What records a Texas judgment holder should keep
A Texas judgment can stay enforceable for decades, and every figure and deadline it has comes from a handful of dates: when it was rendered, when each writ issued, when each abstract was recorded, and when each payment arrived. Lose one of those dates and the value, the dormancy date or a lien end date can no longer be shown. Here is what to keep, and why each record matters.
In short
- The judgment itself: its rendition date and its stated rate drive every interest figure (Fin. Code §§304.001, 304.005).
- Every writ of execution and its issue date: the 10-year dormancy count runs from the last writ issued while the judgment was not dormant (Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §34.001), subject to the pending question below on writs never delivered to an officer.
- Every abstract, with its county, recording and indexing dates and instrument number: a lien it creates runs up to 10 years from its recording and indexing, and can end sooner or never arise (Prop. Code §§52.001, 52.0011, 52.006).
- Every payment, credit and post-judgment cost, with its date: the order and timing change the balance.
These clocks are for most civil money judgments. Child support judgments do not go dormant under §34.001 (§34.001(c)), and judgments for the State or a state agency follow their own lien and dormancy rules (Prop. Code §52.006(b)); JudgmentVault does not calculate either kind.
The judgment
Keep a copy of the signed judgment, and a certified copy if one was obtained. It shows the amounts awarded (damages, prejudgment interest, attorney's fees and court costs), the court and cause number, and the date it was signed. Texas requires a money judgment to state its post-judgment interest rate (Fin. Code §304.001), and interest runs from the date the judgment is rendered (§304.005(a)). A court sometimes renders judgment in open court before it signs the written judgment; if so, keep the docket entry or transcript that shows the earlier date too. If the judgment was later corrected or amended, or changed on appeal, keep every later judgment, the appellate court's judgment and mandate, and any order on remand: the amounts, rate and dates that govern may come from those rather than from the original. If the judgment is on a contract that sets an interest rate, keep the contract and every amendment to it: the judgment's rate may come from the contract (Fin. Code §304.002), and the contract shows where the stated rate came from. If part of an award that was not appealed is subject to a Medicare subrogation right, keep the federal recovery-demand letter, the date it was received, the amount it covers and proof of any payment of that part before the 31st day after it is received: interest on that part waits for the letter (Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §41.014), and JudgmentVault does not calculate that pause. If the case was appealed and a party who was a claimant at trial was granted an extension of time to file a brief, keep the order and note the dates it covers: interest does not accrue during the extension (§304.005(b)), and JudgmentVault does not calculate that pause. Keep the clerk's bill of costs too, since awarded court costs earn interest with the rest of the judgment (§304.003(a)).
Writs of execution
A Texas judgment goes dormant if no writ of execution issues within 10 years of its rendition, or if a writ issues and then no further writ issues within 10 years of the one before (Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §34.001). The date that counts is the date the writ issued. A writ issued after the judgment went dormant, and before it was revived, does not restart the count (§34.001(a)). Keep each writ and the officer's return, and note its issue date where it cannot be lost.
Abstracts of judgment
An abstract recorded and indexed while the judgment is not dormant is a lien on the debtor's non-exempt real property in that county (Prop. Code §52.001); one recorded while the judgment is dormant creates no lien. The lien lasts 10 years from the date of recording and indexing unless the judgment becomes dormant first (§52.006). No lien arises either in a county where a certified copy of a court finding under §52.0011 is recorded, made when the debtor has secured the judgment pending appeal or is excused from doing so; the lien exists again once a withdrawal of the finding is recorded. If either was recorded, keep a copy and its recording date in each county. Each county's abstract runs on its own clock. For each one, keep the abstract, the county, the recording date, the date the clerk indexed it, and the instrument number the county clerk assigned; the lien attaches and its 10 years run only once the abstract is both recorded and indexed. If a county's lien is released, or the judgment is paid in full or released, keep the recorded release or proof of payment and its date, since that can end a lien before its 10 years run.
Payments, credits and costs
Every amount received reduces the judgment on the date it applies, and interest is figured on the balance between those dates, compounding each year (Fin. Code §§304.005, 304.006). Keep a record of each payment and credit with its date and amount, and of each post-judgment cost, such as a writ or recording fee, with a receipt.
Never rewrite an earlier entry. If an amount was recorded wrongly, add a correcting entry that reverses it, so the record shows what was entered and when it was corrected. JudgmentVault's calculation engine works the same way: a correction is a reversing entry, never an edit. How each payment is applied is covered in partial payments and credits.
Revival and transfers
If the judgment went dormant and was revived, keep the revival judgment and the filed petition or motion that started the revival, with its filing date. A dormant judgment can be revived only by a proceeding brought within two years of going dormant (Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §31.006), so the filing date shows the revival was timely, and the revival judgment shows the judgment is enforceable again. If the judgment was ever transferred, keep each written transfer and, if it was filed with the papers of the suit, proof of the filing (Prop. Code §12.014).
