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FL: Tampa Firms Sued For Child Support Collection Scam
http://www.northcountrygazette.org/a...pportScam.html
Tampa Firms Sued For Child Support Collection Scam TALLAHASSEE - Two Tampa companies have been sued by the Florida Attorney General's office for victimizing children in a child support collection scheme. Nationwide Child Support, Inc., and Child Support Network, Inc., along with two corporate officers, allegedly took support payments designated for children and threatened those responsible for the child support. An investigation by the Attorney General's office revealed that Nationwide and Child Support Network masqueraded as child support collection agencies. They recruited custodial parents through deceptive advertising and had them sign contracts for collection services. The defendants then skimmed a 35% commission fee from the payments that were collected, depriving children of more than one-third of the court-ordered amount for child support payments. The companies' tactics also included creating bogus child support orders, posing as employees of the Department of Revenue (DOR) - the state's child support enforcement agency, violating existing child support orders, resisting consumer requests to cancel contracts and other abusive practices. The companies have been in business for at least two years. In addition to depriving the children of their money, the companies often obtained money by posing as DOR representatives and threatening non-custodial parents with arrest if they did not submit their payments to the companies. After receiving payments, the defendants would continue to collect from the parents, redirecting the money to their companies and keeping one-third of the payment before sending the money to the custodial parents. One man discovered that the companies were garnishing his wages for child support payments, but he was not receiving credit from the state for the payments. As a result, his driver's license was suspended by the state for non-compliance. Stuart Cole and Michelle Cole were named in the lawsuit as officers of the two companies responsible for six violations of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. In addition to civil penalties of $10,000 per violation or $15,000 if victims were elderly or disabled, the state is seeking restitution for victims, as well as an immediate injunction to stop the unlawful practices and to recover funds owed to children receiving child support. A copy of the Attorney General's complaint is available at: http://myfloridalegal.com/webfiles.nsf/WF/JFAO-6NSMST/$file/Child_Support_complaint.pdf Pictures of the signs suggesting the companies are legitimate Child Support Enforcement agencies are available at: http://myfloridalegal.com/webfiles.nsf/WF/JFAO-6NSJDN/$file/groundsign.jpg and http://myfloridalegal.com/webfiles.nsf/WF/JFAO-6NSJE7/$file/wallsign.jpg 4-12-06 |
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Tampa Firms Sued For Child Support Collection Scam
"Dusty" wrote in The companies' tactics also included creating bogus child support orders, posing as employees of the Department of Revenue (DOR) - the state's child support enforcement agency, violating existing child support orders, resisting consumer requests to cancel contracts and other abusive practices. The companies have been in business for at least two years. In addition to depriving the children of their money, the companies often obtained money by posing as DOR representatives and threatening non-custodial parents with arrest if they did not submit their payments to the companies. SO what's the difference between these private scumbags and the Government? |
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Tampa Firms Sued For Child Support Collection Scam
I actuallly used to work for an attorney who's primary area of practice
was "Father's rights" We had a client, (I can't get into too much detail for confidentality reasons), that paid his child support regularly....well, the mother, contacted one of these agencies, and claimed "non payment." This agency didn't verify the mother's statements and started harassing this man, stating that he owed back support. Here's the kicker. The agency's name included the words..."State of Texas"...the man got confused and Actually Paid It all in One lump Sum! The crazy part is this....his child support order was from the State of Kansas...he lived in the State of Oklahoma....so why he thought the the State of Texas would have anything to do with it is beyond me....but, he PAID it. The agency, then kept a large percentage of the money, and paid the rest of the money to the mother. Only after he paid it...did he realize, hey....this doesn't make sence....anyways....long story shortened....we suied both the mother and the collection agency....and got the man's money back, plus interest....but....it took months and months to get it back. THESE COLLECTION AGENCIES ARE A SCAM! Even if you do pay them...they do not turn the money over to the state first to be credited as a child support payment. So paying them is just a "gift" to your child with a large percentage being withheld by them first, unless you can prove fraud. YOU DO NOT GET CREDIT FOR THESE PAYMENTS TOWARDS YOUR CHILD SUPPORT! |
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