Can I Sell a Land Note Without Original Documents in Texas?

Life happens. Papers get lost in moves, damaged in floods, misplaced in filing cabinets, or simply forgotten over the years. If you hold a promissory note on land in Texas and you have discovered that some or all of your original documents are missing, your first reaction might be panic — followed by the assumption that you cannot sell the note until every piece of paper is tracked down. The good news is that in most cases, you can still sell a land note without original documents in Texas. The process may take a bit longer and require some additional steps, but missing paperwork is a problem that experienced note buyers encounter regularly and know how to solve.

The key to understanding your situation is recognizing that different documents carry different levels of importance, and that many documents can be reconstructed, replaced, or obtained from public records and third parties. Some documents are critical and will require extra attention if they are missing, while others are helpful but not essential and can be worked around with relative ease. This guide will walk you through the hierarchy of documents in a Texas land note transaction, explain what happens when specific documents are missing, and show you the practical steps for moving forward with a sale even when your file folder is not as complete as you would like it to be.

Whether you are missing a single document or your entire file, the information in this guide will help you understand where you stand and what your options are. Thousands of Texas land notes have been successfully sold despite missing documentation, and with the right buyer and the right approach, yours can be too.

The Document Hierarchy — What Matters Most and What Can Be Replaced

The Original Promissory Note — The Most Critical Document

The promissory note is the single most important document in any note transaction because it is the legal instrument that evidences the debt. It contains the borrower's promise to pay, the amount of the debt, the interest rate, the payment terms, and the maturity date. In legal terms, the promissory note is a negotiable instrument, and the person or entity that holds the original note has the legal right to enforce it. This is why note buyers place such heavy emphasis on the original note — without it, the buyer's ability to enforce the debt in court could be challenged by the borrower.

If you have lost the original promissory note, the situation is more complex than losing other documents, but it is not necessarily fatal to your sale. Texas law provides a mechanism for dealing with lost negotiable instruments through what is commonly called a lost note affidavit or a lost instrument bond. Under Section 3.309 of the Texas Business and Commerce Code, a person who was entitled to enforce a negotiable instrument at the time it was lost can still enforce it by proving their right to the instrument, explaining the reason for the loss, and providing adequate protection — usually in the form of an indemnity agreement — to the party against whom enforcement is sought. Note buyers are familiar with this process, though they will typically apply a somewhat deeper discount to account for the additional legal complexity and risk.

The Deed of Trust or Contract for Deed — Your Security Instrument

The deed of trust or contract for deed is the document that secures the promissory note against the real property. It gives the note holder the right to foreclose on the land if the borrower defaults. Unlike the promissory note, the deed of trust or contract for deed is recorded in the county clerk's office where the property is located, which means a copy can almost always be obtained from public records even if your original is missing. This is one of the easier documents to replace, and its absence from your personal files should not be a significant obstacle to selling your note.

To obtain a copy, you can contact the county clerk's office in the county where the property is located and request a certified copy of the recorded deed of trust or contract for deed. Most counties in Texas have online record search portals where you can look up the document by the borrower's name, the property's legal description, or the recording information. The cost for a certified copy is typically modest — usually between ten and thirty dollars depending on the county and the number of pages. If you cannot find the document online, a visit or phone call to the county clerk's office will usually resolve the issue quickly.

The Warranty Deed — Proof of Property Transfer

The warranty deed or special warranty deed is the document that transferred ownership of the property from you to the borrower. Like the deed of trust, this document is recorded in the county clerk's office and can be retrieved from public records if your original is missing. The warranty deed is important because it establishes the borrower's ownership of the property and defines the boundaries of the collateral that secures your note. It also contains any mineral reservations, easements, or other conditions that were part of the property transfer.

Retrieving a copy of the warranty deed follows the same process as retrieving the deed of trust — contact the county clerk's office or search their online records. In most cases, the warranty deed and the deed of trust were recorded at the same time as part of the original closing, so if you can find one, you can usually find the other.

The Title Insurance Policy — Helpful but Often Replaceable

If you obtained title insurance when you originated the note, the title policy is a valuable document because it insures the state of title as of the date of the transaction and identifies any liens, encumbrances, or defects that existed at that time. However, if the title policy is missing, the buyer can order a new title search during due diligence to establish the current state of title. A new title search will reveal any issues that have arisen since the original transaction, which is actually more current and potentially more useful than the original policy.

