Can Americorps VISTA stipend be garnished?

Question

I'm in Americorps as a VISTA in and only receive a small stipend. Recently, I've been threatened with wage garnishment from a credit card company and I was wondering if they can do that with the stipend since it's not considered employment and the pay is pretty much below minimum wage. Does anyone know the law in Ohio regarding this?

Thanks.

Answer 1

no. check out this website about the treasury offset program....even they don't garnish your living allowance....they do however, take your transportation reimbursements and relocation money. Other than that, credit card companies do a lot of threatening but it actually cost them more to take you to court and get an order......granted you don't have 110,000 dollars on a credit card......http://www.nationalservice.gov/help/vistahandbook/chapter10.html