Can a Lawsuit Judgment in New York Garnish Wages in Texas?
Although Texas has some of the most strident laws concerning wage garnishment, some types of creditors can collect from Texas residents. The process is less complex than it seems; usually, all the out-of-state creditor/plaintiff must do is ask a Texas court to enforce the out-of-state court's judgment.
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Texas Law
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Under Texas law, most types of creditors are out of luck when attempting to garnish a Texas resident's wages. Texas does not allow credit card creditors to garnish wages. For the most part, only child support creditors, student loan creditors and the IRS can garnish wages in Texas. However, if a state court ruled against a Texas resident, the plaintiff has the right to ask a Texas court to honor that judgment.
Court Procedure
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Typically, when an out-of-state judgment creditor obtains a garnishment order it's because the creditor asked a Texas court to recognize the out-of-state court's judgment. Judgment creditors can do something called "domesticating" a judgment, meaning the judgment creditor can obtain a favorable ruling in their home state, and domesticate it in a Texas court. Additionally, state courts are required to respect and recognize the judgments of other state courts. This concept is called "comity."
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SOLs and Garnishment Limits
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Even if an out-of-state creditor seeks to domesticate a suit to Texas, Texas imposes a statute of limitations on bringing suit. In fact, Texas places a four-year statute of limitations (SOL) on many types of creditor's actions. As such, for a New York judgment creditor to reach a Texas' resident's wages, the creditor likely domesticated the suit before the statute of limitations ran out. As for garnishment limits, Texas places a cap of 25 percent on wage garnishment, meaning creditors can only take 25 percent of an debtor's disposable earnings. However, some types of creditors can get more.
Additional Considerations
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If you're having your wages garnished in Texas, and it's through your employer, you need to speak to your employer's payroll department to request a copy of the garnishment order. The order will likely have contact information for the court that issued the order and/or the levying officer's contact information. If you believe you're being garnished in violation of Texas law, you should speak to an attorney experienced in Texas labor and employment law. You might be able to challenge the garnishment due to procedural error or because the statute of limitations ran out.
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