Texas is one of only a couple of states that DOES NOT ALLOW WAGE GARNISHMENT! But, that doesn't necessarily mean that your assets are 100% protected!
In Texas, a creditor that has been awarded a judgment for non-payment of a debt CANNOT apply for a writ of wage garnishment!
However, your wages can be garnished for:
- Child Support
- Alimony
- Taxes you owe
- Federal Student Loans
It is important that you understand the potential
WAGE GARNISHMENT process:
Let's say that you are going through a financial crisis due to:
- Loss of employment
- Death of a spouse or loved one
- Severe illness or disability
- Limited Fixed Income after retirement
- Or many other potentially financial devastating circumstances beyond your control
Once you start to become late or miss scheduled payments on your accounts, you start getting calls and letters from your creditor.
Although I will show you how to stop the calls from DEBT COLLECTORS, it is often misunderstood that as long as your account is with the ORIGINAL CREDITOR, that creditor has the right to call you.
Now, having said that, they cannot violate the FAIR DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES ACT that prohibits abusive debt collection practices.
If the original creditor cannot get you to start making payments again, they may decide to charge your account off and either turn it over or sell to a DEBT COLLECTOR.
Now, the debt collector will start calling and they are usually much more aggressive in their attempts to collect than the original creditor. In fact, they may call many, many times a day and/or leave upsetting voice messages!
The good news is that now that the account has left the original creditor and has gone to a debt collector, you can put a stop to the calls:
But, that doesn' mean that the funds in your BANK ACCOUNT are necessarily protected!
In Texas, your wages are exempt (except for those listed at the start of this blog), but your bank account is not UNLESS, the source of those funds/benefits are from:
- Retirement or Social Security
- Unemployment
- Workers Compensation
- SSI
- VA
- Civil or Foreign Service Retirement
- Disability
- Proceeds from Life, Health or Accident Insurance
Although those sources of funds in your bank account are exempt, I STRONGLY RECOMMEND that if you receive notice of a judgment against you, that you CONTACT YOUR BANK and make sure they "FLAG YOUR ACCOUNT" to be EXEMPT FROM LEVY!
And here's another very important thing to remember...
Let's say you are retired and your retirement check and/or your social security check is automatically deposited in your bank account.
You want to transfer some of the funds over to another account (like a savings account) to keep a little "something for an emergency" fund.
ONCE THOSE FUNDS ARE TRANSFERRED, THEY MAY BE SUBJECT TO GARNISHMENT AND/OR LEVY IF A WRIT IS PRESENTED TO YOUR BANK AFTER A JUDGMENT ! ! !
Again, IF YOU RECEIVE OR HAVE RECEIVED a judgment, notify your bank immediately to see if they are aware your funds are exempt.
Living in Texas does give you some very special protection from creditors, but don't just ASSUME your safe....make sure!
Need help? We've been helping people through the frustration and anxiety of too much debt for many years.
