Today, I returned to Harris County Justice Court Precinct 3, Place 2 seeking help to bring my turnover receivership to an end. Despite the amount already collected and the financial hardship the receivership has caused, the court declined to terminate it.

That experience reinforced something I have learned over the past two years: this issue is much bigger than my individual case.

My case stems from a $600 payday loan taken out in my name. A default judgment was entered in 2018, and I did not learn about it until 2025, when my bank accounts began being frozen through a court-appointed turnover receivership. Since then, multiple financial accounts and payment platforms have been affected, and thousands of dollars have been collected.

Texas Appleseed has studied turnover receiverships in Harris County and found that 99% of potentially venue-shopped turnover receiver requests were filed in one court: Harris County Justice Court Precinct 3, Place 2, where Judge Lucia Bates presides.

Texas Appleseed also found that 742 of those cases were filed by SCIL Texas d/b/a Speedy Cash. In my case, Jim West represents Speedy Cash and Linda Gimbel serves as the court-appointed receiver.

Judge Bates is currently up for reelection in 2026. Because Texas Appleseed identified such an extraordinary concentration of potentially venue-shopped receivership requests in this court, I believe independent review, greater transparency, and public scrutiny are especially important. Regardless of who holds this office, Texans deserve clear safeguards so these practices cannot continue without meaningful oversight.

This petition is not about one judge, one creditor, or one case. It is about reforming a system that can freeze bank accounts, seize funds, add substantial fees, and leave people without access to money needed for basic living expenses.

We are calling for:

• An end to venue shopping by requiring turnover receivership requests to remain in the same court where the original case and judgment were entered.
• A basic cost-of-living exemption so Texans are not left without money for rent, food, utilities, transportation, and other necessities.
• Fair, income-based repayment plans that take a person’s actual financial circumstances into account.
  Greater transparency and oversight of receiver fees, account freezes, collections, and extensions of receiverships.
• Clear procedures allowing people to seek termination or limitation of a receivership when substantial funds have already been collected or when the receivership is causing severe financial hardship.
• Independent review of the concentration of turnover receivership requests in Harris County Justice Court Precinct 3, Place 2.
• Texas Appleseed is already advocating for reforms to protect Texans from the financial devastation these receiverships can cause. They also need more stories from people who have been affected.

Please sign this petition to support greater transparency, accountability, consumer protection, and meaningful reform of turnover receiverships in Texas.

If you or someone you know has had a bank account, digital wallet, Cash App, Venmo, PayPal, or other financial account frozen or seized through a turnover receivership, please share your story with Texas Appleseed.

This is bigger than one case. It is about making sure Texans have a fair process and basic financial protections when debt judgments are enforced.