I recently posted an update on my Supportkids drama. I received some great responses and helpful advice I would like to share with those of you in the same boat as I am. Thank you Mommy2 for this info:
She recently informed Supportkids that she is no longer going to use their services. As with everyone else, they refuse to cancel her contract. She contacted the Attorney General in her state and was informed to do the following:
1). Contact the child support agency and have them change everything back to your information therefore removing Supportkids P.O. Box information. BE SURE TO NOTARIZE EVERYTHING WHEN DEALING WITH THE STATE AGENCIES. GET NAMES,PHONE NUMBERS, WRITE DOWN THE DATES AND TIMES THAT YOU CONTACT THEM.
2). Notify Supportkids to let them know that "my contract with you is null and void because you are in direct violation of the court order". (OF COURSE THEY WILL DENY AND IGNORE THIS).
3). Contact every department that is involved, such as the clerk's office, disbursement unit, the state attorney's office, central depository...leave no one out. Be prepared to deal with nasty, rude people in customer service.
4). Google the Attorney Generals Office and State Attorney's Office in your state for the address and phone numbers. Explain your situation, if you have a hard time with anyone, ask for the name and number of the Director of the Child Support Division. Leave a message if possible.
5). File a complaint on-line that the Attorney General’s office on their website. Someone will contact you.
Supportkids rejected her cancellation letter, of course, and sent the Disbursement Unit a direct-deposit form to deposit all future payments to their account in her name with their P.O. Box. She contacted the Attorney Generals office and was told to submit a new direct-deposit along with a voided check and they will change the information back to your information. She also attached a copy of a notarized letter and sent it along with her voided check. BE SURE TO PUT IN YOUR LETTER THAT THEY ARE TO MAKE NO CHANGES TO YOUR CASE WITHOUT YOUR WRITTEN, NOTARIZED CONSENT. The most important thing is to change all the information back to your information. Supportkids has no right to take 34% from any of our funds and they know this and so does your child support agency. They will gladly change your information. DO NOT GIVE UP. IF YOU HAVE PROBLEMS WITH CUSTOMER SERVICE GO OVER THEIR HEADS. Virginia has filed a lawsuit against Supportkids. If you don't stand up for yourself they will walk all over you. Simply ignore them once you inform them (if you want to inform them at all) that you will no longer deal with them. Then check your account with them on-line and I am sure that you will notice that their comments change from contacting the employer to leaving phone messages for the non-custodial parent. Also send a notarized letter to the employer to discontinue giving information to Supportkids. Be prepared for a good fight.
The funny things is, Supportkids gets their money directly from my local DA. If the DA knows better, why would they send the money in the first place?? I hope this information helps. I will be doing a follow on this with more information to come.
- Lori
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25 comments:
I just started a new blog that will feature personal stories and advice/tips to dealing with your child's other parent.
I ran across your blog while dropping Entrecards and wondered if you'd be interested in contributing.
Let me know!
I too have been sucked into the support kids crap. I hired support kids acouple of months back when my state's child support enforcement was not helping me find the non-custodial parent. Now, the state of Georgia no longer will work with third party agencies. I too tried to cancel my contract with them since they can't do their job in the state of georgia. Georgia passed a law to where they will not deal with third party agencies. Support Kids will not cancel my case with them. I got the impression they would collect the back child support and the non-custodial parent would pay back child support plus current. That didn't happen. I have stopped giving them money because Georgia children services sends the child support direct deposit into my acct not to Support Kids any longer. Why should I give money to an agency who first can't do the work in my state any longer,Support Kids can't get any info from the Child support enforcement in my state, and hasn't bothered calling the non-custodial parent since Feb of 2008. I thought they would keep calling to get more money out of the non-custodial parent and get this back child support paid off! This hasn't happened. A scam and A rip off is what this company is. They even had the nerve to send me a letter stating they can't do their job in the state of Georgia and wanted me to contact my local congressman. My husband and I don't know what to do and even thought about contacting a lawyer to get some advice or get the lawyer to type up a letter to Support Kids. We have googled Support Kids and several people have bashed this company. I read Virginia is suing them also. I came across this blog just by googling Support kids blog. My husband and I are going to do the steps in this blog and contact the state of georgia . Thank you for the information.
UPDATE TO THE SUPPORT KIDS (SK) DRAMA.
