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dispute with child support services

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taina

Guest
What is the name of your state? Louisiana

i am a responsible father who pays monthly child support for his five year old son. however i received a letter in the mail indicating that i owed 3,000 in arrears. i went to my representative showed her the according pay stubs and my exwife went and signed a statement that she had indeed received the money in question. i thought the dispute had been settled, but then i received another letted from child support services saying that the balance was now four hundred. in questioning them what i was to do next, in case i found the reamining stubs, they said there was nothing i could do because that adjustment was a one time thing and couldn't be repeated, which i did not know. however i am positve that i have paid in all amounts. is there nothing i can do without having to contact an expensive lawyer? i barely have money to make ends meet and can't afford one.
 


Grace_Adler

Senior Member
Have they sent you a payment summary? They can do that and should. That way you can see what they have on their records.

Also look on there and see if it says TANF anywhere. If it does that means she got AFDC (aka Work First and other names depending on state) at some point and you're paying the state back for it.

Another thought would be to contact the regional office. It's been my experience that a good number of people who work for CSE are either morons, lazy or just plain jerks.

If they made a mistake, which is typical, it's their responsibility to correct it. If they made an error then in my opinion they are trying to take something that's not owed at that time, that's like stealing, to me.

You might want to at least try to contact the bar association and see if they offer a lawyer referral program where you can get a consult for a reduced fee.

One more thing. You might want to get on a search engine or call them to see if they have a web site to the CSEA because if they do and it's like here you can review your case and some of your payment summary online.
 

kat1963

Senior Member
That's the thing. You have to keep on top of these people. Collecting back support keeps the federal dollars rolling in. If you aren't already doing so, please keep all correspondance in WRITTEN FORMAT...no calls, stay off the phone. You need WRITTEN documentation. Request an IMMEDIATE audit of your account. Give them 10 days to respond in writting to your request. Then take your stubs ect and go thru it line by line by line. Do an internet search, here in VA they can be fined $50.00 for each day that they are WRONG. It will take some lookig, it actually suprised me. They had my husband down as being 26,000 in arrears for 3 years (he was never in arrears, it was all b.s. and there was a court order terminating it). I sent them a demand letter stating that according to the law, if proof was not sent within 10 days that the false reported arrears had been removed from the big 3, that I (well, DH) would be forced to file in court under section, yadda, yadda, yadda of VA statues...for a total of $55,000 including court costs, interest and legal fees. Oh, they were calling every single day, sooo sooorrry...thought it had been take care of...it was funny.
Fight fire with fire that's about all you can do. Learn the laws of your state, and quote em!
KAT
 

Grace_Adler

Senior Member
How the hell did you find all that out?

They have over collected on my husband around $100. To some that might not be much to some but I could buy my kids some clothes with that money!!! Or we could put it towards next month's CS payment.. alot of things could be done with it.

I called and got in a huge argument with the woman in Raleigh and she said I was wrong and didn't know what I was talking about. Yet they have the wrong birthday down for him (according to the ex of course) but they have yet to correct it.. no biggie though. She said the computer doesn't lie. I said well what about the idiot behind the computer? I guess your computer is right and his birth cerificate is wrong so don't worry about changing it.

The thing is I have a summary that they sent me! The local CSE and the one in Raleigh claim to have the same system yet they came up with different figures. Obviously someone doesn't know how to add or subtract because the lawyer we used even said I was right after I had him look over it. He never told me what to do about it though. Guess he got side tracked. (We were using him for a hearing regarding something else)
 
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MindyT

Guest
Could possibly be that they are going by an incorrect income deduction order, which my husband has gone through and is going through now. The order is for $350/month but he is paying $348.92, which is close, but is not helping the arrears that he IS behind. Try that avenue and see is something isn't right THERE. Could be your employer messing up if you aren't self employed. Good luck at any rate!!
 

tammy8

Senior Member
To taina, how does your cs work ie is it a monthly amount taken out of your paycheck weekly? If so then you may "be" behind (some monthes have 5 payweeks and you catch up on the monthes that only have 4). Every single Nov, we get a letter from the state saying DH is behind and we have to call Raleigh and let them know DH is a weekly payor instead of monthly so we stay off the tax intercepor sheet.

BTW Grace, we are also $100 ahead (DH was paying support directly to state, always paid in 2 payments monthly and then the state got ahold of DH's unemployment check). Well one person DH spoke with, told him to call back toward the end of the month when he was showing ahead. Guess what, he called and was told too bad, he will always be ahead. That grips me a new one because that b*^%h doesn't deserve the cs she gets much less extra!
 

Grace_Adler

Senior Member
tammy8,
Good to see you!

LOL! I know what you mean!

I thought they were supposed to credit it toward the account. Oh yeah and they are showing he owed a $10 TANF and she's not on TANF. When she did get it (by fraud that is, she should not have recieved it) he has paid it all back with reciept to prove. Ours happened because they took his income tax when they shouldn't have, because he already payed that money back. So they took it anyway and ended up overcollecting.
 
question

How and when are overpayments repaid?
My youngest childs dad paid the county off. Took all of his taxes, his unemployment checks too. Now they owe him 422.00 back. How long does it take to aduit an account like that? He says he's not getting any unemployment checks now either, says they are still taking them. I think that's a lie, but, can't prove that.
He's been out of work since Jan. 02. He's not currently paying and is behind alot, he pays me directly. I fired cse for this case. BUT, they are still aduiting the account for what he owed them. I won't start getting any money again till he gets another job and that doesn't look very hopeful any time soon.
Yes, I have a current order of $500. month. And I am trying to be patient with him.
 

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