice must contain:

(1) the name and address of the patient or client;

(2) the name and address of the person legally responsible for the patient's or client's support, if applicable;

(3) the period during which the department facility or community center provided services or a statement that services are currently being provided; and

(4) the name and location of the department facility or community center.

(f) Not later than the 31st day before the date on which the department files the notice of the lien with the county clerk, the department shall notify by certified mail the patient or client and the person legally responsible for the patient's or client's support. The notice must contain a copy of the charges, the statutory procedures relating to filing a lien, and the procedures to contest the charges. The board by rule shall prescribe the procedures to contest the charges.

(g) The county clerk shall record on the written notice the name of the patient or client, the name and address of the department facility or community center, and, if requested by the person filing the lien, the name of the person legally responsible for the patient's or client's support. The clerk shall index the notice record in the name of the patient or client and, if requested by the person filing the lien, in the name of the person legally responsible for the patient's or client's support.

(h) The notice record must include an attachment that contains an account of the charges made by the department facility or community center and the amount due to the facility or center. The superintendent or director of the facility or center must swear to the validity of the account. The account is presumed to be correct, and in a suit to cancel the debt and discharge the lien or to foreclose on the lien, the account is sufficient evidence to authorize a court to render a judgment for the facility or center.

(i) To discharge the lien, the superintendent or director of the department facility or community center or a claims representative of the facility or center must execute and file with the county clerk of the county in which the lien notice is filed a certificate stating that the debt covered by the lien has been paid, settled, or released and authorizing the clerk to discharge the lien. The county clerk shall record a memorandum of the certificate and the date on which it is filed. The filing of the certificate and recording of the memorandum discharge the lien.

Added by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1991.