The federal stimulus funding of up to $1,400 per person that is making its way into bank accounts and mailboxes is off-limits to debt collectors, Attorney General Maura Healey said Wednesday.
Healey’s office said “the full amount owing or paid to a person as public assistance” is exempt from garnishment or attachment by creditors under Massachusetts law.
Her office determined that the American Rescue Plan cash assistance payments constitute “public assistance” and that the checks “are exempt from seizure, including garnishment … and attachment … and remain exempt after payment regardless of the manner in which the funds are deposited or thereafter held.”
The AG’s guidance noted, though, that it does not apply to any actions of the Massachusetts Department of Revenue, including attempts to collect past due child support payments.
“These stimulus payments must go directly to help struggling people and families pay for housing, food, utilities and other basic needs, and not into the hands of debt collectors,” Healey said. “We are issuing this guidance to put the debt collection industry on notice and to make sure consumers are aware of their rights under the law.”
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