Help with Child Support Arrears

[indiolatino61]

My brother asked me for help regarding his CR and Child Support Arrears. He is 51 years old, and his daughter is now 31. It says on his EQ CR that he owes $1,617 in child support arrears. He tells me that he does not owe this, but that no matter what he does, the child support agency will not help in the slightest. So, the state keeps updating his CR with a collection status. Can he have this removed as the DOFD is well past 7 years? Contacting the agency is useless, as all they serve as is a collection agency and are not interested in any explanations. He had a letter which stated a zero balance due, but which has been long lost, unfortunately. The agency will not help him recover a copy of this letter. This is the only thing holding back his FICO score, but he feels it is unfair to just pay this amount that he does not owe so his CR will be clean...even thought I told him that paying in no way guarantees that the entry will not keep reporting for 7 additional years. Any thoughts will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[bettercreditguy1]

If it was court ordered child support, then there is a record of payment in the county of which the original child support order was enacted. You may also contact the state in which the child support has been paid for a record as well.

[tcbofade]

Tell your brother to call and be patient.

They are VERY difficult to deal with, but they don't want to be sued...contact the child support agency in question and give them 30 days to fix it...then hire an attorney.

[RobertEG]

When they reported their collection, they were required to have reported the DOFD to the CRA within 90 days of their reporting, so the reported DOFD is of record in his credit file.  He needs to know the reported DOFD, as that and that alone governs the max credit report exclusion period.

If the reported DOFD is more than 7 years plus 180 days ago, the solution is simple.  The CRA is prevented by statute from continuing to include the collection in any credit report they issue.  If you have evidence of the reported DOFD and the CR exclusion period has expired, the CRA would be in violation of statute.  Simply send them a formal complaint, and a copy to the FTC, and demand immediate exclusion.  File as a complaint of their non-compliance with FCRA 605(a)(4), and not a dispute, as the issue would not of accuracy of credit reporting, but rather CRA non-compliance with the statute.

If the reported DOFD is less that 7 yrs plus 180 days ago, and you contest the accuracy of that reported date, you can file a dispute challenging the accuracy of their reporting.

If the reported DOFD is less than 7 yrs plus 180 days ago and its reporting is accurate, then it can continue to appear until the CR exclusion period has expired.

The fact of payment or non-payment would be one way of getting its status updated to show paid, but that has no effect on ultimate CR exclusion date, which is based only on the DOFD.  He appears to want it gone from his CR, not updated to show paid.

[starry1]

Actually the DOFD is not a factor in child support.  I think here you are wanting the date of PIF to start the 7 year clock.  if you are certain this is paid in full, then get the paperwork to prove it and maybe you can get somewhere with the child support agency.

Child support is like a tax lien, it can report forever if unpaid.

[RobertEG]

As I understood the post, the reporting was of a debt collector hired to collect on the debt, not reporting of the arrears by the creditor themselves.

The CR exclusion period applies to all collection by a debt collectors, regardless of the origin of the debt.

If I mis-understood the post, and the reporting is actually by the creditor, then I agree that DOFD would be irrelevant.

[InvincibleSummer3]

In many states, there's one department that serves as both creditor and debt collector. They report, but have very little idea of how the credit reporting system is supposed to work.

I am curious - the agency says he owes a balance, and he says he's paid but cannot find any documentation to support this, correct? This is why the PIF date might not help him; if the agency says the payment didn't happen, then it's a moot point. I suppose he could try to get it excluded based on DOFD (see RobertEG's post) but since CS is a monthly debt that renews every month, the exclusion wouldn't start until the daughter aged out of the child support order. This can get sticky, because it's not age 18 in all states, and if he was on the hook for college costs he could still be within the 7 years. It's rare but not unheard of.

His biggest issue is going to be not having access to whatever the documentation is that says he doesn't owe the money. What was the nature of that document? Did he pay it? Was it forgiven by the other parent?

[starry1]

When the daughter turned 18 (or other age based on state) also has nothing to do with it.  if you still owe arrears, you will owe it until its paid or you die.

[InvincibleSummer3]

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@starry1 wrote:

When the daughter turned 18 (or other age based on state) also has nothing to do with it.  if you still owe arrears, you will owe it until its paid or you die.

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Right, but they can't report it as new debt every month the way they can if a court order is still in effect. I agree with you that this is likely to follow him around until it's paid. But I'm curious to know why he can't get the proof he needs that he no longer owes the debt?

[indiolatino61]

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@RobertEG wrote:

When they reported their collection, they were required to have reported the DOFD to the CRA within 90 days of their reporting, so the reported DOFD is of record in his credit file.  He needs to know the reported DOFD, as that and that alone governs the max credit report exclusion period.

If the reported DOFD is more than 7 years plus 180 days ago, the solution is simple.  The CRA is prevented by statute from continuing to include the collection in any credit report they issue.  If you have evidence of the reported DOFD and the CR exclusion period has expired, the CRA would be in violation of statute.  Simply send them a formal complaint, and a copy to the FTC, and demand immediate exclusion.  File as a complaint of their non-compliance with FCRA 605(a)(4), and not a dispute, as the issue would not of accuracy of credit reporting, but rather CRA non-compliance with the statute.

If the reported DOFD is less that 7 yrs plus 180 days ago, and you contest the accuracy of that reported date, you can file a dispute challenging the accuracy of their reporting.

If the reported DOFD is less than 7 yrs plus 180 days ago and its reporting is accurate, then it can continue to appear until the CR exclusion period has expired.

The fact of payment or non-payment would be one way of getting its status updated to show paid, but that has no effect on ultimate CR exclusion date, which is based only on the DOFD.  He appears to want it gone from his CR, not updated to show paid.

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Thank you, Robert...this post has given my brother a much-needed emotional boost!