Mowdy Files Criminal Complaints Against Wilco Officials
Mowdy Files Criminal Complaints Against Wilco Officials
Tom Mowdy, Democratic candidate for Williamson County Commissioners Court - Pct 4 has requested the Travis County Special Prosecutor investigate criminal official abuse and oppression complaints against the Williamson County District Attorney, Jana Duty, District Clerk Lisa David, and County Clerk Nancy Rister for accepting and filing a fraudulent lien claim against Mowdy's homestead in violation of Texas Government Code (TGC) 51.901.
The documents were confirmed fraudulent by court order on September 5, 2014. Mowdy complained the officials violated Texas Penal Code 39.02 and 39.03, and denied Mowdy's constitutional due process and course of law rights.
Mowdy, a Vietnam veteran, complained the three officials violated Texas law when documents, that were fraudulent, by law, were accepted for legal proceeding filings by officials Nancy Rister, Lisa David, and Jana Duty in violation of TGC 51.901 and laws against filing fraudulent documents in official proceedings. The documents were obviously fraudulent.
Because there were no signatures on the false documents, they were automatically presumed fraudulent and should never have been accepted for filing. The three officials did not have legal authority to change the status of the fraudulent documents.
The complaint is that the three officials knowingly violated Mowdy's legal rights, and the law. All three officials refused to follow the government code and observe the mandated presumption of fraud. If they had observed the law, the contractor who presented the claim, had the right of a no cost judicial review by a court judge to resolve the validity of the document which was later confirmed to be fraudulent by the court.
The failure of officials to observe the law means anyone could file an unsigned document against a homestead and threaten the owner with a costly legal battle to extract money or assets. Homeowners can lose property and their homestead, when officials knowingly accept fraudulent lien claim documents. The danger to homeowners is that public officials could cooperate with criminals by allowing fraudulent documents to be filed in county records.
The officials were aware the fraudulent document was a lien claim and a copy of the document was required, by Texas Property Code 53.254, to be completed before work was initiated on the homestead. The fraudulent document accepted by the officials had no written terms, no signatures, and was dated after the work was claimed to have been performed. The property code requiring a contractor to complete a written terms contract with signatures before any work is performed was designed to prevent this specific fraud.
Mowdy made the officials aware of all facts through certified letters and multiple emails with overwhelming evidence that the document was fraudulent. But, knowing the document was presumed fraudulent by law, the officials still accepted the fraudulent documents for filing against the homestead.
In a demanding three year legal battle, and acting as his own lawyer, Mowdy successfully defended his homestead against the false $113,914.11 claim. The documents were confirmed by arbitration and court order to be fraudulent. The Williamson County 277th District Court then refused to sanction the contractor or lawyer who filed the fraudulent document and made no comment or report of the felony behavior. Judge Mathews forced the Vietnam veteran to pay $8,000 to have the fraudulent lien removed. The official behavior, violations of the law and constitutional rights, and other evidence suggests the contractor and his lawyer had significant political influence.
The judge was aware that Mowdy asked the contractor to voluntarily remove the lien claim in an April 19, 2014, letter, after the arbitrator determined the document was fraudulent and the lien was invalid from the day it was filed. The contractor refused and Mowdy had to hire a lawyer to have the arbitration findings confirmed and the fraudulent lien removed. Mowdy and his wife could not sell or refinance their home until the fraudulent lien was removed.
The veteran also made perjury and forgery felony complaints, and misdemeanor complaints, against the contractor and lawyer who both swore and certified the fraudulent documents they filed with the county and district clerks and in the arbitration proceeding. It is a felony to file a fraudulent document in an official proceeding such as a lien claim or court case.
The arbitrator, who determined the facts that proved the documents to be fraudulent, failed to perform all his promised duties. He violated constitutional rights and refused to honor the rules requiring him to document details of the case that would prove the contractor was overpaid by at least $27,000. Mowdy won a dispute of the arbitrator's fees through a credit card dispute process. Mowdy also filed a deceptive trade complaint against the arbitrator. But, the findings concerning the fraudulent document were not affected.
Mowdy's complaints could not be made in Williamson County to the same officials the complaints were filed against.
The behavior of the Williamson County officials, ignoring laws and evidence, legal rights of individuals, facts and filing fraudulent lien claims, is similar to official behavior in the Michael Morton and Robert Lloyd cases and the award of 40 year no-bid contracts and 96% pay raises for contractors.
Mowdy's opponent for Wilco Precinct 4 was also made aware when the fraudulent documents were filed. When Mowdy sought help from Wilco Precinct 4 Commissioner Ron Morrison, the Commissioner indicated the other elected officials would not listen to him.
Mowdy understands those political difficulties and says that is no excuse for the absence of leadership and vision and the acceptance of standards and behavior that violates rights, and is illegal and harmful to every citizen in Williamson County.
Mowdy discusses specific acts and evidence showing a pattern of Wilco official failures in his "Williamson County Culture of Corruption" web site speech text.