Texas Writs of Garnishment to Collect Judgment Liens in Aransas County, Texas
At Busby & Associates, we offer a full range of legal services for judgments, including defense, collection, and enforcement. Our main area of focus is garnishing bank accounts and financial institutions, but we also provide support for consumer bankruptcy, family law, and divorce matters, for both obligors and obligees under child support liens. Additionally, we can assist with the domestication of foreign child support liens in the State of Texas. If you are a judgment creditor facing challenges collecting from a debtor in Aransas County, Texas give us a call. We can help you understand the process and take action to collect your judgment when the debtor lives in Aransas County, Texas.
Texas Judgment liens
An abstract of judgment filed and indexed in Aransas County creates a lien on all non-exempt real property of the judgment debtor within that county. The lien remains in effect for ten years, unless the judgment becomes dormant. To be valid, the underlying judgment must be final and not interlocutory. Even if the judgment is being appealed, a lien can still be established before the appeal. Remember that these rules only apply to Texas state trial court judgments and not to judgments from other states or foreign countries, which must first be domesticated in Texas to create a lien.
Texas Abstract of Judgment
According to Texas law, the preparation of an abstract of judgment can be done by a judge, justice of the peace, clerk of the court, or the judgment creditor’s agent, attorney, or assignee. However, this rule does not apply to small claims and justice courts, where the judgment creditor is not allowed to prepare their own abstract. It is also important to note that abstracts of federal court judgments must be certified by the clerk of the court.
Contents
A Texas abstract of judgment must contain the following information: (1) the names of the plaintiff and defendant; (2) the defendant’s birthdate, if known to the clerk of justice; (3) the last three digits of the defendant’s driver’s license number, if available; (4) the last three digits of the defendant’s social security number, if available; (5) the suit number in which the judgment was rendered; (6) the defendant’s address or, if not listed in the suit, the citation’s details and the date and location of service; (7) the date of judgment; (8) the amount of the judgment and the remaining balance; (9) any outstanding child support arrearage; (10) the interest rate specified in the judgment. It is important to note that the mailing address for each plaintiff or judgment creditor must be included, or a penalty fee will be imposed. Additionally, the abstract prepared by the creditor’s attorney must be verified and unsworn declarations are not acceptable.
Recordation
Recording the abstract of judgment in Aransas County; where the debtor has real property; is the responsibility of the county clerk. This includes filing it in the Aransas County’s real property records, noting the date and time of recordation, and adding the names of plaintiffs and defendants in the judgment as well as the page number in the records to the alphabetical index of the real property records. In Aransas County, Texas you record the judgment with the County clerk whose address is 2840 Highway 35 N Rockport, Texas 78382
Abstracts of Domesticated Judgments.
As per the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act and the Uniform Foreign-Country Money Judgments Recognition Act, foreign judgments are treated the same as if they were filed in the court where they were granted. This applies to the holder of the foreign judgment seeking to domesticate it in Texas, who must also fulfill the lien requirements.
Property to Which Lien Attaches Non-Exempt Real Property
The lien for judgment attaches to all non-exempt real property owned by the defendant in Aransas County; the county where it was recorded.
Keeping the Judgment and Judgment Lien Alive
- Non-governmental Judgments
A judgment lien will continue for 10 years after it is recorded and indexed, unless the judgment becomes dormant. To keep the lien in effect, it is necessary to maintain the judgment and record a new abstract of judgment. A judgment is considered dormant if a writ of execution is not issued within 10 years of its rendition. The dormant judgment can be brought back to life through scire facias or by filing an action of debt within two years of the judgment becoming dormant.
- State or State Agency Judgments.
A judgment issued by a state or state agency remains valid and a properly filed abstract of judgment creates a lien that lasts for 20 years from the date of filing. This lien can be renewed for an additional 20 years through the filing of a renewed abstract of judgment.
- Political Subdivisions.
The dormancy statutes state that judgments made by political subdivisions may become dormant. However, these judgments are not barred by the statute of limitations in Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 31.006. This means that they can be revived at any time, not just within two years of dormancy.
- Child Support Judgments.
Child support judgments are not subject to the dormancy statute, as outlined in Subsection (c) of § 34.001 of the Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code, and applies to all child support judgments.