The cost of a new title search is typically borne by the buyer as part of their due diligence expenses, though some buyers may pass this cost through as a closing expense. If you have the original title policy, providing it can save the buyer time and money, which may translate into a slightly better offer. But if it is missing, the sale can proceed without it.

The Payment History — Essential but Reconstructible

A detailed payment history showing every payment received, including dates and amounts, is essential for any note sale because it is the buyer's primary tool for evaluating the borrower's track record. If you have been collecting payments yourself and your records are incomplete or missing, reconstructing the payment history may require some detective work. Bank statements showing regular deposits in the payment amount are often the best substitute for formal payment records. If the borrower pays by check, your bank may have images of the deposited checks. If payments were made electronically, your bank's transaction history will show the incoming transfers.

If your note is being serviced by a third-party servicing company, the servicer will have complete records of all payments processed through their system. Contact the servicing company and request a full payment history report. This is a routine request that any servicing company should be able to fulfill quickly. If you used a servicing company for part of the note's life and collected payments yourself for another part, you will need to combine the servicing company's records with your own bank records to create a complete history. For a comprehensive overview of all documents involved in a note sale and tips on organizing them, take a look at this guide on documents needed to sell a land note in Texas.

Practical Steps for Selling When Documents Are Missing

Step One — Take Inventory of What You Have

Before you contact a note buyer, take a thorough inventory of all the documents you currently have in your possession related to the note. Check filing cabinets, safe deposit boxes, email archives, and any digital storage where you might have saved scanned copies. It is not uncommon for sellers to discover documents they thought were lost once they conduct a systematic search. Even partial documents or copies can be helpful — a photocopy of the promissory note, for example, contains all the relevant terms and can be used to verify the original if it surfaces or to support a lost note affidavit if it does not.

Create a simple list of what you have and what you are missing. This list will be the starting point for your conversation with the note buyer and will help the buyer assess how much additional work will be needed to complete the sale. Being upfront and organized about the documentation gap will make the process smoother and will signal to the buyer that you are a serious, cooperative seller — which always helps with pricing and negotiation.

Step Two — Retrieve Recorded Documents From Public Records

As discussed above, the deed of trust, contract for deed, warranty deed, and any other recorded instruments can be obtained from the county clerk's office. This is a straightforward process that you can do yourself, often online, at minimal cost. Retrieving these documents before you contact a buyer will strengthen your document package and demonstrate that you have taken initiative to address the gaps. Most note buyers will appreciate receiving the recorded documents upfront rather than having to request them or obtain them independently during due diligence.

In addition to the core recorded documents, check for any other instruments that may have been recorded in connection with the transaction, such as a subordination agreement, a modification agreement, or a release of lien on a prior encumbrance. These supplemental documents can be helpful during due diligence and are worth retrieving while you are already accessing the county records.

Step Three — Contact Your Title Company or Closing Agent

If a title company or closing agent handled the original transaction, they may have copies of all the closing documents in their files. Title companies in Texas are generally required to retain closing files for several years, and many retain them indefinitely. Contact the title company that handled your closing and ask if they can provide copies of the promissory note, the deed of trust, the warranty deed, the title insurance policy, the settlement statement, and any other closing documents. Even if the title company has since closed or been acquired by another company, the files may still be accessible through the successor entity.

If you do not remember which title company handled the closing, the county clerk's records may provide a clue — the deed of trust often references the title company or trustee, and the recording information may include the title company's name. Alternatively, if you have any correspondence from the closing — even an old email or a fee receipt — that may identify the title company.

Step Four — Be Transparent With the Buyer and Let Them Help

Experienced note buyers deal with missing documentation regularly and have established procedures for working through these situations. When you contact a buyer to request a quote, be upfront about which documents you have and which are missing. A reputable buyer will not dismiss your note simply because paperwork is incomplete — they will evaluate the situation, assess the cost and effort required to fill the gaps, and factor that into their offer. In many cases, the buyer's due diligence team can obtain missing documents more efficiently than you can because they have established relationships with title companies, county clerks, and legal professionals who specialize in these transactions.

