Subchapter II. General Relief
50 U.S.C. § 3934: SCRA Stay of Garnishments and Judgment Collection
Official heading: Stay or vacation of execution of judgments, attachments, and garnishments
In one line
Requires a court, on your application, to stay execution of a judgment and to vacate or stay a garnishment or attachment when service materially affects your ability to comply. Covers cases filed before, during, or within 90 days after service.
- The court shall stay execution and vacate or stay an attachment or garnishment on application when the servicemember is materially affected by service
- Applies to an action commenced before or during service, or within 90 days after it ends
Text checked October 9, 2026
What § 3934 does to your money
A judgment turns into money through execution, attachment and garnishment: a levy on a bank account, a wage garnishment, a lien on property. Section 3934 lets you stop that process. If the court finds military service materially affects your ability to comply with a judgment or order, it may act on its own and must act on your application: stay execution of the judgment, and vacate or stay an attachment or garnishment of property, money or debts held by you or by a third party, before or after judgment.
It applies to actions started against you before or during service, or within 90 days after service ends. Under § 3935 the stay can last for your period of service plus 90 days, or any part of it, and the court can set reasonable installment payments in its place.
The test is “materially affected”, so bring numbers: your income before and during service, the garnishment or levy amount, and what it leaves you to live on. A garnishment that was reasonable on a civilian salary can be the difference between making rent and not on military pay.
Guides on this site that apply § 3934
- SCRA & Wage Garnishment: Stop or Vacate the Order
A court can stay or vacate a garnishment when service affects your ability to pay. Commercial creditors need a judgment; child support and DFAS debt do not.
- SCRA Debt Relief: Stretch Pre-Service Debt by Your Time in Service
A court can spread pre-service debt over your time in service, with no penalties, under 50 U.S.C. § 4021. Calculator, plus collections and co-signers.
- SCRA Eligibility: Who Qualifies, When It Starts & Ends
Who qualifies for the SCRA under 50 U.S.C. § 3911: active duty, Guard, Reserve, spouses, veterans, and which debts count. Status table, start and end dates.
The full text of 50 U.S.C. § 3934
From the United States Code, 2024 Edition, current through January 6, 2025, as published by the U.S. Government Publishing Office on GovInfo (retrieved October 10, 2026). No amendment enacted after the edition cutoff was found on Cornell LII or in GovInfo’s compiled SCRA (amended through Pub. L. 118-159, Dec. 23, 2024). House style: the Code’s em dashes before a list are shown as colons, and en dashes as hyphens or “to”; no word of the text is changed.
(a) Court action upon material affect determination
If a servicemember, in the opinion of the court, is materially affected by reason of military service in complying with a court judgment or order, the court may on its own motion and shall on application by the servicemember:
(1) stay the execution of any judgment or order entered against the servicemember; and
(2) vacate or stay an attachment or garnishment of property, money, or debts in the possession of the servicemember or a third party, whether before or after judgment.
(b) Applicability
This section applies to an action or proceeding commenced in a court against a servicemember before or during the period of the servicemember's military service or within 90 days after such service terminates.
Enacted and amended by: (Oct. 17, 1940, ch. 888, title II, §204, as added Pub. L. 108-189, §1, Dec. 19, 2003, 117 Stat. 2843.)
Effective date: Section applicable to any case not final before Dec. 19, 2003, see section 3 of Pub. L. 108-189, set out as a note under section 3901 of this title.
Every section of the Act, including the short administrative ones without their own page, is on the section-by-section index.
Heads up: SCRA Saver publishes general information, not legal or financial advice. Laws change and every situation differs. Confirm details with your installation legal assistance office (free for service members) or a licensed professional.