Once a plaintiff wins a judgment in a court, he must turn to collecting on that judgment. You might be surprised to learn that in Texas, some judgment debtors (people who lost a lawsuit and now owe the Plaintiff money), with a significant amount of wealth, do not have any assets that the judgment creditor (the Plaintiff who won the lawsuit) can take.
There are several methods a judgment creditor might use to attempt to collect on a judgment in Texas. One method is to file an abstract of judgment. This will create a lien on the judgment debtor’s (nonexempt) real property in the county where the abstract of judgment is recorded and indexed. (Tex. Prop. Code § 52.001) (Note that this will only work with regard to the judgment debtor’s nonexempt real property, and the Texas homestead exemption will make most people’s homes exempt from this –see below.) Another common form of collection on a debt in Texas is a writ of execution. (See Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 621) An execution is a process of the court from which it is issued. The clerk of the district or county court, or the justice of the peace, shall issue execution to collect on a judgment . The writ of execution orders a sheriff or constable to satisfy the judgment and costs out of the property of the judgment debtor, to the extent that any property is subject to execution by law. (Note that the sheriff can only take (levy) property that is not exempted under the Texas property code, and some people may not have any property that isn’t exempt –see below for more on this.)
A number of judgment debtors may discover that they can keep most if not all of their property, despite the judgment debt they owe. Furthermore, it should also be noted that, with certain family law exceptions, wage garnishment is generally not available for most types of debts arising under state law in Texas (See Texas Constitution Art. XVI, Sec. 28) Under Texas law, certain property is generally exempt from the satisfaction of many types of unsecured judgment debts. The biggest exemption for most people is their homestead exemption. (See Tex. Prop. Code § 41.001 (2007).) This will usually protect the judgment debtor’s house from certain types of unsecured judgment debts, such as a judgment debt owed to a credit card company. Furthermore, the homestead claimant's proceeds of a sale of a homestead are not subject to seizure for a creditor's claim for six months after the date of sale. (See Tex. Prop. Code § 41.001(c) (2007).) The Texas Property Code also provides an exemption for certain types of personal property, up to a certain value, from many unsecured debts. (See Tex. Prop. Code § 42.001 (2007).) For instance, a single adult, who is not a member of a family, has an exemption for various types of personal property, up to $30,000 in value, such as: home furnishings, including family heirlooms; farming or ranching vehicles and implements; tools, equipment, books, and apparatus, including boats and motor vehicles used in a trade or profession; wearing apparel; jewelry not to exceed 25 percent of the aggregate limitation prescribed by Property Code Section 42.001(a); two firearms; athletic and sporting equipment, including bicycles; and a two-wheeled, three-wheeled, or four-wheeled motor vehicle for each member of a family or single adult who holds a driver's license or who does not hold a driver's license but who relies on another person to operate the vehicle for the benefit of the nonlicensed person. (See Tex. Prop. Code § 42.001 & Tex. Prop. Code § 42.002 (2007)) There is also an exemption under Texas law for many types of retirement plans. (See Tex. Prop. Code § 42.0021 (2007))
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