There are numerous laws that restrict what a business or individual creditor can do to collect on a debt. Companies may find it particularly challenging to collect on a debt when the person who owes money makes a concerted effort to avoid fulfilling their financial responsibilities.
For example, some people change their phone numbers so that they don’t receive collection calls. Others might even terminate a lease and move without forwarding their mail to deny that they received notice of past-due accounts and other financial obligations. In extreme cases, people may even move from one state to another in the hopes of avoiding financial obligations. Thankfully, if someone who owes an organization money flees to Texas, there is a straightforward process for resuming collection activity after locating a debtor in the Lone Star State.
Creditors can domesticate existing judgments
One of the most common reasons that those who owe money would leave one state for another is the existence of a judgment in favor of a creditor. If the creditor took someone to court and won, the result would be a judgment in their favor. That judgment could lead to the garnishment of someone’s wages, which they may desperately want to avoid. Instead of just quitting the job that the creditor knew about, they may move across state lines in the hopes that they can avoid any efforts to enforce the judgment. Thankfully, such practices are common enough that there are state laws addressing them.
Creditors who have already successfully brought a legal claim against a non-compliant debtor in another state don’t need to pursue a lawsuit again once they locate the individual in Texas. Instead, they can file paperwork to have the court domesticate the out-of-state judgment. Domestication is a relatively simple process that allows a creditor to more quickly resume collection activity after locating someone who has moved to Texas.
It would be unfair if a business had to absorb the expense of re-litigating a debt-related matter every time an individual who owes money moved across state lines. When a company learns about and utilizes the domestication process, it may theoretically be possible to move forward with debt collection efforts before the borrower can quit their job or move again.