Hindering Secured Creditors: Texas Penal Code §32.33

The Texas Hindering Secured Creditors law gives police the right to arrest you if they believe you destroyed, removed, concealed, encumbered, or otherwise harmed or reduced the value of the property subject to a mortgage or deed of trust with the intent to evade paying the interest holder.

The statute also prohibits selling secured property without paying off the mortgage or otherwise providing an accounting of the sale.

The Texas legislature codified this criminal offense in Texas Penal Code Section 32.33. The legislature did not update this law in 2023. In fact, this law has not been amended since 2015.

The Penal Code classifies the Texas Hindering Secured Creditors law under Title 7 “Offenses Against Property,” Chapter 32 “Fraud.” Learn more about the Texas offense of Hindering Secured Creditors below.

What is the current Texas law about Hindering Secured Creditors?

Texas law currently defines the offense of Hindering Secured Creditors in Penal Code Section §32.33 as follows:^[1]

(b) A person who has signed a security agreement creating a security interest in property or a mortgage or deed of trust creating a lien on property commits an offense if, with intent to hinder enforcement of that interest or lien, he destroys, removes, conceals, encumbers, or otherwise harms or reduces the value of the property.

Subsection (e) describes the offense as it applies to certain other debtors:

(e) A person who is a debtor under a security agreement, and who does not have a right to sell or dispose of the secured property or is required to account to the secured party for the proceeds of a permitted sale or disposition, commits an offense if the person sells or otherwise disposes of the secured property, or does not account to the secured party for the proceeds of a sale or other disposition as required, with intent to appropriate (as defined in Chapter 31) the proceeds or value of the secured property. A person is presumed to have intended to appropriate proceeds if the person does not deliver the proceeds to the secured party or account to the secured party for the proceeds before the 11th day after the day that the secured party makes a lawful demand for the proceeds or account.

How can I be charged with a Hindering Secured Creditors offense in Texas?

You can be charged with Hindering Secured Creditors in Texas if the state’s attorneys believe that each of the elements of 32.33 as described in the section above have been met.

What is the statute of limitation for Hindering Secured Creditors in Texas?

Misdemeanor level Hindering Secured Creditors charges have a two-year limitations period.^[2] Felony level offenses have a three-year limitations period.^[3]

What is the penalty for a Texas Hindering Secured Creditors offense?

The punishment for a conviction for Hindering Secured Creditors ranges from a Class C misdemeanor to a first degree felony, depending on the value of the property involved.^[4]

Can you get probation for Hindering Secured Creditors in Texas?

The Texas Code of Criminal Procedure allows both judges and juries to grant probation for Hindering Secured Creditors, and judges are also allowed to accept deferred adjudication plea deals.^[5]

Note, however, that no matter the offense, neither judges nor juries may recommend community supervision for any suspended sentence of over 10 years.^[6] Also, judges may not grant community supervision after a conviction if (1) the defendant used or exhibited a deadly weapon during the commission of the felony or immediate flight thereafter and (2) the defendant used or exhibited the deadly weapon himself or was a party to the offense and knew that a deadly weapon would be used or exhibited.^[7]

What level of crime is Hindering Secured Creditors in Texas?

The Penal Code classification of the punishment for Hindering Secured Creditors ranges from a Class C misdemeanor to a first degree felony, depending on the value of the property involved.

Learn more about the penalty range for this offense in the section above.

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Legal References:

^1. Texas Penal Code §32.33. This law is current as of 2024.^2. Code of Criminal Procedure 12.02(a)^3. See Code of Criminal Procedure 12.01(9)^4. Texas Penal Code §32.33(d)

(d) An offense under Subsection (b) is a:

(1) Class C misdemeanor if the value of the property destroyed, removed, concealed, encumbered, or otherwise harmed or reduced in value is less than $100;

(2) Class B misdemeanor if the value of the property destroyed, removed, concealed, encumbered, or otherwise harmed or reduced in value is $100 or more but less than $750;

(3) Class A misdemeanor if the value of the property destroyed, removed, concealed, encumbered, or otherwise harmed or reduced in value is $750 or more but less than $2,500;

(4) state jail felony if the value of the property destroyed, removed, concealed, encumbered, or otherwise harmed or reduced in value is $2,500 or more but less than $30,000;

(5) felony of the third degree if the value of the property destroyed, removed, concealed, encumbered, or otherwise harmed or reduced in value is $30,000 or more but less than $150,000;

(6) felony of the second degree if the value of the property destroyed, removed, concealed, encumbered, or otherwise harmed or reduced in value is $150,000 or more but less than $300,000; or

(7) felony of the first degree if the value of the property destroyed, removed, concealed, encumbered, or otherwise harmed or reduced in value is $300,000 or more.

^5. See Chapter 42, Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, Art. 42A.054, Art. 42A.056, Art. 42A.102^6. Art. 42A.053(c), Texas Code of Criminal Procedure^7. Art. 42A.054(b), Texas Code of Criminal Procedure