Need HELP with correcting my child support case?

wayne6372 · ‎09-05-2009

I have been disputing my child supports in correct information since march to equifax.Finally i was able to have have one case removed because it was over its 7 year period allowed by law.One case left and the case is reporting incorrect date of first delinquency.I have eeven sent documents that came directly from chil support with the correct date and they continue to say it is verified, but its not. I work and it is taken from my check and i just lost 30 points on score due to a late payment thats not late.Any help out there how to get it reported correctly.

Anonymous · ‎09-06-2009

If you disputed and it came back verified, ask for their MOV.

Another route would be to contact the agency that is handling the payments and find out why it was reported late and have them correct it.

Underh20 · ‎09-07-2009

@wayne6372 wrote:
I have been disputing my child supports in correct information since march to equifax.Finally i was able to have have one case removed because it was over its 7 year period allowed by law.One case left and the case is reporting incorrect date of first delinquency.I have eeven sent documents that came directly from chil support with the correct date and they continue to say it is verified, but its not. I work and it is taken from my check and i just lost 30 points on score due to a late payment thats not late.Any help out there how to get it reported correctly.

Child support debt is treated far differently than other consumer debt. The DOFD, for example, is not the date that you first missed a payment. The time period for statutory removal begins to run 30 days after your last payment was due. Also, many states automatically create a lien for any arrears and that does not come off in 7 years.

There are many reasons you could have made a "late" payment even though child support is taken directly from your wages. One common example is when your child support obligation rises automatically because of a cost of living increase and they were not able to take the increase from your wages because you were already having the maximum percentage garnished.

I'm not sure what state you are in, but the best thing for now would be to contact your local county child support enforcement unit. They should be able to solve any problems. You will usually get better results from a personal visit to the CSEU's offices than over the phone.

wayne6372 · ‎09-07-2009

I live in Pa and child support is in maryland.After researching child support is treated as a normal debt and has a stature of limatation.This is how I was able to Have one case removed based on its date of first delinquency.Took me seven months to have it corrected.This is based on what Equifax has told me.I have contacted my chil support case worker.The e oscar liason corrected the dofd on one case but not the second.Thank you for your help tho.

Underh20 · ‎09-07-2009

@wayne6372 wrote:
I live in Pa and child support is in maryland.After researching child support is treated as a normal debt and has a stature of limatation.This is how I was able to Have one case removed based on its date of first delinquency.Took me seven months to have it corrected.This is based on what Equifax has told me.I have contacted my chil support case worker.The e oscar liason corrected the dofd on one case but not the second.Thank you for your help tho.

You are confused.

Child support is not a normal debt for credit reporting purposes and you are confusing statute of limitations with how long a derogatory item may remain on your credit report. By definition, statute of limitations sets the legal period of time during which the child support order may be enforced. In that regard, state law prevails. In interstate cases, the state statute that prevails is the longer of the two state laws -- in your case Maryland and Pennsylvania.

The statute of limitations for child support in Maryland is 12 years from the time the support obligation ends. In Pennsylvania the state legislature specifically exempted child support obligations from the statute of limitations. As long as you are a resident of Pennsylvania, your child support order may be enforced forever.

How long the child support entry can remain on your credit report is another matter. As long as it hasn't been entered as a lien, it shoudl remain for 7 years from DOFD. However, your statement that child support is considered for credit reporting purposes as other debts is false. With normal debts, the DOFD is, basically, the date you missed your first payment. With child support this is not true. DOFD with child support is when either you missed your last payment, you brought your arrearages up to date or your child support obligation ends.

wayne6372 · ‎09-07-2009

Maybe I am confused.But my case was just removed based on my first payment missed in june of 2002.So equifax decided to remove it based on its DOFD, which was over seven years ago.And that was the first time time it went late.So I am not sure how to handle the other case.Hopefully the e oscar liason will correct this one as well soon.How Is it reporting late and i am making payments on it and the case is closed,event tho i was in the rear at one time. I was stating that equifax treats as a collection which is how it reports it and it can only remain by law for seven years unless it becomes a lien.

Underh20 · ‎09-07-2009

@wayne6372 wrote:
Maybe I am confused.But my case was just removed based on my first payment missed in june of 2002.So equifax decided to remove it based on its DOFD, which was over seven years ago.And that was the first time time it went late.So I am not sure how to handle the other case.Hopefully the e oscar liason will correct this one as well soon.How Is it reporting late and i am making payments on it and the case is closed,event tho i was in the rear at one time. I was stating that equifax treats as a collection which is how it reports it and it can only remain by law for seven years unless it becomes a lien.

All of the CRAs can delete whatever they want even before the statutory fall-off period -- if they want to. But child support is by law different. Assuming it is not entered as a lien, the 7-year-period runs from:

1. 30-days after the payment was due or 30 days after the arrearages were paid -- whichever comes latest; or

2. 30 days after your child support obligation ends if the arrears are never caught up.

If you can get the CSEU to give you a break, that's great. If Equifax drops it earlier, that's also great. Many times CSEUs and / or the CRAs have been known to not carry things to the limits. But if they want to, the limits decsribed above are accurate in every state of the Union -- as mandated by the Dept. of Health & Human Services.

Message Edited by Underh20 on 09-07-2009 06:14 AM

smallfry · ‎09-07-2009

Wayne when you look in your Equifax report under what section is your child support case listed? Negative accounts or "Other"? Is it still listed as open or is there a date closed remark on the report?

wayne6372 · ‎09-07-2009

It is listed under both areas.Negattive and other.I contacted Equifax and it is reported as a collection account with a DOFD that they are going by.I had one corrected and deleted,same case but one is with his mom and one with his grandparents.My current case has been deleted based on the DOFD of june 18th, 2002.My other case has a dofd of 8/2007 but it is and should be 12/2003.I even provided papers that came from child support with the dates of my first delinquency.

Underh20 · ‎09-07-2009

@wayne6372 wrote:
It is listed under both areas.Negattive and other.I contacted Equifax and it is reported as a collection account with a DOFD that they are going by.I had one corrected and deleted,same case but one is with his mom and one with his grandparents.My current case has been deleted based on the DOFD of june 18th, 2002.My other case has a dofd of 8/2007 but it is and should be 12/2003.I even provided papers that came from child support with the dates of my first delinquency.

When was the latest missed payment and when were the resulting arrears paid in full?

If a child support trade line isn't derogatory, it can stay until 7 years after the court ordered support ends. Given that a child support trade line doesn't generally even appear on your credit report until there are arrearages, even if it isn't listed as derogatory on a manual review a potential creditor knows you've missed payments in the past.