Months after the IRS began distributing the checks, hundreds, if not thousands, of Americans have not received their third stimulus package.

As of early June, the IRS and Treasury had made more than 169 million payments totaling $395 billion. However, according to Fast Company, many people have tried everything from calling the IRS (an IRS representative suggested that the delay was due to a "program error") to contacting their representatives in Congress in an attempt to locate their lost stimulus checks. Unfortunately, many of the checks have not been paid.

The stimulus package remains in limbo, especially if the funds are needed to cover necessities like food and rent. It is even worse that there are few avenues and no clear path to receive those funds. There are, however, a few things that can be done to track down those checks.

First, if you haven't already done so, check your payment status using the IRS's stimulus check tracking tool. This portal will at least let you know when your funds were issued.

If you see "Payment Status Not Available," it is likely that the IRS has not yet processed your tax return or that you are not eligible to receive stimulus check 3. If that does not appear to be the case, you may need to investigate further.

Suppose you received a letter (Notice 1444) from the IRS regarding the amount due because your stimulus check was (supposedly) processed, but you have not received the money. You may need to request a payment trace, but the process can take up to six weeks; you can call the IRS at 800-919-9835 and speak to a representative or fill out Form 3911 and send it in.

If you don't mind waiting, calling the IRS may be the best way to get more information. Hopefully, a representative will be able to help you track down the lost payment or guide you through the next steps to reissue it, such as contacting the bank that sent you the stimulus debit card.

Once they are confident that the payment is complete, they can use the USPS Informed Delivery Service to inform them of the delivery date.

If none of these methods yield results, the last resort may be to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit on your 2021 tax return next spring. However, this is not very helpful if you need the money now.