Yes — you can absolutely file it yourself
A memorandum of contract is a short, recordable document that puts the public on notice that a purchase contract exists for a specific property. It protects the equitable interest you gained the moment you and the seller signed. The county recorder doesn't require a lawyer or a title company to accept one — it requires a properly formed, notarized document and the fee. So DIY is a real, legitimate option, and we'll never pretend otherwise.
What DIY actually costs you isn't legality — it's time, accuracy, and follow-through. A memorandum lives in the public record and attaches to someone's title, so the details have to be right and the exit has to be handled. The rest of this page is about those details.
The DIY path, step by step
On your own, a clean filing runs roughly like this:
- Confirm a genuine, signed contract. The memorandum is lawful notice of a real, already-executed agreement — never a way to cloud a title or pressure a seller. No contract, no filing.
- Pull the exact legal description. Not the street address — the lot/block and subdivision or metes-and-bounds, transcribed exactly from the current deed or the county appraisal record.
- Complete the memorandum with the parties, property, and contract date, keeping private terms (price, assignment fee) off the page.
- Get it notarized. A recordable memorandum needs a notarial acknowledgment. You can use remote online notarization, a mobile notary, or an in-person notary.
- Send the owner notice. In Texas, the §12.020 notice procedure means mailing the owner by certified mail, then recording a sworn certificate of mailing — and the timing between the two matters.
- Record it in the right county and pay the fee, matching that county's formatting rules.
- Track it to an instrument number, then diary the expiration and the eventual release.
Where DIY filings actually get stuck
None of these steps is hard in isolation. The friction is that each one has a way to fail quietly, and a rejection usually costs you days — the exact days a memorandum is supposed to protect. The usual snags:
- Formatting rejections. Counties enforce margin, font-size, and first-page requirements. A nonconforming page gets bounced or surcharged — and you find out after you've waited in the queue.
- The certified-mail + sworn-certificate timing. The §12.020 procedure isn't just "mail a copy." The certificate of mailing is sworn, and it has to reflect the mailing correctly. Get the sequence or the wording wrong and the record is incomplete.
- E-recording eligibility. The major metros return an instrument number the same day by e-recording; many smaller counties still run a paper rail by mail or in person. Knowing which applies to your parcel — and having credentialed access to the e-recording network — is its own hurdle.
- County-by-county rules. Fees, cover-page requirements, and accepted submission methods differ across all 3,143 counties. What worked in Harris County may not fly two counties over.
- Forgetting the exit. A memorandum should carry an expiration and a prompt release when the deal closes or dies. A stale filing left on record can hold up the owner's next sale and expose you to liability. (This is also what separates a memorandum from an abusive lis pendens: it's honest, time-limited notice.)
The honest take
If you file often in one county you know cold, DIY can be a fine routine. If you're filing across counties, on a clock, or for the first time, the rejection-and-redo loop is where the real cost hides.
What Jurably automates
Jurably doesn't take the decision out of your hands — you still select, verify, and sign your own memorandum. What we remove is the mechanical part, the part where filings break:
- You upload the signed contract; we read the parties, legal description, address, and closing date, and you verify every field before anything moves.
- We pull the owner's tax-roll mailing address for you to confirm.
- You notarize online in minutes — RON is built in at about $40 all-in, no appointment or notary hunt.
- We certified-mail the owner and record the sworn Certificate of Mailing alongside the memo, in the right order, per the §12.020 procedure.
- We format to the recording county's rules and file by instant e-recording in Harris, Dallas, Tarrant, Bexar, Travis, Collin, Denton, and Hidalgo — and run the paper rail everywhere else.
- You get the instrument number, a 90-day auto-expiration, one-click renewal, and a prompted release — or bundle File + Release from the start.
The whole thing is priced as itemized, ministerial work — recording, certified mail, notary, handling — at $199 to file, or $249 for File + Release. Not a markup on "paperwork," and never a document-preparation fee.
Do it the easy way
Upload the signed contract, verify the fields, notarize online — we certified-mail the notice, record the memo plus the sworn certificate, and hand you the instrument number.
When to DIY, and when to hand it off
DIY probably makes sense if you file regularly in a single county whose rules and e-recording process you already know, you have a reliable notary, and you have the bandwidth to babysit the mailing, the sworn certificate, and the eventual release.
Handing it to Jurably makes sense if you're filing across counties, racing a closing date, filing your first memorandum, or you simply want the certified-mail timing, formatting, and release tracking handled so a clerical slip doesn't cost you the deal. Either path is legitimate — the memorandum is the same lawful notice of the same real contract. The only question is who does the legwork.
Jurably is a self-help filing and notary service, not a law firm, and does not provide legal advice or represent you. Whether a memorandum fits your specific deal is a legal question; if you're unsure, talk to a real-estate attorney in your state. This article is general information for real-estate investors.