Greetings All! I would like to know if anyone could please tell me: How the 7-year reporting rules work with regard to delinquent child support payments? I have searched every which way on this board and others and have googled this subject to my wits end and can find NO information on when the information should â??fall-offâ? if it is paid and no balance remains. I know about what Section 611 of the FCRA says but it seems to make no mention of reporting â??time.â? Does the 7-years begin on the date the support order terminated and arrears were still owed? (i.e. like a date of first delinquency that led to collection) OR Does the 7-years begin at the point where the final payment was made on delinquent arrears and the balance is brought to zero? (i.e. like a date of last activity) OR At some other time that I am not aware could be relevant here? Just FYI â?? the reporting state I am researching about is Nebraska. Thanks in advance for any replies or guidance with this topic! --Wenchcake
I don't know if the laws are different in your state. I'm in CA and had a borrower with paid child support reporting 4 times. I contacted the DA that told me to have him dispute and they would be removed. We didn't try it yet, but I do know that lenders next to foreclosure, tax liens and bk's do NOT like child support arrears. Also, if it did not show paid/closed we would have to get a letter from the DA proving that there was no further payments or remaining balance. I'm anxious to know the answer to this as well.
I saw a show on CNBC not too long ago about this....the reporting period ends 7 years after your child is legally emancipated. So, if the age in your state is 18 for your child, expect it to be reported until the child is 25. If you owe arrears, they can collect on it according to the laws of your state, but the regular installment payment that you are court ordered to pay is not going to be reported after 7 years of emancipation.
I responded to you on this at your post at art of credit too.. I am a child support specialist, but in the state of California. Child support judgments charge monthly, so they definately stay on your credit a lot longer. The negative notations should not last past the 7 years as other stuff, they should be replaced by new notations if your account is brought up to date and no arrears are owing. Unfortunately, ANY ARREARS OWED ARE REPORTED AS PAST DUE AMOUNTS. Unless and untill all arrearages are paid in full, you can expect current late notations. This sucks, I know.. and I wish more people would be told about it. ugh!
Since I am in California also, and work in child support - I'll work on this one with you! Someday I will have house questions for you lol... lots of work to do on credit before that tho.. ugh! Anyways. The DA's office no longer has anything to do with child support. Child support offices seperated from the DA's offices in California about 4 years ago, and are run by the state - apart from any affiliation with the DA. Your borrower can and should dispute the notations, it should only be reported once. But any arrearages are shown as past due, and will continue to be even if they are in compliance and paying explicitly as outlined in the court order. Unfair, I think but nothing I can do about that, unfortunately. Though I have been happy to write letters along with send payment histories and a copy of the order to show that they explicitly complied. LEnders don't like c/s arrears because there will be a lien based upon the child support case. Even cases with $0 arrears have an abstract in the county that they live, thsu a lein in which the title company has to deal with. Until their case is paid up and closes the lein will remain in place. Does that help at all?? Let me know if there is anything else I can do to help =)
I sincerely thank you all for the replies! In this case, that I am dealing with, there are 2 listings -- both were for arrears only, as the original support orders on both were terminated in 1989 and only arrears remained owing. To make matters worse, Nebraska was "double dipping" and had one of the two children listed on BOTH court orders and were trying to collect on both orders. Several years of back and forth correspondence later, after they involved a service company called "Child Support Verification," we received copies of the account ledgers and copies of the court orders in question. The court papers clearly show their mistakes and they finally (in or around 1998) got their books straight and apologized (via phone not writing) and credited the proper accounts while removing the bogus arrears from the duplicate order. So, the remaining balances were paid in full in 3-2000. The listings on DH CR (EX is the only one not deleting) show a collection account as of 10-2000 (HELLO! THERE WAS A ZERO BALANCE AND CLOSED CASE!) and another listing for the second child as of 6-2001 as a collection (ANYONE HOME???). A collection account on a zero balanceâ?¦ Gotta love it. It looks like the dates are all wrong and I don't know what to do. It's like re-aging or something and since I cannot make heads nor tails of what the legal reporting period is for arrears, I have no clue what to do or what to tell them. As with many other situations people post about here and on other credit boards, it is unique and complicated. I just appreciate hearing from those who have similar experiences or have knowledge that can -- at the very least -- help me to know how long these listings for arrears can remain (i.e. some LEGALESE to put into a letter and get someoneâ??s attention to correct them if nothing else). The FCRA is not clear -- Nebraska verified the listings when I disputed via EX online. Any other thoughts in light of what I wrote above would be most helpful and definitely appreciated. Thanks especially to Loan Queen, milkface, & NyteAngel for taking the time to reply to my post. --Wenchcake
Request procedures from Ex.. they may not have verified with the Child Support office at all. Child support delinquencies will be reported for 7 years since the date that the arrears were paid. There is no "date of first delinquency" with respect to arrearages in this respect. It is until they are paid, period.
I can only detail my experience with the state of California. However, I've spoken with many individuals who have the same stories - all though we are in different states. 1. Child enforcement agencies - for the most part - behave the way they want to. 2. They generally ignore disputes and the FCRA. Good luck trying to sue directly for FCRA violations. You usually have to go in front of the judge that has state jurisdiction over the agency to get anything amended, deleted, changed, etc. 3. A starting point may be the Ombudsman - if they have that division - in that state agency. 4. If you can, save yourself a lot of time and grief by hiring an experienced attorney in that state who can go in front of the judge for you. 5. I spent 2 and half years fighting the morons in California. They put a collection on my credit in the amount of $99,000 for a child who is 8 years old. The monthly payment is $240. You do the math!! 6. Not only did I loose job promotions and a car loan, but they continue to mess with me. All because I was out of work - and they did not get payments for five months.
thanks, lbrown... Actually, I have received some replies on other boards to this same topic that I also need to answer, so I will come back to this one later tonight and tend to it as well... Maybe if I post some of the relevant parts from the other boards we can debate them... oddly enough, they are knowledgeable people, and the replies from these wonderful posters are exact 180 degree stances from each other... Go figure. I may never know the answer, but I'm trying! If nothing else, it's decent debate material. Thanks again for the bump! --Wenchcake
