You sued, you won, and the court handed you a piece of paper. Months later, the money still hasn’t moved. The debtor knows something you may not: nobody at the courthouse is going to collect this for you.
Here’s the short answer: a Texas judgment doesn’t pay itself — you enforce it. Commercial creditors have four core tools — a lien on real property through an abstract of judgment, seizure of non-exempt assets through a writ of execution, garnishment of the debtor’s bank accounts, and a turnover order that reaches property ordinary process can’t. What Texas does not give you is wage garnishment. That single fact reshapes the whole strategy.
First, the myth that wastes the most time
A lot of judgment-enforcement advice — including plenty aimed at Texas creditors — says you can garnish a debtor’s wages once you have a judgment. In Texas, for an ordinary commercial debt, you cannot.
Texas exempts “current wages for personal services” from garnishment, with narrow exceptions such as court-ordered child support (Tex. Prop. Code § 42.001(b)(1)). Federal obligations like tax levies and student loans operate under their own rules. But a judgment on an unpaid invoice does not open the door to a debtor’s paycheck.
Two practical consequences:
- If your debtor is a company, the exemption is beside the point. A corporation or LLC has no “wages for personal services.” Its operating account is ordinary garnishment territory.
- If your debtor is an individual — a personal guarantor, a sole proprietor — the paycheck itself is protected, but funds generally lose that protected character once they’re deposited into a bank account. Where the money sits matters more than where it came from.
Anyone who tells you they’ll garnish a Texas business debtor’s wages is describing a remedy that doesn’t exist here.
Tool 1 — Abstract of judgment: put a lien on what they own
Recording an abstract of judgment with a county clerk creates a lien on the debtor’s non-exempt real property in that county once it’s recorded and indexed. Homestead property is protected.
Three things creditors routinely get wrong:
- It’s county-by-county. An abstract filed in Dallas County does nothing about a building in Tarrant County. File where the assets are — and where the debtor is likely to buy next.
- It runs 10 years from the date of recording and indexing, and a new abstract starts a new 10-year lien rather than extending the old one (Tex. Prop. Code § 52.006).
- It dies if the judgment goes dormant. The lien is only as alive as the judgment underneath it.
A judgment lien is patient money. It often collects itself at the worst possible moment for the debtor — when they refinance or sell.
Tool 2 — Writ of execution: seize and sell
A writ of execution directs a sheriff or constable to seize and sell the debtor’s non-exempt property to satisfy the judgment (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ch. 34). For a business debtor that can reach equipment, vehicles, inventory, and accounts.
The writ does double duty: issuing one is also what keeps your judgment from going dormant.
Tool 3 — Garnishment: go where the cash is
Bank garnishment is the most direct tool against a business debtor. With a valid, subsisting judgment, you bring a garnishment action against the bank holding the account (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ch. 63). The bank is the party served and must answer for the funds it holds.
This is where knowing the debtor’s banking relationships is worth more than any demand letter. It’s also why asset discovery and skip tracing is the real work of judgment collection — the tools are public, but the targets aren’t.
Tool 4 — Turnover order: reach what execution can’t
Some assets don’t sit still for a constable: accounts receivable, commissions, contract rights, distributions, future payments. Texas’s turnover statute (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 31.002) lets a judgment creditor ask a court for aid in reaching a debtor’s non-exempt property, including present or future rights to property.
A court may order the debtor to turn property over to a sheriff or constable, apply the property to the judgment, or appoint a receiver to take possession, sell it, and pay the proceeds toward the judgment. The court can enforce the order through contempt — and the order doesn’t have to identify the specific property in advance.
For a debtor who has money coming in but nothing convenient to seize, this is usually the pressure point.
You can also make the debtor tell you where it is
You don’t have to guess. Post-judgment discovery under Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 621a lets a judgment creditor use ordinary discovery tools — written questions, requests for documents, depositions — to find assets, so long as the judgment isn’t dormant or superseded.
Watch the two clocks
The judgment clock. A judgment goes dormant if no writ of execution issues within 10 years of rendition, and successive writs must issue within 10 years of the last one (§ 34.001). Once dormant, execution stops until it’s revived — and revival must be brought within two years of dormancy (§ 31.006). Miss both windows and a valid debt becomes an unenforceable memory.
The underlying-debt clock. If you don’t have a judgment yet, the four-year statute of limitations on Texas commercial debt is the deadline that matters, and it’s running now.
What a judgment is actually worth
Post-judgment interest accrues while you work. On a contract that specifies a rate, it’s the lesser of that rate or 18% a year (Tex. Fin. Code § 304.002); otherwise it follows the Federal Reserve prime rate with a 5% floor and a 15% ceiling (§ 304.003). A judgment that sits for three years isn’t standing still — it’s growing, if you eventually collect it.
The harder truth: enforcement is a function of assets found and pressure applied, not of how strong your paperwork looks. A judgment against a debtor with nothing is a filing cabinet exhibit. A judgment against a debtor with a bank account, receivables, or real property is a collectible asset — and most business debtors have at least one of those, whether or not they’d like you to know it.
Where an agency fits
Judgment collection is the part of this business that rewards persistence over paperwork: locating the debtor’s current banks and properties, tracking a successor entity when the original one goes quiet, and going back for a second and third bite as assets reappear.
Every court filing here — a writ, a garnishment action, a turnover motion, a receivership — is legal work performed by licensed attorneys. ASA is a collection agency, not a law firm; we work alongside collection counsel where legal enforcement is warranted, and we never provide legal advice or representation. What we bring to a judgment file is the investigative and negotiating work that decides whether those filings land on anything.
If you’re earlier in the process and don’t have a judgment yet, start with how to collect a commercial debt in Texas. If you want the tactical view of enforcement mechanics, see our judgment enforcement guide.
Holding a judgment that hasn’t produced a dollar? Get a free case review — no recovery, no fee. This article is general information for commercial creditors, not legal advice; deadlines and remedies turn on your specific facts, so confirm them with qualified counsel.
General information for commercial creditors, not legal advice. Laws and deadlines change and depend on the facts — confirm specifics with qualified counsel.