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Wage Garnishment In Texas

There are two types of Garnishments in Texas

  • Wage
  • Bank Accounts

Wage Garnishment

Wages are permitted to be garnished in Texas for child support and spousal support only.  Federal law allows debtors’ wages to be garnished for IRS debt and student loans, which overrules State Law.  Many times wage garnishment is threatened by the creditors against the Texas residents in the hopes of collecting payment.  Texas and Federal law does not allow a creditor to threaten with a collection method that they are not authorized by the court as a legal collection method. If you are threatened with garnishment, you should save your documentation so that you may bring suit later against the creditor.  Foreign judgments for which home state judgment permits wage garnishment, is the most common form of wrongful wage garnishment in the state. If the debtor moves to Texas and  the former state of residence of the debtor allows garnishment, then  a writ of Garnishment is cut and the debtor’s employer is served.  If the debtor’s employer crosses state lines, i.e., they work for Walmart or the Postal Service, then the employer will typically honor the wage garnishment.  If we can prove that the creditor knew that the residency haschanged to Texas, then there is a possibility that a cause of action could be made against the garnishing creditor.  Otherwise, a demand letter is what is first required and most of the creditors will release the garnishment once they get proper notice of the change in residence.   If there is no release, then you should file a suit.

Bank Garnishment

In order to garnish bank accounts or property in Texas, a court must issue a Writ of Garnishment. This can only be done after there is a valid, and subsisting judgment issued by a court. A Writ of Garnishment is obtained by filing an Application for Writ of Garnishment with a court of appropriate jurisdiction supported by a sworn affidavit stating that, “within the plaintiff’s knowledge, the defendant does not possess property in Texas subject to execution sufficient to satisfy the judgment.”  Under the Texas state law, cash is non-exempted.  Exempt property is that property which your creditors cannot take from you to satisfy debt or a judgment. All of your money in a financial Institution, except in the form of IRA or social security, can be seized.  If this happens, typically the only way to get it back is to file a bankruptcy and use Federal wild card 522 (d) 5 to exempt the asset.