Can You Sell Your House in Fort Worth, TX, with a Judgment Against You?

Judgment liens get treated like this massive dealbreaker, but they’re just another debt that gets paid at closing. Your Fort Worth house doesn’t become unsellable just because a creditor won a lawsuit against you.

The title company handles the lien the same way they handle your mortgage. They pay it off from the sale proceeds, and you get whatever’s left over. If there’s equity in your house after the lien gets paid, that money is yours.

Check out this guide to learn more about judgment liens and whether you can sell your house when a judgment is against you.

What Is a Judgment Lien and How Does It Attach to Your Property in Fort Worth?

A judgment lien happens when someone sues you and wins. That means they have also filed that court judgment against your real estate in Tarrant County.

The creditor takes their judgment to the county clerk’s office and records it in the public property records. Once it’s recorded, you’ve got a lien on your house.

The lien doesn’t mean they own part of your property or can kick you out. What it means is you can’t sell or refinance without dealing with that debt first.

The lien hangs around until you pay it off or the creditor releases it. It can expire after ten years (though they can renew it for another decade if they feel like it).

The amount you owe keeps growing, too, because Texas allows 5% interest per year on unpaid judgments.

Types of Judgments That Can Attach to Your Fort Worth Property

Not every debt can become a lien on your house. Under Texas law, there are only certain types of judgments that can actually attach to your real estate. Here’s the lineup.

Credit Card Judgments

Credit card companies love filing judgment liens when people don’t pay their balances.

They sue you for that $15,000 Visa debt or $9,000 Discover card, win the case, and then record the judgment against your property in Tarrant County.

Just like that, your house is collateral for credit card debt you racked up years ago.

They can’t make you sell, but they know you’ll probably sell eventually. When you do, they’re getting their money from the closing proceeds before you see a dime.

Medical Debt Judgments

Medical bills are one of the biggest sources of judgment liens in Texas right now. One bad hospital stay without insurance can turn into a $70,000 or $100,000 judgment real fast.

The hospital or collection agency sues you and wins, then files that judgment against your Fort Worth property. You’ll get a huge lien sitting on your house, growing by 5% every year until you either pay it or sell the property.

These debts can spiral out of control if you don’t address them.

Personal Loan Judgments

Banks, finance companies, and even private lenders can all turn unpaid loans into liens on your property. Those defaulted car loans, personal lines of credit you stopped paying, and a friendly loan from your cousin that went to court can become a judgment lien.

That is when the creditor wins their lawsuit and files the abstract with the county. The process is identical to credit card judgments.

They sue, and once they win, they file. Your real estate will back a debt you thought was just a personal obligation.

Child Support and Alimony Judgments

Texas takes unpaid child support incredibly seriously, and the enforcement tools are way more aggressive than regular creditor judgments.

The Attorney General’s office or your ex-spouse can file a lien against your property without needing a separate lawsuit if you’re behind on court-ordered support.

You can’t discharge child support debt in bankruptcy. You can’t wait it out. And unlike other judgment creditors, the state can actually force the sale of your homestead in certain child support cases.

This is probably the most serious type of judgment lien you can have on your Fort Worth property.

Can You Sell a House with a Judgement Lien in Fort Worth, TX?

Yes, you can sell a house with a judgment lien in Fort Worth. The lien doesn’t stop the sale; it just means the debt is paid from your proceeds at closing.

When you sell your house, the title company prepares a settlement statement. That statement lists everything that needs to be paid before you walk away with any money.

Your mortgage gets paid first, then property taxes, then any liens (including judgment liens), and whatever’s left goes to you.

So if your house sells for $300,000 and you’ve got a $200,000 mortgage plus a $25,000 judgment lien, those get paid off at closing. You’d walk away with $75,000 minus closing costs and realtor fees.

The judgment creditor doesn’t get to block your sale or demand you pay them separately. As mentioned, they just get their cut from the proceeds when everything closes.