Bankruptcy
If the debtor files for bankruptcy, keep the notice of the case and any discharge or court order about the judgment debt or its lien. Filing the case ordinarily stays enforcement of the judgment and collection of the debt (11 U.S.C. §362(a)). The stay can end by court order, and also without one when the case is dismissed or closed or a discharge is granted or denied (§362(c)), so keep any order on the stay and the case's dismissal, closing or discharge, with their dates. If the judgment debt is discharged, the discharge voids the judgment as a personal liability and bars collecting it (11 U.S.C. §524(a)); some debts are not discharged (§523), so the orders show which applies. Texas law can cancel the judgment's abstract lien too, with exceptions under which the lien survives (Prop. Code §§52.041–52.043). JudgmentVault does not take a bankruptcy into account.
The records at a glance
| Record | Dates and numbers to note | What depends on it |
|---|---|---|
| Signed judgment and bill of costs, the docket entry or transcript if judgment was rendered before it was signed, and any amended judgment, appellate judgment, mandate or remand order | Rendition date, amounts awarded, stated rate, court and cause number | Value, interest and every clock |
| The contract that sets the interest rate, and any amendments, if the judgment is on one | Contract rate and the date of each amendment | Where the judgment's rate came from |
| Any Medicare recovery-demand letter, and proof of payment of the part it covers | Date the letter was received, amount covered, date paid | When interest on that part starts, or whether it accrues at all |
| Any order extending a claimant's appellate briefing time | Start and end dates of the extension | Days on which no interest accrues |
| Each writ of execution and return | Issue date | Dormancy date |
| Each abstract | County, recording and indexing dates, instrument number | Each county's lien end date |
| Any recorded §52.0011 finding, and any recorded withdrawal of it | County and recording date of each | Whether a lien exists in that county while the judgment is on appeal |
| Each release of a county lien or of the judgment, and proof of full payment | Date and county of each release; date the judgment was satisfied | An earlier end to a lien, and to interest |
| Any tender of the full amount due, and any refusal of it | Date and amount of the tender | Whether interest stopped before payment |
| Bankruptcy notice, discharge and any order about the judgment or its lien | Case number, filing date, dates of any order on the stay, and of discharge, dismissal or closing | Whether the judgment can still be collected |
| Payments and credits | Date and amount of each | Balance and payoff |
| Post-judgment cost receipts | Date, amount, what it was for | Recoverable costs in the payoff |
| Revival petition or motion and revival judgment, if any | Filing date of the petition or motion, rendition date of the revival judgment | That revival was sought in time, and (pending review) the restarted dormancy count |
| Transfers, if any | Date signed, and date filed if filed | Who holds the judgment |
How the calculators use these records
JudgmentVault's free calculators take most of these dates and amounts as inputs. They do not take every record listed here. Among the limits:
- They ask for the date the judgment was signed and treat it as the rendition date, so if judgment was rendered earlier in open court, their interest and clock figures start from the later date.
- They do not take an appellate briefing extension, and decline to value a judgment with one.
- They do not take a tender, so a payoff they show includes interest after any tender that stopped it.
- The value, interest and payoff calculators decline to value a revived judgment; the clock calculators take revival dates.
- The clock calculators take a date of full satisfaction but not a release of the judgment for less, so after such a release their lien and dormancy dates do not apply.
- The lien calculator asks for one date per abstract; if the abstract was indexed after it was recorded, enter the later date, when both were done.
- None of them take a bankruptcy filing or discharge.
- The lien calculator does not take a §52.0011 finding or its withdrawal, so in a county where one is recorded its lien dates do not apply.
Check what each calculator asks for before relying on its figures. Every figure they show is calculated from what you enter, using the rules set out in the Texas methodology, which also lists the kinds of judgment JudgmentVault does not calculate.
Sources
- Tex. Fin. Code §§304.001–304.006: the rate the judgment states, accrual from rendition, annual compounding.
- Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §41.014: no interest on the part of an unappealed award subject to Medicare subrogation until the demand letter, or if paid before the 31st day after it is received.
- Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §34.001: dormancy runs from rendition and from the issue date of each writ.
- Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §31.006: revival within two years of dormancy.
- Tex. Prop. Code §§52.001–52.006: abstract contents, recording and indexing, and the lien’s duration.
- Tex. Prop. Code §12.014: a filed transfer of the judgment gives notice.
- Tex. Prop. Code §§52.041–52.043: cancellation of a judgment lien for a debt discharged in bankruptcy, and its exceptions.
- 11 U.S.C. §362(a): a bankruptcy filing stays enforcement of a judgment against the debtor; §362(c) says when the stay ends.
- 11 U.S.C. §523: debts excepted from a bankruptcy discharge.
- 11 U.S.C. §524(a): a discharge voids a judgment as a personal liability for a discharged debt, and bars collecting it.
The rules JudgmentVault applies, and which are still pending legal review, are listed rule by rule in how JudgmentVault calculates Texas judgments.