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After searching the forums and reading a lot of replies regarding child support and arrears I have to get three four things out of the way before I explain the problem I am facing.
First: I've never missed, been late a single day, or short a single penny for a payment on child support for my kids.
Second: I bought a lot of grocieries, clothing and other things not keeping receipts the first year after our split. She claimed I did nothing. I was only able to prove a small amount of all I did. A judgement was then made against me for an amount. That is where these arrears come from.
Third: I do not need advice on how to pay down the remaining balance on my arrears.
Lastly: I am not a deadbeat dad. Im still fighting to get full custody of my children and have already spent $20k on lawyers fees in just two years. So paying down the arrears faster is not an option. Living paycheck to paycheck with debt thats neither increasing or decreasing at the moment.
Earlier this year the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) for the state of Texas had reported to the credit bureaus that I was 120+ days late two months in a row. I did a quick dispute with all three bureas and poof those incorrect months were gone and all was right in the world.. Until I look further back on my report and now instead of two months in 2023 I show five months in 2022 as 120+ days deliquent. It does not go 30, 60, 90, 120, 120+ its all 120+.
I have disputed this multiple times with the credit bureas. I have physically gone to the OAG local office to speak with the people there. I have done online chats. I have contacted my Federal and State Representatives. Nobody will help. Nothing has been corrected. I have all the proof that I have OVERPAID on my own accord multpiple times and never been late. I have submitted that in each dispute.
Does anyone have any kind of guidance, or advice on how to get the OAG for Texas to report correctly. These are five of seven late payments on my credit report. After I clean this mess I just have to focus on debt to income becuase those last two late payments are on me for an auto loan.
Please. I am desperate. This is hurting my credit!
I think in the beginning of next year I may look into this. Holidays are heard enough already financially.
I tried to submit an FCRA complaint but the response was that its a state agency and the Fed can touch jt. Let me see if I can dig out their repsonse.
As they say. Lawyer up! Good Luck!
I could be mistaken but I thought I've seen where a CFPB complaint was able to open some doors in another case where documented proof was a factor. It was falling on deaf ears and being ignored by the reporting (state) agency who was reporting the complainant as in arrears when they had been provided proof to the contrary... Certainly wouldn't hurt looking into at least.
If all else fails, I would consult with an attorney.
Texas Dad here and I feel your pain. Unfortinatly, you don't get credit for being a great dad and buying groceries, clothing, and other things for your kids (which really sucks and sorry this happened to you). Only payments through the attorney general's office count (or your lawyer to your ex's lawyer under temporary orders since they are considered friends of the court). As long as you are considered in arrears, you are behind and the OAG will report it that way until the arreas is satisfied. The OAG does not care about the damage to your credit and uses it as a punative tool to encourage you to pay it off. They can also go after other things, like your ability to get or renew a passport, if you do not take care of it.
I was able to challenge the Texas OAG after they had a made a huge error in their interpertation of the original divorce decree and support orders. I had to file a Motion to Clarify and have a judge sign an order stating that I was both current and had actually overpaid on my support obligation. This process took several months, but I was able to have the past due payments removed from my credit report (the judge specifically instructed that the OAG was to remove negative credit reporting in the order). But this was probably an exception to the norm, as in my case, the OAG clearly misinterpited the orders as the judge intended them to be, so the judge corrected the OAG and made me whole again.
I truly feel for you and the emotions you are going through. My only advice from going through a long nasty battle myself would be to step back, re-examine the situation, and ask yourself if presuing custody is really in everyone's best interest. That $20k could have gone a long way in clearing the arrears and you could have had extra money to do special things with the kids during visits. As time goes on, it will only get tougher as the kids are considered established and the judge will be more hesitant to change custody without a good cause. Focus on quality time with your kids, be supportive of them, don't badmouth their mother in front of them, and I bet you can still win their hearts despite not having primary custody. I wish you the best.
That $20,000 was me fighting to get visitation established after she started denying me visits without a court order in place. So we got our custody established through the OAG. Then she took me back to court a year later to try to remove the geographical restrictions to move out of state, as well as increase the amount I pay monthly. So $20,000 has been spent defending my rights.
The next court battle will likely happen this coming summer or fall in 2024. I have a feeling she has a new backer financially. I have never initiated any of these fights. However, each time I come out with more time with my kids. Next time I have to defend my rights I will win.
She has done nothing to improve her life since we split. I have a rising career and am losing weight and getting healthy. 5 years and now I can finally say I can fully support and am fully able to 100% care for my children.
@Fixin_the_Past wrote:That $20,000 was me fighting to get visitation established after she started denying me visits without a court order in place. So we got our custody established through the OAG. Then she took me back to court a year later to try to remove the geographical restrictions to move out of state, as well as increase the amount I pay monthly. So $20,000 has been spent defending my rights.
The next court battle will likely happen this coming summer or fall in 2024. I have a feeling she has a new backer financially. I have never initiated any of these fights. However, each time I come out with more time with my kids. Next time I have to defend my rights I will win.
She has done nothing to improve her life since we split. I have a rising career and am losing weight and getting healthy. 5 years and now I can finally say I can fully support and am fully able to 100% care for my children.
I get it, it is close to my story too and I wish you nothing but a great outcome.
I did want to share this, as the child support lates probably have less impact than you probably think on your scores and report. In fact, they are not even considered a scorable factor.
Will This Affect My Credit Score? Find Out What's NOT Included. | myFICO
Thats an amazing bit of information. Thank you for sharing.
@Fixin_the_Past wrote:That $20,000 was me fighting to get visitation established after she started denying me visits without a court order in place. So we got our custody established through the OAG. Then she took me back to court a year later to try to remove the geographical restrictions to move out of state, as well as increase the amount I pay monthly. So $20,000 has been spent defending my rights.
The next court battle will likely happen this coming summer or fall in 2024. I have a feeling she has a new backer financially. I have never initiated any of these fights. However, each time I come out with more time with my kids. Next time I have to defend my rights I will win.
She has done nothing to improve her life since we split. I have a rising career and am losing weight and getting healthy. 5 years and now I can finally say I can fully support and am fully able to 100% care for my children.
Good luck in your battle man. I can't imagine the pain and stress this is adding to your life, not even counting the credit score portion.