I finally got SK to cancel my contract and close my case. I argued that money that was claimed as a wage garnishment was actually money that was received from the non-custodial parent's unemployment benefits and this was pre-established from my court order way before I signed with SK. They also claimed to have been successful in getting wage garnishments and no funds were ever even received. I call that padding false info. This is all a ploy. I wrote to the Texas Attorney General and the governor, mayor and state representatives of my state. I guess that the case was investigated, my facts were accurate and my case is now closed. A refund will soon follow. They had to make sure to keep a few dollars for their "success". DO NOT GIVE UP. Contact Legal Aid if you have to, they may be able to help with getting an attorney.
SK knows darn well that they are not always successful in getting wage garnishments and that some of the funds are from other sources, such as a settlement, judgment or something that they had absolutely nothing to do with. Some of those things were actually ordered by the court. They claim credit for everything. All they're doing is following your court order and getting paid in the process.
Get your power of attorney back from them. Contact everyone who you think can help. Make noise, write letters and make phone calls to anyone who you think can make an impact.
Good luck to all.
Congrats on that one!! WOOHOO...time to celebrate. I hope Im that lucky. Cross your fingers:)
Write to the Texas Department of Banking, which regulates these private collection agencies.
Texas Department of Banking
2601 North Lamar Blvd.
Austin, TX 78705
(512) 475-1300
(877) 276-5554
Write to the department which investigates and monitors these companies.
Consumer Protection and Public Health Division
Office of the Attorney General
P.O. Box 12548, Austin, Texas 78711-2548.
Please don't give up. Also if funds were collected from unemployment benefits, judgment, settlements that were previously established from your court order, please mention that in your complaint. Also as for a refund/reimbursement of all funds that were collected. If you know for a fact that money that was claimed as wage garnishment was from something else, state that.
Also, remember that they (SK) are violating the court order because when they collect 34%, they reduce the amount off $ that the court has ordered that your child is to receive.
Good Luck.
I signed with SK over seven years ago. They did nothing until I located my ex husband. I recieved a check at the end of February for 80 dollars out of 500 and nothing since then. I called several times and they told me they did not know why the money stopped coming and they think it might have been credited to someone elses account. All I needed to do was sign a form giving them permission to speak for me. I told them I wasn't signing anything else. I knew something was not right. Miss Goldberg in Austin left me a message stating that if I did not sign the paper and fax it to them by the next day she was instructed to pull the writ from his job and send all the money back to my ex. I don't understand how they can be allowed to hold our money and collect the interest when the atty general charges our ex's interest on the rear. I also had inquired previously about how they intended on collecting money from the rear. I was told that I would have to call my ex and arrange that with him. SP is a real scam. I need help (like everyone else) on how to get rid of them. Is there any lawyer out there willing to go forward with a class action lawsuit against them? It's time to do something.
Yes...I would definitely like to know if there is a lawyer out there willing to take our cases against these crooks. Please...feel free to respond.
Well, I have read every comment and I am at a loss. I dont really know what to do. I also signed up with Support Kids and now I want them to leave me alone. They have screwed everything up. The Attorney General of Texas found the noncustodial parent and started withholding his wages and everything was going great...Then Support Kids butted in and tried to withhold his wages, but for some reason it didnt work, but now I cant get anything from the Attorney General anymore. I contacted them and they say they dont know why the money stopped. Im totally confused and I just want Support Kids to leave me alone because they didnt help me at all. It was the Attorney General of Texas that was sucessful in locating the noncustodial parent. Someone help me!!!!
If you signed a contract with them, the only way you can get out is if they dont collect anything for a year. Other than that, if they collect, they get 34%. There is nothing you can do. They will refuse your tries at termination. Welcome to my world.
It has been a year, and they havent collected anything...now what?
Request a termination of your contract. It states that if they cant collect anything for up to a year, you can cancel the contract. Let me know what happens.
I too have been scammed by this company SUPPORTKIDS.COM. I signed a contract with the 7 years ago and they never did anything. After years of hardwork and my own money I finally got child support started and now they are taking 50% of what I am receiving. I live in Florida and am trying to cancel the contract. Has anyone in Florida had success in cancelling?
I dont think anyone has had success cancelling. Its a total scam.
I faxed, emailed and mailed a letter requesting my account with supportkids be closed and the money they have intercepted from child support enforcement to be returned to me, along with proof that child support enforcement was able to locate and serve the non custodial parent before my application was accepted with supportkids (I didn't know about it at the time because it took them a while to return the notice of service) on Saturday and called them today to confirm. They said they were closed on Monday so they didn't get it yet and won't be able to open any attachments in the email I sent due to "virus threats". She told me to call back on Thursday of this week to check status. Wish me luck!!