Note, though, that you need enough equity to cover the judgment. If you owe more on your mortgage and liens than your house is worth, that’s a problem.

But if you’ve got equity, even a little bit, the sale can move forward. The buyer doesn’t care about your judgment lien.

Ready House Buyer can help, ensuring all liens are cleared before the buyer takes ownership so the process is smooth and hassle-free.

What Property Is Exempt from Judgment Liens?

Texas has homestead protections that keep judgment creditors from taking your house. Your primary residence, or the place you actually live, is generally exempt from forced sale by judgment creditors.

They can file their lien all day long, but they can’t make you sell.

The homestead exemption covers your house and up to 10 acres if you live in a city, town, or village. If you’re out in the country on rural land, you get up to 100 acres for a single person or 200 acres for a family.

However, the exemption only protects you from forced sale. It doesn’t stop the lien from attaching to your property.

So the judgment creditor can’t kick you out or make you list your house, but the lien still sits there waiting for you to sell on your own terms. When you do sell, they get paid.

What Are the Limitations of the Homestead Exemption?

The homestead exemption is great, but it can’t protect you 100%. There are specific debts that can totally override your homestead protection and force a sale of your Fort Worth property.

Here are the big exceptions:

• Property taxes: If you don’t pay your property taxes in Texas, Tarrant County will sell your house at a tax sale. The homestead exemption won’t save you here.
• Mortgage debt and home equity loans: You agreed to use your house as collateral when you signed those loan documents, so the homestead exemption doesn’t apply. Your lender can foreclose if you stop making payments.
• Mechanic’s liens: If you hired a contractor to remodel your kitchen and didn’t pay them, they can file a mechanic’s lien and potentially force a sale. The same goes for unpaid HOA dues. Your homeowner association can foreclose on your house if you rack up enough unpaid fees.
• Child support debt: The state can force the sale of your primary residence if you’re seriously behind on court-ordered support payments.
• Federal and state tax liens: If you owe the IRS or the Texas Comptroller enough money, they can force a sale of your house. The government gets special treatment here.

The homestead exemption protects you from most judgment creditors, like credit card companies, medical debt collectors, and personal loan lenders. But it has serious holes when it comes to taxes, child support, and debts you specifically secured with your house.

What Happens to the Judgment Lien When You Sell Your Property

The judgment lien gets paid off at closing, assuming there’s enough money from the sale to cover it. The title company handles this automatically as part of the closing process.

Specifically, the title company runs a title search on your property before closing. That search pulls up every lien attached to your house, including judgment liens.

They contact the judgment creditor and get a payoff amount. This is the exact dollar figure needed to satisfy the debt as of the closing date.

On closing day, the title company cuts checks to everyone who’s owed money. Your mortgage lender and the judgment creditor are paid. Your property taxes get paid, too.

Then you get whatever’s left over after all debts and closing costs are settled.

The judgment creditor must release the lien upon receipt of payment. That release is recorded with the county clerk, officially removing the lien from your property records.

The buyer gets a clean title, and you walk away without that debt hanging over your head anymore.

How to Sell a House with a Judgement Against You in Fort Worth, TX

Ready to sell your house with a judgment against you in Fort Worth? Follow these steps:

Step 1: Determine If the Lien Is Valid and How Much You Owe

Before you do anything else, confirm this judgment is actually real and figure out what you owe right this second. Sometimes judgments are straight-up wrong, or someone already paid them off years ago and forgot to file the release.

Pull your credit report first. See what’s showing up there. Then call the creditor directly and ask for the current payoff amount, not what the original judgment said, but what you owe TODAY.

These things grow 5% every year in Texas, so the numbers are definitely bigger than they used to be.

Make sure everything is recorded because you want proof of what they’re claiming so you don’t get blindsided at closing with mystery fees.

Step 2: Get a Title Search on Your Fort Worth Property

You need a professional title search to uncover every single lien stuck to your property. Don’t assume you know what’s there. Forgotten liens love popping up at the absolute worst moment.

