Already Have a Judgment Against You?
Texas Judgment Negotiation
It is extremely common for people who get sued for credit card debt to avoid properly defending the lawsuit. These lawsuits tend to get filed against good people who are simply experiencing bad times financially, which causes many people who are sued to simply brush off the lawsuit all together (90% by some estimates). Others attempt, in good faith, to defend themselves but still end up with a judgment against them. For those who are served with a credit card citation and do nothing, the result is usually the entry of a Texas default judgment, which has the same effect as going to trial and losing, meaning the judgment is a valid and enforceable final judgment.
Final judgments can make life very difficult. If you are experiencing Texas judgment enforcement, meaning the attorney for the debt collector is attempting to force you to pay through court intervention, you should know that you are dealing with a very serious matter. While people in Texas do not go to debtor’s prison for owing money, it is possible to be jailed for “contempt of court” for ignoring a court order demanding that you turn over financial documents or respond to what is called “post judgment discovery,” meaning the lawyer for the creditor is attempting to discover what type of assets you may have to satisfy the judgment.
Texas Garnishment Law
It has been our experience that many people confuse Texas bank garnishment law with Texas wage garnishment. There is a big difference between the two. In Texas, it is rare to see wage garnishments for debts other than child support and back taxes, though it does happen sometimes. Due to the full faith and credit clause of the United States Constitution, Texas state laws may be overlooked in favor of other state laws if the judgment at issue was entered in another state. This means that a judgment from a state that allows wage garnishment may result in wage garnishment in Texas if the judgment is properly “domesticated” in Texas, which is relatively easy to do.
On the other hand, it is important to realize that bank account garnishments in Texas are extremely common for credit card judgments. In this scenario, the creditor with a final judgment actually files a separate lawsuit against your bank seeking to garnish your cash. Banks will generally freeze the checking or savings account at issue until the garnishment lawsuit is finalized, hence the common fear that some lawsuit Defendants have that their bank accounts will be “frozen.” It is also important to note that cash is usually not exempt from execution, and that wages cease to be wages and become garnishable cash once they are deposited into your bank account.
We Can Help
If the debt collection lawsuit is over and a judgment has already been entered against you, we still may be able to help. We offer judgment settlement negotiation services and we have settled many final judgments. We also bill flat fees for this service, the same as for lawsuit defense depending on the amount of the judgment (our fee scale can be found here). This service includes our time spent in obtaining the best settlement for you that we are able to negotiate. It has been our experience that most creditors are willing to be reasonable and agree to a settlement for an amount and on terms that our post-judgment clients can live with. We have settled final judgments for as little as 10% of the amount of the judgment, though it is important to know that we are not able to guarantee you a specific result because each case is different. This service also includes the drafting or review of settlement documentation to ensure that your rights are protected.
Please note that this service does not include post-judgment lawsuit representation. In other words, the service described above is limited to representing our client in settlement negotiations, not in responding to post-judgment discovery or defending against execution actions like garnishments or turn-over orders. We do sometimes offer representation in those situations, but we determine all flat fees in those situations on a case by case basis.
Please call us for a free consultation if you like what you have read on our website and think that we might be able to help you.