Property Subject to and Exempt from Execution.
- Property Subject to Execution.
The property of the judgment debtor is subject to levy by execution unless it is protected by constitutional, statutory, or other legal exemptions. Typically, cash, boats, collections, stocks, bonds, and airplanes are not considered exempt. Corporations, on the other hand, do not have any property that is exempt from execution.
- Property Exempt from Execution.
For both families and single adults, certain property is not subject to execution, including: the primary residence, personal property up to the value of $100,000 for families and $50,000 for single adults as specified by statute, wages earned for personal services (excluding child support), unpaid commissions for personal services not exceeding 25% of the $50/$100,000 aggregate limit, health aids prescribed by a professional, worker’s compensation payments, cemetery plots held for sepulcher, property that the judgment debtor sold, mortgaged, or conveyed in trust if the purchaser, mortgagee, or trustee can provide alternative property to satisfy the execution, assets in the hands of a trustee of a spendthrift trust for the benefit of the judgment debtor, certain insurance benefits, and certain savings plans such as retirement benefits and health savings plans, college savings plans, and consigned artwork.
WRITS OF GARNISHMENT
After a judgment has been made, a garnishment procedure can be used by the creditor to investigate any potential financial ties between the debtor and a third party. If funds or assets are found to be owed to the debtor, the creditor can then seek a garnishment judgment, directing the third party to pay them instead of the debtor.
Requirements to Issue
In order for garnishment to take place, the following must be true: a) The creditor has a valid and subsisting judgment against the debtor, b) The debtor has not filed an approved bond to suspend execution on the judgment, and c) The creditor has verified that, to their knowledge, the debtor does not possess sufficient property in Texas that can be used to pay off the judgment.
Procedure for Securing Issuance Jurisdiction and parties
A post-judgment garnishment is a separate legal proceeding from the main lawsuit that it enforces. It is an ancillary action brought against the third-party garnishee as the defendant. The application for post-judgment garnishment should be filed in the same court that issued the judgment to be collected, under a different cause number. For instance, if the original suit was filed in the 245th judicial district court of Aransas County, Texas, the garnishment action should also be filed in Aransas County.
Service of the writ of garnishment/notice to judgment debtor.
The garnishee is the party that the writ of garnishment must be served upon. The judgment defendant is not a necessary participant in the garnishment action, however, they must receive a copy of the writ of garnishment, the application, accompanying affidavits, and court orders at the earliest after the writ is served on the garnishee. Additionally, the copy of the writ that is served on the defendant must be in 12-point type and be clearly written to inform a reasonably attentive person of its contents. If the judgment debtor is not given proper notice, any judgment, other than one dissolving the writ, will be void.
Banks as Garnishees
In order to serve writs of garnishment on banks, the address of the registered agent must be used, as outlined in Section 201.102 and 201.103 of the Finance Code. These sections state that out-of-state financial institutions must comply with the laws of this state for foreign corporations doing business in this state and file an application for registration with the Secretary of State, while Texas financial institutions may file a statement with the Secretary of State appointing an agent for the process.
Officer’s Return.
The Tex. R. Civ. P. 663 states that the officer executing a writ of garnishment must provide a return. The judgment creditor should carefully review this return before proceeding with a garnishment judgment, particularly in cases of default judgment. The rules for citations also apply to returns in garnishment proceedings. In the past, returns have been deemed invalid for not mentioning the manner of service on a corporate garnishee and the place of service.
Forms for the form and Practical Procedure
Once the judgment debtor’s bank account or other debt has been located and it is determined that there are sufficient funds to make garnishment cost-effective, an Application for Garnishment must be filed along with a supporting affidavit. The affidavit, usually signed by the attorney for the judgment creditor, should contain the following information: a. The original suit and judgment, including any credits applied to the judgment; b. The proper name of the garnishee, as well as the names and addresses of the officers for service; and c. Account names and numbers, if available.
The team at Busby and Associates can help you collect your Texas judgment on a contingency basis, as well as assist in garnishing a bank account or financial institution within Aransas County; the county of the judgment debtor. Judgments from other states where the debtor is located in Texas are evaluated individually and may require a retainer.
