Are you at a loss as to how to collect your Texas judgment? Understand first that the process of collecting your judgment is just that, a process. So you have to start at the beginning of the process. The first tool in the process is securing your judgment lien.
What is It?
A lien is a charge again property to secure payment of a debt. It attaches a debt to real property. Then, whenever that property is sold the attached lien must be paid. Usually, it is paid from the cash changing hands in the sale of the property. Your judgment is a debt than can create a lien on the property of your debtor. But, the fact that you have a judgment does not, by itself, create a lien on your debtor’s property. An automatic lien would be nice. But, that isn’t how the game is played in Texas.
How Do I Get It?
Creating a lien from your judgment is not hard to do. You just have to prepare and file an abstract of judgment in the county records. An abstract is not a difficult or complex legal document. It’s simply a written summary of how much the debtor owes you. But, it must be properly prepared to create your lien. If your judgment is in a justice court or a small claims court, the justice of the peace prepares the abstract for you. But, if your judgment is in any other state court, you can prepare the abstract yourself.
What Do I Do With It?
When you have your abstract in hand, you take it to the county clerk for recording. The clerk enters the abstract in an alphabetical index of judgment records. Now, your judgment lien is created. If the debtor owns any real property in the county where you’ve recorded the abstract, your lien attaches to that property. The only exception homestead property.
How Long Does it Last?
Once you create the judgment lien, it continues for ten years. You can keep both the judgment and the judgment lien alive longer than ten years. The information for doing that is the topic for another article.