Longhorn Note Buyers has been purchasing Texas land notes since 2007 and has successfully closed deals involving every conceivable documentation scenario, from perfectly organized files to situations where virtually every document needed to be reconstructed. With over $46 million in Texas notes purchased, Longhorn has the experience and infrastructure to navigate documentation challenges efficiently and fairly, pricing the note based on its true value rather than penalizing you excessively for missing paperwork.

Special Situations — When Missing Documents Create More Significant Challenges

The Lost Original Promissory Note

As discussed earlier, the original promissory note is the one document whose absence creates a genuinely significant challenge. If the original note is lost, the buyer will need additional legal protections before they can purchase the note with confidence. The most common approach involves the seller executing a lost note affidavit — a sworn statement that the note existed, that the seller was entitled to enforce it, and that it was lost or destroyed. The seller may also need to provide an indemnity agreement holding the buyer harmless in the event that the original note surfaces in the hands of a third party who claims the right to enforce it.

In some cases, the buyer may require a lost instrument bond — an insurance policy that protects the buyer against claims by third parties who may produce the original note. The cost of this bond varies but is typically a small percentage of the note's face value. Whether the buyer requires an affidavit alone, an indemnity agreement, or a full lost instrument bond depends on the buyer's risk tolerance and the specific circumstances of the loss. A note buyer who is familiar with Texas law and has handled lost note situations before will know which approach is appropriate for your situation and will guide you through the process.

Notes With No Recorded Security Instrument

In some cases, particularly with older or informal seller-financing arrangements, the deed of trust or contract for deed may never have been recorded in the county records. This is a more serious issue than simply having lost your copy, because an unrecorded security instrument may not be enforceable against third parties. If the deed of trust was never recorded, there is a risk that the borrower could sell the property or encumber it with another lien, and the note holder's lien position would not be protected.

If you discover that your security instrument was never recorded, the first step is to have it recorded as soon as possible. If you have the original or a copy, a real estate attorney can help you get it properly recorded. If the instrument has been lost and never recorded, the situation becomes more complex and may require the cooperation of the borrower to execute a new deed of trust. This scenario will affect the note's pricing because the buyer faces additional risk, but it does not necessarily prevent a sale — experienced buyers can evaluate the risk and price accordingly.

Missing Payment Records With No Way to Reconstruct

If your payment records are completely missing and you have no way to reconstruct them — no bank statements, no servicing company records, no canceled checks — the buyer will be unable to verify the borrower's payment history, which is the most important factor in their pricing analysis. In this situation, the buyer may contact the borrower directly to obtain a payment history or may require the borrower to sign an estoppel certificate confirming the current balance, payment status, and any defenses or claims the borrower may have.

The absence of verifiable payment history will almost certainly result in a deeper discount because the buyer has no evidence of the borrower's track record and must price the note as if the payment history is unknown. This is one of the most impactful documentation gaps because it removes the buyer's most reliable indicator of future performance. If you have any way to reconstruct even a partial payment history — through tax returns, personal financial records, or communications with the borrower — it is worth the effort, as even incomplete records are better than none.

How Missing Documents Affect Your Pricing

The General Impact on Discounts

Missing documents typically add between two and ten percentage points to the discount a buyer applies to your note, depending on which documents are missing and how easily they can be replaced. The absence of a recorded deed of trust that can be retrieved from the county for a small fee might add only one or two percent to the discount to account for the minor inconvenience. The absence of the original promissory note, which requires a lost note affidavit and potentially a lost instrument bond, might add five to ten percent because of the additional legal complexity and risk.

The cumulative impact of multiple missing documents is not simply additive — if the buyer perceives that the overall documentation package is thin or unreliable, they may apply a broader risk premium that exceeds the sum of the individual adjustments. This is why addressing as many documentation gaps as possible before approaching a buyer is so important. Every document you can provide reduces the buyer's uncertainty and supports a better price. For broader context on how pricing works in the Texas land note market, this resource on discounts when selling a land note in Texas provides useful benchmarks.

