When you submit a filing now through any service provider we all send the filing information and documents to eFileTexas. eFileTexas pre-processes the PDF files and, if it finds any errors in the document(s), eFileTexas "Fails" the filing. It only takes one document to cause your entire submission to fail.

And, to compound the problem for you, eFileTexas does not provide any information about why they failed the submission.

Why Documents Fail

Below are the reasons we have seen for documents causing a submission to fail. Unfortunately, eFileTexas is not consistent; they sometimes allow a document through that contains one of the errors below but that does not seem to happen often.

1. Fonts incompatible with the system. This seems to happen when filers OCR (convert scanned documents to text-searchable PDF files). The conversion software sometimes inserts fonts that are not compatible with the eFileTexas (especially for special characters such as o, þ, R,⌂) into the OCR'd document. Read here for information about confirming and resolving this issue.
2. Illegal characters in the document name. The document name can only contain alpha-numeric characters. So, avoid characters such as - : ( {, etc. in your document names.
3. Security features activated in the PDF file. - You can add security features such as password protection to PDF files. However, they are not allowed in the eFileTexas system. Read here for information about confirming and resolving this issue.
4. Active Links to outside URLs - You can add active links to other sections of the PDF file for navigation purposes. However, eFileTexas does not allow active links in a PDF file that point to a URL outside of the document itself.
5. Use of Fill-in-the-Blank PDF forms - This is probably the most common reason for a document to fail. Many filers download fill-in-the blank Civil Case Information Sheet, Process Request forms, etc., fill them in, save them, and then eFile the completed fill-in-the-blank PDF file. Unfortunately, saving the form preserves all the fill-in-the blank coding and that is what causes the PDF file to be Failed by eFileTexas. There are two solutions if you use one of the fill-in-the blank forms:
   • Print the form and then scan it and OCR it.
   • Print the file as a brand new PDF file (you will need Adobe Acrobat Standard or Professional, not the free Adobe Reader software). This process deletes the fill-in-the-blank coding in the new PDF file and you can submit the PDF file with no problems.
   • Upload the file to FileTime and let FileTime repair it (only available only on a FileTime pay-per-filing plan).

Resolving the Issue

Probably the simplest way to resolve the issue is to print the document, scan it, save it as a new PDF file with a name that contains only alpha-numeric characters. To make the document text-searchable you can OCR it or upload it to FileTime and let our document converter make it text-searchable for you (only available to you if your firm is on one of our pay-per-submission plans).

1. If it is not practical to scan your documents, you will need to systematically examine each one to determine the causal factor and resolve it. Take these steps in order:
2. Check the name of each document and make sure there is nothing but alpha-numeric characters (a-z, 1-0) in the name(s).
3. Open each PDF file and make sure it contains no fields in which you can type information directly into the PDF. See 5. above if you see this in one of the documents.
4. Open each document and ascertain that they do not contain any security features. See 3 above about how to perform this task.
5. Open each document and make sure you do not see the known invalid fonts. See 1. above about how to perform this task.

You can also contact our Customer Support team (800-658-1233) so we can contact eFileTexas and find out for you.