Order the search through a title company or real estate attorney. They’ll look at your mortgage, judgment liens, tax liens, HOA liens, mechanic’s liens, and literally everything attached to your house in the public records.

This tells you what needs to be paid before you can hand over the keys. Sometimes you’ll find liens you completely forgot about, which is exactly why you do this early rather than three days before closing.

Step 3: Calculate Your Home’s Equity

You need to know if selling actually makes sense or if you’re about to bring a check to closing.

Get your house appraised or look up recent sales of similar houses in your Fort Worth neighborhood. That’s your ballpark value. Now subtract your mortgage, all the liens (including that judgment), closing costs, and realtor fees if you’re using one.

Whatever’s left is what you’d actually take home. If that number’s positive, lucky for you. If it’s negative or basically zero, you need hard negotiations or to try other options.

Step 4: Contact the Judgment Creditor to Negotiate

Many judgment creditors will take less than you owe if it means they get paid right now instead of waiting forever.

Call them up and say you’re selling your house. Ask straight up if they’ll accept a reduced payoff. Be specific about what you can actually afford to pay at closing.

You’d be shocked at how many will settle for 50% or 60% of the balance just to close the file and move on. Worth a shot before you agree to pay the full amount like a chump.

Step 5: List Your House or Find a Buyer

You can list with a real estate agent if you want top dollar and don’t mind the whole traditional selling process. You’ll do showings, open houses, negotiations, and more. It takes longer but usually nets you more money.

You can also avoid all that and sell to a cash buyer who’ll take it as-is and close in like two weeks. You’ll get less money, but you’ll be done way faster with zero hassle.

Choose whatever works for your situation. Just make sure whoever’s handling the sale knows about the judgment lien from day one.

Step 6: Arrange Lien Payoff at Closing

Once you’ve got a buyer locked in, you’ll need to work closely with the title company. They’ll reach out to the judgment creditor and nail down the exact payoff amount. They’ll also coordinate the whole lien release process.

You mostly just sit back and let them handle it. They’ll put together a settlement statement showing where every dollar from the sale is going, whether that’s mortgage payoff, judgment payoff, closing costs, or your net proceeds.

Read that settlement statement as if your life depended on it. Make sure the judgment payoff matches what the creditor told you earlier.

Mistakes happen all the time, and you don’t want to overpay because someone screwed up the numbers.

Step 7: Close the Sale and Clear the Judgment

Closing day! Here, you sign all the paperwork, and the buyer gets the keys. The title company starts cutting checks to everyone who’s owed money.

The judgment creditor is paid and issues a lien release. That release gets filed with Tarrant County, and the judgment is officially gone from your property records.

You walk away with whatever money’s left after everyone gets paid. The lien’s cleared, and you can finally stop thinking about this whole issue.

How Long Does It Take to Sell Property with a Judgment Lien in Fort Worth

Selling property with a judgment is about the same as any regular sale, maybe a tiny bit longer if the creditor’s being difficult.

Traditional listing with an agent usually takes 30 to 90 days to find a buyer, then another 30 to 45 days to actually close. The title search adds maybe a week.

Negotiating with the judgment creditor could take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, depending on how quickly they respond to emails and paperwork.

Fort Worth cash buyers are way faster. Some can close in 7 to 14 days if you’re in a hurry. They handle all the title work and lien coordination themselves, so you’re not waiting for anyone to get back to you.

The biggest holdup is usually the judgment creditor taking forever to send payoff info or sign the lien release. Some are super quick, while others act as if they’ve never heard of email.

Plan for at least 60 days from start to finish if you’re going the traditional route. If you need out faster, find a cash buyer, and you could be done in under a month, easily.

Alternatives for Homeowners Facing Judgment Liens in Texas

Selling isn’t your only option when you’ve got a judgment lien sitting on your Fort Worth property. There are other options that make more sense depending on your situation.

