Texas Writs of Garnishment to Collect Judgment Liens from Chambers County, Texas

If you’re looking for a law firm that can help you defend, collect, and enforce judgments, Busby & Associates is the right choice. Our primary focus is on garnishing bank accounts and financial institutions, but we also offer legal services for consumer bankruptcy, family law, and divorce matters. We can assist both obligors and obligees with child support lien collections and defense, and domesticating foreign child support liens in Chambers County, Texas. If you’re a judgment creditor struggling to collect from a debtor in Chambers County, Texas, contact us, and we’ll help you get the results you’re looking for.

Texas Judgment liens in Chambers County

To secure a lien on all nonexempt real property owned by the judgment debtor in Chambers County, a judgment creditor must record and index an abstract of judgment properly. The abstract must be filed in every county where the debtor has property to fix the lien. The lien remains valid for ten years from the date of recordation and indexing, subject to the judgment not becoming dormant. Only final judgments, not interlocutory ones, can form the basis of a lien. However, an abstract of judgment can still be filed if the judgment is being appealed or a supersedeas bond has been filed. If the creditor establishes a lien before the appeal, the lien remains valid even if the judgment is affirmed. These rules only apply to Texas state trial court judgments, and for the enforcement of judgments from other states and foreign countries, the judgment must first be domesticated in Texas before an abstract can be filed.

Texas Abstract of Judgment

In Texas, abstracting a judgment requires adherence to certain regulations. Generally, the judge, justice of the peace, clerk of the court, judgment creditor, agent, attorney, or assignee can prepare the abstract for judgments rendered in most courts, except for small claims and justice courts. In these types of courts, the judgment creditor is not allowed to prepare their own abstract. Additionally, abstracts of federal court judgments require certification from the clerk of the court. For those looking to abstract their judgment lien in Chambers County, Texas, the County Clerk’s office is located at 404 Washington Ave, Anahuac, Texas 77514.

Contents

When creating an abstract of judgment in Texas, certain details must be included to make it valid. These details consist of the names of the plaintiff and defendant, the defendant’s birthdate (if available), the defendant’s driver’s license and social security numbers (if available), the suit number, the defendant’s address or citation information, the date the judgment was rendered, the amount of the judgment and balance due, any child support arrearage, and the interest rate. The abstract must also contain the mailing address for each plaintiff or creditor, and it must be verified by the creditor’s attorney. If the mailing address is not included, a penalty filing fee will be imposed. Unverified declarations are not accepted.

Recordation of Judgment Liens Abstract

The abstract of judgment should be documented in Chambers County for debtors who possess real property there. The Chambers County clerk receives the abstract and records it in the county’s real property records, mentioning the date and time of recording. Furthermore, the clerk must enter the abstract in the alphabetical index to the real property records, displaying the names of both the plaintiff and defendant and the page number where the abstract is recorded.

Abstracts of Domesticated Judgment Liens.

Judgments filed under the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act and the Uniform Foreign-Country Money Judgments Recognition Act can be enforced in the same manner as local judgments. The foreign judgment holder who seeks to domesticate the judgment in Texas must meet the lien requirements.

Property To Which Lien Attaches Non-Exempt Real Property

Chambers County, where the defendant’s nonexempt real property is registered, is the county in which the judgment lien is enforceable.

Keeping the Judgment and Judgment Lien Alive

1.      Non-governmental Judgments

Once a judgment is recorded and indexed, the associated lien will remain valid for 10 years, except when the judgment becomes dormant, which causes the lien to cease. To maintain an active judgment, two prerequisites must be met: (1) ensure the judgment’s validity and (2) obtain and record a new abstract of judgment. A judgment becomes dormant if no writ of execution is issued within 10 years of its creation, but it can be revived through scire facias or a debt action within two years of dormancy.

2.      State or State Agency Judgments.

Judgments made by the state or a state agency are not subject to dormancy, which means they remain active and enforceable. Meanwhile, a properly filed abstract of judgment creates a lien that lasts for 20 years from the filing date, and a renewed abstract of judgment can extend it for another 20 years.

3.      Political Subdivisions.

Dormancy statutes may cause judgments of political subdivisions to go dormant, but the revival statute, Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 31.006, permits the political subdivision to revive the judgment. This means that the statute of limitations will not prevent the political subdivision from reviving the judgment at any time, not just within the two-year dormancy period.

4.      Child Support Judgments.

The exception for child support judgments from the dormancy statute is a provision in Subsection (c) of § 34.001 of the Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code that applies to all such judgments, whether they were granted recently or in the past.

