Texas Debt Collection Rules: Wage Garnishment, Bank Levies and What a Collector Can Do

Short answer: Texas blocks wage garnishment for most ordinary consumer debts, gives a creditor four years to sue on most consumer debt, and still allows a bank account levy after the creditor wins a court judgment. Those three facts explain most Texas collection cases: your paycheck is protected from a credit card collector, your bank account is not protected in the same way after a judgment, and an old debt may be time barred if you raise the limit as a defense in court.

This article is general information about Texas rules, not legal advice. DebtHaus is not a law firm. State law changes, and your contract and dates control how a rule applies to you, so confirm current law with the Texas Attorney General or a Texas consumer attorney before you act on a specific debt.

Texas matters to DebtHaus readers for a data reason as well as a legal one. In the complaint records published on our collector pages, Texas is the top state by complaints. On the Portfolio Recovery Associates page, for example, 5,864 of the 41,821 complaints in the three year record checked in October 2026 came from Texas, and the Midland page shows 6,432 complaints from Texas for its parent company record. Those figures are complaints filed with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), not findings about any company. They show why a Texas explainer is the first page in our state series.

Can a debt collector garnish your wages in Texas?

For most consumer debts, no. Wage garnishment for ordinary debts such as credit card balances, medical bills and personal loans is not available in Texas, a protection rooted in the Texas Constitution, Article XVI, Section 28. The common exceptions are debts where a separate federal or family law process applies, such as child support, certain tax debts and federally backed student loans. A collector that threatens to garnish your Texas wages for a credit card debt is making a threat you should write down, with the date, time and name used on the call, because federal law and Texas law both limit false threats.

That protection has a limit readers often miss. Protecting wages before they are paid is not the same as protecting money after it lands in a bank account. Once a creditor has sued, won and obtained a judgment, it can ask a court for a writ of garnishment against a bank account. The account can be frozen up to the judgment amount while exemptions are sorted out. Social Security, veterans' benefits and other protected income keep federal protections, but you may need to assert an exemption promptly and show where the money came from. Keep bank statements that trace protected deposits, especially if a judgment is already in place.

How long can a collector sue you in Texas?

Texas gives creditors four years to sue on most consumer debts, under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 16.004, as described in public sources checked in October 2026. The clock usually runs from the date of default, often tied to your last payment or last charge, depending on the account and contract. After four years, a debt can become time barred: a collector can still ask you to pay voluntarily and can still report within the separate credit reporting period, but it should not win a lawsuit if you appear and raise the expired limit as a defense.

Two cautions matter here. First, courts usually do not apply the statute of limitations for you. If you are sued, you must respond and raise it. Ignoring court papers can lead to a default judgment even on an old debt. Second, actions can restart the clock in Texas. A signed written acknowledgment of the debt can restart the period in some circumstances. Since 2019, Texas law has also barred debt buyers from suing on time barred debt and says a payment to a debt buyer does not revive it. Before you pay anything on a very old Texas debt, check the date of last payment, check whether you signed anything acknowledging it, and read our general guide to the statute of limitations on credit card debt, which explains how the clock, the credit reporting period and revival differ.

What Texas law controls what collectors can say and do?

Two layers apply at the same time. Federal law, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and Regulation F, limits third party collectors everywhere in the United States. Our FDCPA guide in plain English covers call limits, banned threats, validation notices and the right to dispute in detail, and this Texas page does not repeat that full list.

Texas adds its own law, Chapter 392 of the Texas Finance Code, often called the Texas Debt Collection Act. It covers deceptive and harassing practices in Texas and, in important respects, reaches conduct that readers associate with the federal law. Texas also requires third party debt collectors and credit bureaus collecting in Texas to file a $10,000 surety bond with the Texas Secretary of State, as described in public summaries of Chapter 392 checked in October 2026. If a collector cannot be identified, will not give a mailing address, or refuses to provide validation information, write those facts down. Identity and address are what you need to send a written dispute and to file a complaint.

If a specific company is contacting you, compare its name with our debt collector pages. Each page lists company facts with sources, the CFPB complaint record for the last three years, top complaint issues and top states, and any public enforcement actions we could source. A complaint count is not a rating and the CFPB does not verify every complaint, but the record helps you see whether the issue you are facing, such as attempts to collect a debt not owed or written notification about a debt, is a common complaint topic for that firm.

What should you do first if a collector contacts you in Texas?

Start with paper, not payment. Ask for the validation notice in writing if you do not already have it, note the creditor's name, the amount breakdown and the validation period deadline, and keep every envelope. Our debt validation step by step guide walks through that workflow in full: what the notice must contain, how to request verification inside the 30 day window, and how to track the reply.

Next, sort the debt by age and by judgment status, because Texas treats those very differently. If there is no judgment and the last payment was more than four years ago, the time limit may be your central question. If there is already a judgment, wage protection will not stop a bank levy, so exemptions and protected income become the central question. If you have been served with court papers, the response deadline in those papers controls, whatever else you are researching. Do not miss it while you gather documents.

Finally, watch for Texas rule changes in one place. Our Collector and State Rules Watch publishes a monthly edition of CFPB complaint totals for the collectors we cover and state and local rule changes with sources and effective dates. It is a monthly changelog, while this page covers the standing Texas rules, and it is where a future Texas change would appear first on DebtHaus.

Sources

1. Texas Legislature, Civil Practice and Remedies Code Chapter 16, Limitations
2. Texas Legislature, Finance Code Chapter 392, Debt Collection
3. Office of the Texas Attorney General, Consumer Protection
4. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Debt Collection Practices (Regulation F) final rules
5. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Consumer Complaint Database

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DebtHaus is not a law firm and isn't affiliated with the CFPB. This page explains the law in general terms; it isn't legal advice for your situation. Editorial policy