Paying Off the Judgment Before Selling

If you have cash sitting around or can scrape together enough to pay off the judgment, doing it before you list the house can make the whole sale process smoother. No lien means no complications during closing, and buyers love a clean title.

Pay off the judgment directly to the creditor and get that lien release in writing. Then, file it with Tarrant County. Now your house is lien-free and way easier to sell.

The downside is that people dealing with judgment liens don’t have extra cash lying around to pay them off up front. If you had, you probably would’ve paid it already and avoided the whole mess.

But if you’re expecting a tax refund, an inheritance, or a bonus, or if you can borrow from family, paying it off early might be worth considering. Gets rid of the headache before it becomes a closing-day issue.

Filing for Bankruptcy Protection

Bankruptcy can wipe out judgment liens in some cases, especially if the lien is attached to a homestead property and you don’t have enough equity to cover it. Chapters 7 and 13 both have provisions for avoiding certain liens.

If you file Chapter 7, you might be able to use lien avoidance to strip off judgment liens that impair your homestead exemption. Basically, if your house has no equity after your mortgage is paid, the judgment lien becomes unsecured debt that can get discharged.

Chapter 13 lets you pay down debts over 3 to 5 years while keeping your house. The judgment lien gets rolled into your repayment plan, and you’re protected from collection actions while you’re in bankruptcy.

Bankruptcy won’t fix everything, though. It tanks your credit for years, costs money in attorney fees and filing costs, and has income limits and asset restrictions. But if you’re buried in debt and a judgment lien is just one piece of a bigger financial disaster, bankruptcy might actually be the best way out.

Challenging the Validity of the Judgment

In some cases, judgments are straight-up wrong or legally sketchy. You might be able to challenge the judgment in court if:

• You never got properly served with the lawsuit
• The statute of limitations expired
• The creditor screwed up the legal process

File a motion to vacate the judgment if you think it’s invalid. You’ll need to show the court why the judgment shouldn’t exist.

If you win, the judgment gets thrown out and the lien disappears. Your property is free and clear, and the creditor has to start over from scratch if they want to come after you again.

This route usually requires a lawyer. Courts don’t just toss out judgments because you ask nicely. You need actual legal grounds and evidence to back up your claim. But if the judgment is bogus, fighting it could save you thousands of dollars and, of course, lots of stress.

Selling to Cash Buyers As A Faster Solution for Judgment Debtors

Cash buyers are built for situations like this. They buy houses with judgment liens all the time and can close way faster than traditional buyers who need financing and a perfect title before anyone signs anything.

Here’s why cash buyers work so well when you’ve got a judgment lien:

• They’re not scared of liens: cash buyers deal with title issues constantly. A judgment lien doesn’t freak them out.
• Fast closing timeline: You can close in 7 to 14 days instead of waiting 60 to 90 days for a traditional sale. The judgment gets paid off at closing, just like it would with any other buyer.
• No repairs needed: They buy as-is, which means you’re not spending money fixing up a house just to pay off a judgment lien anyway.
• Fewer closing problems: Cash buyers coordinate the lien payoff with the title company themselves. You’re not juggling creditor negotiations, buyer financing falling through, and appraisal issues all at once.

If you need to sell fast and can’t deal with a traditional sale while judgment creditors are circling, a cash home buyer in Texas might be exactly what you need.

Key Takeaways: Can You Sell Your House in Fort Worth, TX, with a Judgement Against You

You can sell your Fort Worth house with a judgment lien attached. The lien gets paid from your sale proceeds at closing, and you keep whatever equity is left over after all debts are settled. Texas homestead laws protect you from forced sale by most judgment creditors, which means you control when and how you sell. However, you have to make sure you’ve got enough equity to cover the judgment. Otherwise, you need to negotiate with the creditor to accept less than the full amount.

If you need to sell fast and don’t want the hassle of managing judgment liens, contact Ready House Buyer at (214) 225-3038. We can buy your house with liens and title issues right now! Fill out the form below to get started.