Texas Courts Slammed With Debt Default Cases

A rapid rise in the cases of debt collection lawsuits has both citizens and legal personnel in Texas concerned. The Texas court system is being overrun by debt collection lawsuits filed against citizens that are behind on payments or in debt default. The consequences of this wave of lawsuits are expected to reach far beyond the pocket of the person who owes the debt.

Debt collection lawsuits have doubled in the last eight years. A report of data obtained from the Texas Office of the Court Administration estimates that debt collection lawsuits filed in Texas have exploded by 73% since 2012. These lawsuits are said to make up half of all civil lawsuits filed in Texas.

Many of these lawsuits are disputes between neighbors owing other neighbors, landlord evictions due to lack pf payment, and unpaid monies for other debt obligations. The problem, for debtors and the courts alike, are the lack of time for adequately processing this influx of cases. With a pace to maintain, the courts cannot keep up and are forced to rapidly review documents for a determination. This leaves the door open for missed details and poorer outcomes for debtors.

To combat the risk of rapid, unindividualized determinations the Supreme Court of Texas is being pushed to publish new rules to required debt collectors to provide additional notification to debtors regarding their rights. With everyone claiming stake in this fight, there is much to be decided as to how best to proceed with the high volume of cases while remaining impartial to debtors and debt collectors alike.

While the courts, debtors and debt collectors face unprecedented challenges, the citizens of Texas face the greatest risk of not being protected as they should from unfair or inattentive legal practices.

Original article: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/investigations/article/texas-surge-debt-collection-lawsuits-courts-17119821.php