Property Subject to and Exempt from Execution.

1.      Property Subject to Execution.

The property of the debtor under judgment can be seized by execution, unless it is exempted by the constitution, statute, or any other rule of law. Generally, the following categories of property are not exempt: a. Cash on hand or in savings or checking accounts; b. Pleasure boats and their motors and trailers; c. Collections such as stamps or coins; d. Investments like stocks, bonds, or notes; e. f. Airplanes. There is no exempt property for corporations.

2.      Property Exempt from Execution.

Exemptions from execution are provided for certain categories of property, irrespective of whether the debtor is a family or a single adult, such as: a) the homestead; b) personal property of various categories specified by statute, with an aggregate fair market value of $100,000.00 for a family or $50,000.00 for a single adult without family connections; c) current wages for personal service (excluding child support payments) and unpaid commissions for personal services, not exceeding 25% of the $50,000/$100,000 aggregate limitations; d) professionally prescribed health aids; e) worker’s compensation payments; f) cemetery lots held for sepulcher purposes; g) property sold, mortgaged, or conveyed in trust by the judgment debtor, if the purchaser, mortgagee, or trustee can identify other property of the debtor sufficient to satisfy the execution; h) assets in the hands of the trustee of a spendthrift trust for the benefit of the judgment debtor; i) certain insurance benefits; j) specific savings plans, including retirement benefits and health savings plans; k) college savings plans; l) consigned artwork that meets specific requirements.

WRITS OF GARNISHMENT.

A post-judgment garnishment procedure can be utilized by a judgment creditor to determine if there are any funds or property owed by a third party to the judgment debtor. If any debts are identified, the creditor (garnishor) can obtain a garnishment judgment, compelling the third party (garnishee) to pay funds to the garnishor instead of the debtor.

Requirements to Issue

Garnishment may be available after a judgment, but certain conditions must be met. Firstly, the creditor must have a valid and subsisting judgment against the debtor, with the judgment being considered final and subsisting from the date of rendition. Secondly, the debtor cannot have filed an approved supersedeas bond to suspend execution on the judgment. Lastly, the creditor must swear that, as far as they are aware, the debtor does not have sufficient property in Texas that can be executed to fulfill the judgment.

Procedure for Securing Issuance Jurisdiction and parties

A post-judgment garnishment action is an independent legal suit from the main case it is intended to enforce. As a supplementary lawsuit, the third-party garnishee must be identified as the defendant. Additionally, it should be submitted in the same court that rendered the judgment to be collected, but with a different cause number.

Service of the writ of garnishment/notice to judgment debtor.

The writ of garnishment must be served on the garnishee, and the judgment defendant’s participation in the garnishment action is not compulsory. However, the defendant must be served with a copy of the writ, application, affidavits, and court orders promptly after serving the garnishee. The copy of the writ served on the defendant must display the contents of the writ prominently, using bold 12-point typeface, and in a manner that a reasonably attentive person would understand. Failure to provide the judgment debtor with notice of property will result in any judgment, except one that dissolves the writ, being deemed void.

Banks as Garnishees for Writs of Garnishment

For the delivery of garnishment writs to banks, the registered agent’s address stated in the financial institution’s registration statement must be utilized, in conformity with Section 201.102 or 201.103 of the Finance Code. Out-of-state financial institutions seeking registration with the Secretary of State must designate an agent for process and comply with state laws under Section 201.102. Texas financial institutions may appoint an agent for process by submitting a statement to the Secretary of State in line with Section 201.103.

Officer’s Return.

The officer who enforces a writ of garnishment is responsible for filing a return that satisfies the citation rules. As stated in Tex. R. Civ. P. 663, the judgment creditor should examine the return before seeking a garnishment judgment, especially if it is a default judgment. The rules governing citations also apply to returns in garnishment proceedings. Courts have rejected returns that do not indicate the manner and location of service on a corporate garnishee.

Forms for the form and Practical Procedure

In the event that a bank account or other debt that can be garnished is located and the funds involved justify the effort, an Application for Garnishment must be filed. The application should be supported by an affidavit signed by the judgment creditor’s attorney, which should include relevant information such as the original suit and judgment details, the garnishee’s name and address, and any available account names and numbers.

If your judgment is from Texas, Busby and Associates may be able to help you collect it on a contingency basis. However, for judgments from other states where the judgment debtor is in Texas, they will look at it on a case-by-case basis, and a retainer may be necessary. If the judgment debtor and/or judgment is in Chambers County, Busby and Associates can support you in garnishing a bank account or financial institution to recover the judgment amount.