Rant: Attorney General's Office

[kamari]

I know a few divorced folks on here share my frustrations with similar issues. It was determined by a judge several weeks ago that I was behind $615 for child support (which was actually wrong but the mathemeticians at the AG's office couldn't figure out that $615 minus their $358 credit issued for math error =$257...which was still a wrong total but my argument fell on deaf ears and I settled with $257 instead of $0).

Court papers are mailed with the judge's signature but magically they were changed (whiteout & all on the originals filed at the court) and it now states that I'm $320 behind. I'm PO'd but the cost to fight it is in the $200 range -pointless. I get a letter from the treasury dept a month ago saying they received correspondence from the AG's office stating that I'm $740 behind, and so they've been instructed to withhold that from my tax refund.

Side note: I'd already paid half of the $320 the court says i'm behind.

So let's do the simple math: $320 balance + $160 paid + $740 tax withholding applied = $580 overpayment.

I called to check on the balance today so they could issue me a check for my $580. Their records show that I have only a $10.40 balance. WTF/H/___ <---and whatever else can fit in there.

Where does the AG hire these geniuses from???

[Cajungaltx]

Do you have proof of payment?

I'd compile it all, write a letter detailing it out, and send it in.

I deal with the AG in Houston - I actually went to THEM after a few years of BEGGING her dad to pay his $150/month child support... I got tired of it... so I told them to handle it. I don't think I've seen anything from him for more than a year and a half now... lol...He has a job, with a national company, but somehow they just can't figure out how to garnish his check for the $150/month child support.

And before anyone makes a comment about 'only' $150... lol... I know, I know, I know. I agreed on it when we got divorced, she was 3 and wasn't expensive to take care of. It didn't matter if she was anyway. Now she's 12, and she's ALOT more expensive! ;-)

[donlfaulkner]

Originally Posted by kamari

Where does the AG hire these geniuses from???

The social security office?

[ka5txl]

Originally Posted by donlfaulkner

The social security office?

I was going to say the post office management staff

[kamari]

Originally Posted by Cajungaltx

Do you have proof of payment?

I'd compile it all, write a letter detailing it out, and send it in.

We BOTH have proof of payment, and they both match up. They've been taking payment out of my check for 4 years. The problem comes from a combination of the AG starting my payments on the 15th of the month (everyone at the office who takes a look at the case complains that it should only start on the 1st) and there's a gap between the day their books request the money and the day my company actually sends it (a 3 to 4 day gap). So depending on which day of the month you pull the payment record I could be paid up, one paycheck behind, or a month behind. Some folks will contest that I'm 15 days behind. Others will say that the start date was set 15 days early.

I showed this to the judge at a recent review hearing but she wasn't quite getting it. I even broke down on a calendar how the values would be different on different days. The kicker was that THREE AG lawyers looked at the SAME hard copy of payment history and came up with THREE different values regarding how far behind I am. WTF!? They ranged between $650 and $1150....from the same hard copy of my payment history.

So tomorrow is a half-day of work followed by a 40 mile drive to downtown dallas to get an explanation...which has made zero progress the last 3 visits I've made to them.

When they find that you owe them money, the world stops until they get it (or at least they can make your world stop). The second they realize they owe YOU money it's the "well, we have to go through a process" song. The lead time on today's song was 4-5 weeks.


Sorry to hear about your frustrations. Hopefully they'll screw him over like they're doing me when they catch up to him.

[Cajungaltx]

Originally Posted by kamari

Sorry to hear about your frustrations. Hopefully they'll screw him over like they're doing me when they catch up to him.

This is what happens when you get divorced in Guam... and you live in Texas... and your ex lives in Louisiana...

I'll hope that you get a really intelligent individual, capable of adding... and reasoning... *grin* Sucks that you have to drive like that though...

[Murph]

Strong suggestion, check out what they did to you on your credit report, you are not going to like it.... BTDT.

[kamari]

Originally Posted by Murph

Strong suggestion, check out what they did to you on your credit report, you are not going to like it.... BTDT.

I left that out of the OP just for argument's sake but I'm dealing with that too. The same day I got the letter from the Treasury dept I got a letter from AG stating that they've changed what they report to my creditors (and its NOT in my favor). It was as simple as drafting a letter to inform them of the financial status but it's another song & dance to reverse that reporting.

BTW, the letter to the Treasury dept states that they've been attempting to contact me for months, at no avail, to settle the issue. During that SAME time period I was contacted multiple times and I've had two meetings at the AG's office for a routine review of the case. Go figure.

[Atfulldraw]

My blood pressure is still up from the last time I talked to that gaggle of idiots.....

Didya know they contract alot of that out? So there's even less acountability..... Getting through to the Dallas office is dang near impossible -- still waiting for them to call me back from three weeks ago.....

I don't even have a withholding order in place -- my decree specifically says that NO withholding order or garnishment order shall be filed unless I'm delinquent. Well, guess what??? Someone at the attorney generals office put it in place anyway. Luckily, my office is in Mobile, so they just ignored the withholding order anyway.

At the Dallas office, I love the recording that says, "All calls will be returned within 72 hours...."

Pure, unadulterated bullshat!