I also called CSE and asked them about sending them a copy of my revocation of POA along with a notarized request to place a block on making any further changes to my account without a notarized signature and was told by the state agency that they don't deal with supportkids but if I have a contract with them that they have to honor it and supportkids will be able to continue collecting money from them (although they didn't do any work) regardless of what I send them or how much I beg. The only option I have is to get supportkids to cancel my contract, which they should do if they have an honest bone in their organization.
They wont cancel. Ive been trying to cancel for 6 years. Its been a nightmare. Thats why I think the law needs to do something. They shouldn't be able to get away with this. No one should but they do. Good luck my friend. Keep me posted.
You were right.... they refused. I've file several complaints so far. They lied to me on the phone and they know they're full of it. They refuse to return my calls and they're still calling my ex even though his wages are being garnished by the state because I had the state agency switch the direct deposit back to me so I get the payments directly... for now anyway. I sent them a copy of the revocation of POA so if they sign my name to anything to change the address on my account with the state agency again I've got them for fraud!
I hope it works. I was told that because I signed a contract, I had to honor it. If you continue getting the money directly, let me know. Are you in Cali?
No, I'm in TX but the support comes from NC. I was told I have the right to make any changes to my account because it's MY account with them. My contract between myself and Supportkids is between me and them so unless a judge orders them to send it elsewhere they have to send it to me.
Honestly, I believe SK pays off the TX Dept of Banking and the Atty General because they really don't seem to be helpful at all. The child support enforcement depts in most other states are fed up with them though. The TX Dept of Banking will do absolutely NOTHING about any complaints. They said the only thing they have to do with this company (and others like it) is to review their contracts for clarity. So, as long as the contract states they're going to steal your money, they are legally allowed to do it because you signed agreeing to it (even if you didn't understand because it's worded in a misleading way).
This is just one example of how corrupt the govt has become in this country. I hope it will get better but fear it's more likely to get worse.
Anyway, they'll have a fight on their hands to steal anymore of mine though. I swear if they're gonna take a percentage of it they're gonna earn it by tracking it down and putting some effort into finding it and getting it from me!
I may very well sign a form releasing my ex from anything he owes me just to spite them if they try to take anymore! Yes I'm that spiteful LOL
Truthfully...I have felt the same way. When I think of all the money they have stolen from my kids, it makes me furious. No one wants to help single parents and I cant figure out why. We are raising the children of tomorrow and they turn their heads as if they dont see us. Bullshit!! Its all Bullshit!
I just got notification from the BBB that SK has responded to my complaint. They have closed my case but no mention of a refund of the $280 they took wrongfully. We'll see what happens with that.
I'm so glad we ran accross this blog! I and my husband both have been cursed at and talked to like dirt by SK. We initially saw it as a great service since we were getting stonewalled by CSE because I wasn't on public aide. My ex husband insists on being garnished and being out of state we didn't feel we had any other choice. Now that I work for a law firm I've asked them to terminate my contract, especially after they've taken over $1000 for themselves and only given my daughter $400. They have done essentially nothing, I provided them ssn's, poe's and contact information. It's nearly impossible to reach them and after seeing all the complaints it's clear that I need to terminate the contract. Has anyone terminated their contract in Missouri? Is there anyway to get a class action suit against SK?
You cant terminate the contract...thats just it. I have paid them over 25,000 to date. Or should I say, they have stole that money from my kids. I am coming up on 7 years with those jerks. They will never approve your request. If there is a class action suit against them, Id love to be a part of it. I wish you would have found my blog before you signed. Its a nightmare.
How can Support Kids get away with the things that they do? We contacted the Texas Attorney General's office and they told us DO NOT send these people any money, that they are a rip off. I'm printing out any complaints I'm finding about Support Kids and will be sending it to the main news channels in Texas and to the Attorney General's offices of all 50 states. These people need to be stopped. All they do is harrass people and steal single parent's money.
I'm going to sue Support Kids over 3 years of not reporting my child support payments to the Maryland Child Support office. They cost me 29 months without my drivers license over this. Anyone want their contract with them canceled? My case will sue on a breach of contract and I can use your objections as proof of their intentions to defraud. I am looking for funding to assist with my case, maybe join your complaint into my case.
I am looking into filing Racketeering charges against them, hope to close them down once and for all. If they worked legally, I would not of minded.
I'm not talking doing this, I am going to do it. Call me at 704-712-0545 lets talk about doing something.
You all must read my newest entry....
Supportkids is out of Business!!!
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