HB 4382 West Virginia House of Delegates · 2026 Regular Session

Require collection agencies to provide a 30 day notice prior to wage garnishments.

HB 4382 requires collection agencies in West Virginia to provide debtors with 30 days' written notice (via certified mail) before initiating wage garnishment. It also mandates that agencies send monthly statements showing the current balance owed on the debt. These requirements directly affect debtors facing potential wage garnishment by giving them advance notice and clearer information about their debt. The bill amends existing law to strengthen transparency and notice requirements for debt collection practices.
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Feb 2026
House of Delegates Passage
Feb 2026
Senate Passage
Governor
Introduced Jan 15, 2026 Last action Feb 9, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Committee Substitute Engrossed Committee Substitute · 4 edits · Feb 6, 2026
MODERATE
The bill was amended to add a second sponsor, Delegate Heckert, and updated the document title to reflect its 'Engrossed' status. The core policy content regarding collection agency licensing, bonding, record-keeping, and wage garnishment notification rules remained substantively unchanged, though minor text formatting and typo corrections were applied throughout.
ELIGIBILITY

Added Delegate Heckert as a co-sponsor alongside Delegate Burkhammer.

TECHNICAL

Updated the document header from 'Committee Substitute' to 'Engrossed Version' and added the 'ENGROSSED' session tag.

Corrected grammatical errors and inconsistent phrasing in the License and Bond sections (e.g., removing redundant words like 'may' and 'shall' that appeared together).

Adjusted the Note section to remove specific instructions about strike-throughs and underscoring, likely because the bill text was fully incorporated.

Floor votes · House of Delegates Feb 6, 2026

How they voted

911
Passed · 7 other
Total votes 99
Feb 6, 2026
D Democratic9
8 Yea 1
88% Yea
R Republican90
83 Yea 1 Nay 6
92% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
19
Key actions
2
Committee
6
Feb 9, 2026
Committee
To Judiciary
upper
Feb 9, 2026
Introduced
Introduced in Senate
upper
Feb 6, 2026
Lower · Passed
Passed House (Roll No. 53)
lower
Feb 3, 2026
Lower · Passed
By substitute, do pass
lower
Jan 22, 2026
Committee
To House Judiciary
lower
Jan 21, 2026
Committee
To House Courts
lower
Jan 15, 2026
Committee
To House Judiciary
lower
Jan 15, 2026
Introduced
Introduced in House
lower
Jan 15, 2026
Committee
To Judiciary
lower
1 primary · 1 co-sponsor

Sponsors