Stimulus check: Your money can be garnished, but some states are pushing back

The third stimulus checks — $1,400 for each eligible adult and dependent — are still landing in accounts, providing welcome relief to millions of people. But that relief might be short-lived for some, given that the $1,400 checks can be garnished by private debt collectors. 

Unlike the second stimulus payment, which was protected against garnishment from private debt collectors after the first round of checks lacked protections, the third round of stimulus checks also don't include garnishment prohibitions. That's because of the quirk of the American Rescue Act's passage through budget reconciliation, which limited legislative options, according to a March letter from the American Bankers Association and other banking groups that asked for Congress to take steps to protect the payments. While Congress hasn't acted, some states are pushing back, with governors and attorneys general outlawing the garnishment practice in recent weeks. Among them are New Jersey, whose governor signed an executive order on March 24 protecting the latest stimulus funds from debt collectors, and New York, where the attorney general blocked debt collectors from taking the $1,400 payments from debtors. Other states that have enacted protections include Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska and Washington.