What Happens When Being Sued for Credit Card Debt in Texas?

Credit card debt is unsecured debt, meaning that the creditor cannot take away your home or other property if you do not pay the debt. In Texas, credit card companies can sue delinquent debtors for the amount of the debt plus attorney costs. However, under most circumstances, creditors cannot garnish debtors' wages and must reclaim the debt another way even if they get a judgment in court. Consult your attorney about your options if your credit card company sues you for nonpayment of debt.

Prohibition on Wage Garnishment

Texas is one of three states that does not allow creditors to garnish wages. The court does have the authority to order the garnishment of assets such as your bank account, but not your paychecks. If a creditor sues you in court and wins a judgment against you, he cannot ask the court to order your employer to withhold a portion of your wages to pay the debt. If you owe child support payments, that debt is an exception to this rule.

Right to Defend Yourself

If you are sued by a creditor, you have the right to appear in court and defend yourself. If you can prove that you do not owe the debt or that the creditor did not follow the law when attempting to collect the debt, the court may dismiss the case. If you do not attend the court hearing, the court automatically finds in favor of the credit card company.

Settlement

If you cannot afford to pay the entire debt, you may be able to negotiate a settlement out of court with your creditor. You may want to consider hiring an attorney to assist you with this, as attorneys often have greater bargaining power than private individuals. In any case, if you settle out of court, your creditors might agree to accept a partial repayment in exchange for dropping the case against you. Get the agreement in writing and make sure to follow it so that your creditors don't return to court.

Warning

Fair Debt Collection reports that some Texas creditors have gone out of state once they received a judgment against a Texas debtor and been able to get the out-of-state court to order a wage garnishment. If you are a Texas debtor who owes credit card debt, don't ignore a court summons on the presumption that you can avoid wage garnishment once a judgment is entered against you.