When Missing Documents Are a Deal Breaker

It is rare for missing documents to completely prevent a note sale, but there are a few scenarios where the gaps may be too large for a buyer to bridge. If the original promissory note is lost, no copy exists, the terms of the note cannot be independently verified, and the borrower disputes the debt or refuses to cooperate, the buyer faces a situation where they cannot confirm what they are purchasing or enforce it with confidence. Similarly, if the security instrument was never recorded and cannot be reconstructed, the buyer has no verifiable lien on the property, which fundamentally undermines the value of the note as a secured investment.

In these extreme cases, the note may not be sellable through conventional channels, though it might still have value to a buyer who specializes in distressed or impaired notes and is willing to invest the legal resources needed to establish enforceability. If you find yourself in this situation, consulting with a real estate attorney before approaching a note buyer can help you understand your legal position and identify the most practical path forward.

Ready to Sell Your Note?

If you are holding a land note in Texas and you are concerned about missing documents, the best thing you can do is talk to an experienced note buyer who can evaluate your specific situation and tell you exactly where you stand. Longhorn Note Buyers has been purchasing Texas land notes since 2007 and has handled every documentation scenario imaginable — from perfectly complete files to situations requiring extensive reconstruction. With over $46 million in Texas notes purchased and a 100% close rate on quoted deals, Longhorn has the expertise to assess your note fairly, work through any documentation challenges, and get you to closing with minimal hassle.

Call Longhorn Note Buyers today at (210) 828-3573 or visit longhornnotebuyers.com to discuss your situation. Even if you are not sure what documents you have or what condition they are in, Longhorn's team can help you take inventory and develop a plan for moving forward. The consultation is free, there is no obligation, and you may be pleasantly surprised by how manageable the documentation issue turns out to be.

Frequently Asked Questions About Selling Notes With Missing Documents

What if I only have a photocopy of the promissory note?

A photocopy of the promissory note is significantly better than having no copy at all. While the buyer will still prefer the original, a photocopy provides a verified record of the note's terms — the principal amount, interest rate, payment schedule, and maturity date — which allows the buyer to price the note with confidence. The buyer may still require a lost note affidavit or other legal protections, but the existence of a photocopy reduces the uncertainty and typically results in a smaller pricing adjustment than if no copy existed at all. If you have a photocopy, a scanned version, or even a photograph of the original note, include it in your document package.

Can the buyer obtain missing documents on my behalf?

Yes, experienced note buyers have the infrastructure and relationships to obtain many types of missing documents as part of their due diligence process. They routinely order title searches, retrieve recorded documents from county clerks, and work with title companies and attorneys to fill documentation gaps. However, the buyer will typically factor the cost and effort of obtaining these documents into their pricing. By retrieving as many documents as you can on your own before approaching the buyer, you reduce the buyer's due diligence burden and improve your offer.

How much does it cost to get a lost instrument bond?

The cost of a lost instrument bond in Texas varies depending on the face value of the note and the bonding company's assessment of the risk, but it typically runs between one and three percent of the note's face value. For a note with a remaining balance of $50,000, the bond might cost between $500 and $1,500. The cost of the bond is sometimes borne by the seller, sometimes by the buyer, and sometimes split between the parties — this is a negotiable point that should be addressed during the offer and acceptance process. Some buyers may waive the bond requirement in favor of a simpler lost note affidavit and indemnity agreement, depending on the circumstances.

Will missing documents cause my note sale to take longer?

In most cases, yes. Missing documents add steps to the due diligence process — retrieving recorded documents from county records, ordering new title searches, preparing lost note affidavits, and potentially obtaining lost instrument bonds all take time. A standard note sale with complete documentation might close in two to four weeks, while a sale with significant documentation gaps might take four to six weeks or longer depending on the specific issues involved. The additional time is usually measured in days or weeks rather than months, and an experienced buyer will keep the process moving as efficiently as possible.

What is the most important thing I can do if I have missing documents?

The most important thing you can do is be honest and upfront with the buyer about what you have and what you are missing. Do not wait for the buyer to discover the gaps during due diligence — tell them at the outset so they can factor the documentation status into their initial quote. This transparency helps in two ways: first, it allows the buyer to price the note accurately from the start, avoiding unpleasant surprises that could derail the deal later; and second, it demonstrates that you are a straightforward, cooperative seller, which builds trust and facilitates a smoother transaction. Beyond transparency, taking the initiative to retrieve whatever documents you can from public records and former closing agents before approaching the buyer is the second most impactful step you can take.