Va. sues Texas collection agency over child support payments

By Elizabeth Simpson
The Virginian-Pilot
© February 9, 2008

Virginia is suing a private child-support collection agency based in Texas for interfering with the state's collection efforts.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and Attorney General Bob McDonnell announced the lawsuit on Friday.

In a news release, the state officials said the organization Supportkids Inc. sends wage-withholding notices to employers of parents who owe child support payments, and directs the employer to send payments directly to the company's office in Austin, Texas, rather than to Virginia's Division of Child Support Enforcement.

The private company charges parents who have custody of the children a 34 percent fee before forwarding the remainder of the payment, according to the state's news release. Under Virginia law, child support payments must be routed through the Division of Child Support Enforcement, a state agency.

Messages and e-mails to the Supportkids company asking for a response to the lawsuit were not immediately responded to on Friday.

Families typically turn to a private, for-profit child-support collection agency when the state has not been successful in collecting payments.

According to the Supportkids' Web site, the company has collected more than $360 million since 1991 on behalf of clients, making it the largest private child-support collection company in the country.

In the news release about the lawsuit, Kaine said Virginia's Child Support Enforcement agency collected more than $608 million last year for 484,000 children who are owed money.

Some parents and coalitions support the efforts of private agencies, saying they give parents more options in collecting money for their children.

Nick Young, director of the state's Child Support Enforcement agency, said the state has received complaints from employers and non-custodial parents who confuse the private company with the state support enforcement division.

He said in some cases, parents and employers are getting notices from both the state and the private agency. "Employers are calling us saying, 'Which one do we send it to?' " Young said.

Young said some child custody cases involve several children, and the private company might pursue collection for only one of the children at the expense of the others, which creates inequities. He said other attempts have been made to try to get the private companies to follow the state's legal requirements for child support payments, but this is the first time the state has filed a lawsuit.

Elizabeth Simpson, (757) 446-2635, elizabeth.simpson@pilotonline.com