Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Texas

Re: Collecting on a civil judgement in Travis County Texas

It appears that your sister-in-law acquired a default judgment. For the judgment to have any value, she will have to locate the defendant, and find some property for the sheriff to levy upon and sell. The Sheriff's is not going to do the search for you. Here is what you will need to do:

1. Get an abstract of judgment from the JP's office, and take it to the county clerk in every county where the defendant lives or might have real property. The judgment will create a lien on any non-homestead real property, and will cloud the title on homestead property. Ordinarily this is the only possible means of ever collecting such a judgment. It will take patience, but some day may pay off.

2. Locate the defendant, and any property that she owns. The sheriff will be limited in what he can levy upon and sell. Excluded will be exempt property such as household furnishings and the like, personal vehicle, homestead, etc. Also, you will get nowhere in levying on property which has a mortgage lien which equals or exceeds the value of the property, because a levy on property will not affect the rights of a prior lien holder. In reality, unless the defendant has some investment property such as rental property, stock portfolio, or cash in banks, there probably will be nothing to levy upon. Many people, including some physicians, make themselves judgment proof, which means that if a judgment is rendered against them, there is no non-exempt property from which to collect a judgment.

3. Go to the tax appraiser's office in all counties in which you think that the defendant has property, and do a search for non-homestead property in the defendant's name. If you find any, I recommend that she get an attorney to help get the sale made in a proper manner. Remember that the sheriff's office is not going to actively do much more than sign the required papers. Be prepared to pay some sheriff's expenses in this regard, so avoid wild good chases.

P.S. I have clients with a portfolio of several million dollars of uncollectible judgments, so tell your sister-in-law not to feel alone if she has no success.