What to do if I received inadequate legal counsel during my bankruptcy?

Full question:

My wife had a business debt which was over $100,000 which she was sued for, she filed bankruptcy and received poor legal advice. The bankruptcy filing was denied because it was said she failed to produce accurate business records....it was on the advice of the attorney that she did not produce the records (she had them). At any rate after losing the bankruptcy, the guy suing her was granted a large judgement. This was several years ago, recently, my wife and I were attempting to secure a home equity loan against our homestead. We were surprised to find that there had been a lien placed against our homestead by this man and we could not secure the loan due to this lien and could only do so if the man would subordinate his lien. Is it 'legal' that he was able to do that? What could we do to find out and what can we do if it was not 'legal' that he placed the lien?

• Category: Courts
• Subcategory: Attorneys
• Date: 04/07/2025
• State: Texas

Answer:

When a person obtains a court judgment against a person, the person with the judgment against her is a judgment debtor. If the judgment isn't paid, it is possible for the judgment holder to place a lien on the judgment debtor's property. This is typically done by filing a motion with the court that issued the original judgment. I suggest calling the clerk of courts to find out if an order of attachment or similar order was granted by the court. In order to secure the lien on the property, it must be filed with the county recorder's office in the county where the property is located. I suggest calling the county recorder's office, although it is probably on file since the bank learned of the lien.

The following are TX statutes:

§ 61.043. ATTACHMENT OF REALTY.

(a) To attach real property, the officer levying the writ shall immediately file a copy of the writ and the applicable part of the return with the county clerk of each county in which the property is located.
(b) If the writ of attachment is quashed or vacated, the court that issued the writ shall send a certified copy of the order to the county clerk of each county in which the property is located.

§ 61.001. GENERAL GROUNDS.

A writ of original attachment is available to a plaintiff in a suit if:

(1) the defendant is justly indebted to the plaintiff;
(2) the attachment is not sought for the purpose of injuring or harassing the defendant;
(3) the plaintiff will probably lose his debt unless the writ of attachment is issued; and
(4) specific grounds for the writ exist under Section 61.002.

Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 959, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1985.

§ 61.002. SPECIFIC GROUNDS.

Attachment is available if:

(1) the defendant is not a resident of this state or is a foreign corporation or is acting as such;
(2) the defendant is about to move from this state permanently and has refused to pay or secure the debt due the plaintiff;
(3) the defendant is in hiding so that ordinary process of law cannot be served on him;
(4) the defendant has hidden or is about to hide his property for the purpose of defrauding his creditors;
(5) the defendant is about to remove his property from this state without leaving an amount sufficient to pay his debts;
(6) the defendant is about to remove all or part of his property from the county in which the suit is brought with the intent to defraud his creditors;
(7) the defendant has disposed of or is about to dispose of all or part of his property with the intent to defraud his creditors;
(8) the defendant is about to convert all or part of his property into money for the purpose of placing it beyond the reach of his creditors; or
(9) the defendant owes the plaintiff for property obtained by the defendant under false pretenses.