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A Debt Collector Must Tell You in Writing That Veteran’s Benefits May Be Exempt

District debt-collection law requires a collector who knows or should know that funds are exempt from attachment or garnishment to say so in writing, and the mandated notice names veteran’s benefits among the protected sources.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

District debt-collection law requires a collector who knows or should know that funds are exempt from attachment or garnishment to say so in writing, and the mandated notice names veteran’s benefits among the protected sources.

What it's worth: Written notice that veteran’s benefits may be exempt from attachment or garnishment

  • Subsection (f)(11) prohibits a debt collector from attaching or garnishing funds the collector knows or has reason to know are exempt under federal or state law without letting the consumer know in writing that the funds may be exempt; the notice at subsection (m)(2)(A) satisfies it.
  • The mandated notice text names, among the sources that might be protected, Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, disability or unemployment benefits, veteran’s benefits, and child support payments.
  • The same notice language is repeated in payment-agreement disclosures at subsection (n)(2) and in the complaint in a debt-collection suit at subsection (q)(7)(A).
  • The section creates the NOTICE duty. The exemption of VA compensation itself is federal law, not District law, and this section does not enlarge it.

Who is entitled to it

  • Your home is in the District.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

From what you have told us so far, you appear to qualify.

How to claim it

  1. 1Keep every written communication from a collector. The notice is a document the statute requires them to produce, and its absence is itself the violation.
  2. 2Say in writing which of your funds are VA compensation or pension, and keep the deposit records that show it arriving in the account.
  3. 3If a collector attaches an account holding VA money after being told, raise subsection (f)(11) by name.
  4. 4Complain to the Office of the Attorney General’s consumer protection function rather than arguing it alone with the collector.
File with
Office of the Attorney General, Consumer Protection
No renewal
Once granted it does not need renewing.
Worth knowingThis is general consumer law that happens to name veteran’s benefits, which is why it is not counted as a veteran benefit here. It is still worth knowing: the words "veteran’s benefits" appearing in a statutory notice is what turns a vague protection into something you can point at.
Worth knowingThe garnishment chapter itself, D.C. Code Title 16 chapter 5, was opened only at chapter level this session. Whether the District adds any exemption of its own for service-connected compensation was not established, and should not be assumed from this record.

Sources

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.