Texas fails to pass bill improving financial protections for domestic violence survivors
DALLAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) – Even after leaving an abusive relationship, many domestic violence survivors are strapped with debt caused by their abuser.
"It's not just like it is over when you leave," said Krystle King, who left an abusive relationship four years ago. "It still weighs on me and stays with me in ways I really wish it didn't."
During the 11 months King was in the abusive relationship, she said her ex-boyfriend forced her to use her money to buy him a truck, a horse trailer, and multiple motorcycles.
"It was just a progressive scale of if you don't do this, I'll hurt myself. If you don't do this, I'll hurt you," she explained.
King entered the relationship debt-free. In the matter of months, she said she owed more than $100,000. Her ex-boyfriend had also wiped out her life's savings, including her 401(k).
"I had 30 cents to my name," she said. "That is not an exaggeration. It was literally the change on my floorboards of my car is all I had."
Texas House Bill 4641 filed this year by State Rep. Morgan Meyer (R-Dallas) would have prevented debt collectors from going after domestic violence survivors who could provide documentation showing they were a victim of coerced debt. Coerced debt is debt incurred by an abuser but put in the name of the victim either by threat, force, or identity theft.
The bill nearly unanimously passed the Texas House (141 yeas, one nay) but failed to make it out of the Senate Business and Commerce Committee.
The CBS News Texas I-Team reached out to State Sen. Charles Schwertner (R-Georgetown), the chair of the Senate Business and Commerce Committee, to ask why the bill was not brought up for a vote. The senator's office has not yet responded.
In House committee hearings on the bill, representatives from the banking industry raised concerns about the potential of bad actors taking advantage of a law to not pay off legitimate debt, but no one testified on record as opposing the bill.
Ann Baddour, with the non-profit Texas Appleseed, advocated for the bill. She said this was a missed opportunity by Texas lawmakers to help domestic violence survivors rebuild their lives.
"I worry that the more we delay in putting together powerful and accessible solutions for people, the more people fall through the cracks and end up in a desperate and hopeless situation," Baddour said.
Last year, more than 650 women and children came through the Genesis Women's Shelter in Dallas looking for safety. The emergency shelter allows women and children, who are fleeing abusive relationships, to stay up to six weeks until more permanent housing is identified.
Jordyn Lawson, the shelter's director, said those who stay here often cannot afford to go anywhere else. Their abuser took control of their money and, because of debt he racked up under their name, many have such poor credit they're unable to rent an apartment.
"How do you start over? You get a new house. You, literally, get a new car. You replace the things that you've left. But if someone doesn't have the finances to do it because they are having to pay so much in debt repair every month, it has a major impact on truly starting over," Lawson said.
According to the National Domestic Abuse Hotline, in 2020, 31% of Texans who contacted the hotline reported being a victim of financial abuse. Domestic violence survivor advocates say this type of abuse is even more prevalent than that. In 2012, when researchers interviewed more than a hundred domestic violence survivors, they discovered 94% suffered financial abuse.
Texas Appleseed has created an online toolkit for victims of coerced debt. This toolkit includes a list of steps you can take to address financial abuse.