The Virginian-Pilot
©
Virginia is suing a private child-support collection agency based in Texas for interfering with the state's collection efforts.
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and Attorney General Bob McDonnell announced the lawsuit on Friday.
In a news release, the state officials said the organization Supportkids Inc. sends wage-withholding notices to employers of parents who owe child support payments, and directs the employer to send payments directly to the company's office in Austin, Texas, rather than to Virginia's Division of Child Support Enforcement.
The private company charges parents who have custody of the children a 34 percent fee before forwarding the remainder of the payment, according to the state's news release. Under Virginia law, child support payments must be routed through the Division of Child Support Enforcement, a state agency.
Messages and e-mails to the Supportkids company asking for a response to the lawsuit were not immediately responded to on Friday.
Families typically turn to a private, for-profit child-support collection agency when the state has not been successful in collecting payments.
According to the Supportkids' Web site, the company has collected more than $360 million since 1991 on behalf of clients, making it the largest private child-support collection company in the country.
In the news release about the lawsuit, Kaine said Virginia's Child Support Enforcement agency collected more than $608 million last year for 484,000 children who are owed money.
Some parents and coalitions support the efforts of private agencies, saying they give parents more options in collecting money for their children.
Nick Young, director of the state's Child Support Enforcement agency, said the state has received complaints from employers and non-custodial parents who confuse the private company with the state support enforcement division.
He said in some cases, parents and employers are getting notices from both the state and the private agency. "Employers are calling us saying, 'Which one do we send it to?' " Young said.
Young said some child custody cases involve several children, and the private company might pursue collection for only one of the children at the expense of the others, which creates inequities. He said other attempts have been made to try to get the private companies to follow the state's legal requirements for child support payments, but this is the first time the state has filed a lawsuit.
Elizabeth Simpson, (757) 446-2635, elizabeth.simpson@pilotonline.com
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
Twitter
Google
Yahoo
Electrician
Thanks for all of the great posts! Mister Sparky is by far the best electrician company in Houston! Not only was the staff friendly, they gave great advice and customer service with a smile on their face! I love the 100% guarantee that Mister Sparky offers, it allows me to feel safe knowing that if anything goes wrong, I have a business that will come fix it! Here is their website-- check it out! http://www.electricianhouston.com/
I don't think anyone has a
I don't think anyone has a problem paying this company, or others like it, if they are actually doing the work and collecting the payments themselves. In my experience, and from what I've read from others, the issue is with the fact that they don't really do any of the work but yet they intercept your payment from the state agency (who did all the work) and deduct their extremely high fee before forwarding what's left on to the children. That's not fair. They're essentially being paid for nothing.
There certainly should be private companies like this available to the public as an alternative to the state agencies but they should be regulated more effectively and kept within strict guidelines.
Private Child Support Collection Agencies
First, for the Family Law Attorney - private child support collection or enforcement agencies are not illegal, nor should they be. Child support, as you well know, is an obligation. Private child support enforcement agencies are licensed and bonded in Texas by the Texas Department of Banking.
If you are in fact a Family Law Attorney, then you would know about UIFSA - Uniform Interstate Family Support Act. Once a child support order has been issued, anyone can issue a wage withholding order.
For those who bemoan that the private sector charges fees for their services, get realistic. It costs a lot of money to chase after deadbeats and collect money from them. Someone has to pay those costs. The person that is owed the child support believes that it is in the best interests of the child to make that expenditure. Given that the government quite often is unable or unwilling to get results for the parent, they should be able to avail themselves of other options. Lawyers are notoriously ineffective in collecting child support (or any money at all for that matter) as they can only take someone to court. They can not force people to pay the way that private agencies can.
Dead Beat Dads
I guess the state needs to look in their own back yard to see what the real problem is. I have on a number of times called to report a dead beat dad whom owes over 80,000 in child support, when I did get someone to talk to they acted as if they did not care.Now that the parents have some one that really will fight to get what is owed, the state is trying to stop them.Well then what they need to do is look at the ones running the office of DCSC and fix the major problem with in..We need to remember who the support is for not the dead beat but the KIDS.Fight for them.
I used to work for SupportKids several years ago
they provide a great service to custodial parents owed child support, unlike Virginia and other states that let bureaucrats handle the collection, or non collection which is usually the case. Believe me, SupporKids do more than send out a few letters, they have to locate the non custodial parent most of the time and they actually call them for payment. Ask any state worker how many calls they make to find someone or talk to them on the phone....zero, zip, none! I personally collected $10000 for a mom which saved her home from foreclosure. I'd rather have a private company working for me any day as opposed to a state worker only interested in keeping their job and how long it is until 5pm rolls around.
A family law attorney's pespective
What the Texas Company is doing seems grossly illegal. Most parents can't afford to pay more than what the state code formula determines; so, it seems like this private company is stealing millions from money that should go to increase the children's standard of living. All for sending out letters with their address on it. It is unfair to expect either the payor's to pay for their "fee" or the payee's to pay. I thought you needed a judge's signature on an order before taking money from people's paycheck. Someone needs to go to prison on this one.
WHAT CHILD SUPPORT????
My mother is a single mother that raised 2 girls w/ little or no help from the fathers. They were both put on child support but one of them was living in West Va and he was ordered to pay almost 500.00 a month! The other that lived in VA was ordered to pay 250.00 a month. The one in VA still owes my mother back child support in the sum of over 5,000.00 and my sister is 25 years old now!!! He has dodged the bullet for all those years and the state of VA has basically done nothing! When my mother would call to see when she would be recieving the child support, she'd have to leave a message and "maybe" get a call back in 1-2 weeks. She worked full time and raised us on her own with what little help she got from the child support checks....basically from one father! The VA system is a JOKE and they know it! I bet they get their checks but to hell with the rest of the families that need the money. Try raising a teenager on 250.00 a month or even worse 50.00 a month? That is what VA wanted her to do!! POWER TO TEXAS HEADHUNTERS!!!!!!!
Anything is better than nothing!!
I am in agreement with Rose. I have a 19yo and 16yo. 12 years ago a judge set child support at 65 dollars a week with myself being responsible for health and dental. 13,000. later nothing is being done. Whenever the letter is sent to my ex he quits his job. My ex moved to another state for 1 month and notified DCSE who then informed that state of child support orders. Now the ex is back in Va and the DCSE in Va. Beach is "looking into it" its been 9 months. The ex was even picked up and placed in jail for driving on a suspended license, in Va beach (for not paying support)DCSE was contacted and low and behold "they are looking into it" needless to say he has already been to court and the charges where dismissed. I have recently found out his address and contacted DCSE with all of the information 2 months ago and have heard nothing.I would rather go with a company that is going to at lease get me something verses "Looking into it"
Sorry!
I should have typed "are" not "or" in my subject. My bad!
The state claims or skewed big time.
The $608M sounds quite impressive, but this high number includes the parents that pay their child support without hesitation and make sure the child support gets paid. If you want to see just how hard it is to deal with DCSE, try calling them. My children's father is over $60K in the rears and has not paid a dime in over ten years. At one point we (my family) tracked him down and found out where he lived. This information was turned over to VA DCSE. They blew it by sending him a letter and he quit his job and moved. Every time I call I get the recording and seldom get a return call. When I do get to talk to a person all I hear are empty promises. The courts are being laughed at by these deadbeats and DCSE. Notice how in the article it doesn't say how much it cost to operate DCSE. If that were released, we'd probably find out that SupportKids' should replace DCSE. That would result in a more effective and efficient operation. DCSE has a proven record of being an ineffective joke. I guess the state filed the lawsuit on behalf of the deadbeat parents, so they can continue to not support their kids.