Thread by @TexasTribune

1/ Coronavirus put her out of work.

Then debt collectors froze her savings account. Every single dollar in her savings account was seized.

“That’s money for my mortgage. I can’t even eat.”

NEW with @ProPublica.

bit.ly/353doun

2/ Kim Boatswain’s bank account and those of other Texans were seized by debt collectors just before the Texas Supreme Court temporarily banned the practice.

Texans whose accounts were garnished before the order took effect have little recourse. bit.ly/353doun

3/ Many accounts may remain frozen.

Stimulus checks and any other money they have is at risk of being seized by debt collectors during the worst economic and public health crisis in recent memory.

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4/ Advocates say the Texas court wouldn’t have had to step in if Congress had exempted stimulus checks from garnishment under the CARES Act. bit.ly/353doun

5/ Texans have the second-highest rate of debt in collections in the country.

They are uniquely vulnerable because the state’s consumer protections for bank account garnishments are virtually nonexistent. bit.ly/353doun

6/ An analysis with @ProPublica shows that hundreds of writs of garnishment have been filed across the state in Texas’ 10 largest counties since Jan. 1.

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7/ Important context: Texas has notoriously weak consumer lending protections — it’s one of only a few in the country that places no caps on charges for payday or auto title loans. bit.ly/353doun

8/ Yet as stimulus checks began to land in Americans’ bank accounts last week, Texas was one of only a few states that had explicitly banned private debt collectors from raiding them. bit.ly/353doun

9/9 Advocates pushing for similar protections elsewhere have pointed to the Texas order as a model.

But the order only bans the service of new writs of garnishment. And it will likely expire before many Texans receive their stimulus money.

Read more. bit.ly/353doun