Dallas company buys SupportKids of Austin
ParentFinancial to relocate to Austin.
By Tim Eaton
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Saturday, August 15, 2009
An Austin-based child-support collection company has been sold to a smaller Dallas-based company that operates the same type of business.
SupportKids Inc.'s caseload, computers, intellectual property, Web site and other assets now belong to ParentFinancial Services Inc., said Rob Feito, president and CEO of the Dallas company, on Friday.
Feito declined to disclose the terms of the deal, which closed Aug. 7.
SupportKids was purchased to expand the 8-year-old Dallas company, Feito said.
"Our intention moving forward is to operate in 35 states," he said.
But the immediate goal is to ensure that there is no negative effect on clients, he said. The Austin company once operated in 47 states.
"This is a positive transition for SupportKids, for its clients," Feito said. "We don't anticipate any disruption in services."
SupportKids encountered financial difficulties earlier this year. After defaulting on a loan, it was forced to turn over 20,000 of its 38,000 child-support collection cases to a New Hampshire-based law firm. The cases had been used as collateral on the loan.
ParentFinancial will continue to honor that contract, Feito said.
ParentFinancial, which will move its headquarters to Austin, expects to hire 25 to 30 former SupportKids employees, Feito said.
The Austin company once had 200 employees but laid off an undisclosed number when it lost the 20,000 cases earlier this year.
Some of the first rehires will include workers who have been working without pay, Feito said.
SupportKids CEO Bryon Sehlke and some other executives also will work for Parent-
Financial, Feito said.
Sehlke was unavailable for comment.
Depending on growth, more people could be brought on board next year, Feito said.
teaton@statesman.com; 445-3631
I didnt see RJBA in there anywhere?? I wonder what happens to the parents that signed their contract? Did they go out of business? OMG, what a mess!! Thanks Tim for the information and Andrea for the heads up.
- Lori
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29 comments:
this is easy enough. Parent financial bought the rest of SK, so essentially SK is out of Business. Parent Financial, is a child support enforcement company and should fulfill those easily. IF I were with parent financial I would stay there for a bit and see how it goes.
If I were with RJBA I would file a revocation of POA and change the address with the state.
RJBA has been in bed with Supportkids for MANY YEARS, financially.
Guys it's not really not that complicated. Please ask me if your not understanding. What I hate to see is ya'll wasting your time fighting with the BBB and the AG's when you can fight for your money through the state.
What do you think if the account stayed with SK? Is my contract considered null and void? My account was not transferred to RJBA. Should I still try and file a revocation with the State or wait to hear if they let me out? I sent my letter to cancel on 7/27 and they told me 30 days. The contract states if they are unsuccessful for a period of one year I can break my contract. That applies in my case. As of 8/25 it will be one year.
Thank you so much for your input.
Your account is now with Parent Fiancial. There is no more SK, (depending if Parent keeps the name or not.)
You've gotten no payments in a year? State or SK?
If the answer to both is yes, then I would stay with Parent Financial for a month, I'd personally give them 3 months.
I would also make sure my state still has my case open.
Gina, I went 17 months without a payment. Sent in my cancellation notice and they still wouldn't let me out. I would book it and run on the 25th. Have that letter ready to go! SK defrauded me when they took tax intercepts and used them as a payment for SK. They cashed the state check and then sent it to me about 15 days later after the state waited 6 months to release it. I went from 4/07 and then I tried to close my case in August of 08 when I realized it had been that long. They told me I couldn't because I had received payments. The one payment I got wasn't from them, it was a tax intercept! I finally got a check from SK in Dec of 08 and it was a whopping 13 bucks. He sent in 20 and SK of course kept their 7 for their "fee". Like I said, the 25th is so close. What happens if you do give them the 3 months like Bella suggests and then poof they get a payment of 20 bucks towards the end of the 3 months. Well you're stuck with them for another year and no guarantee you won't see any more than 20 bucks! (well 13). That's not support! That doesn't even cover lunch money for a week for my kid at school. I wish you the best of luck in whatever you decide. I hope it all works out for you!
I was contacted by the State of Florida yesterday who told me to fax a letter directly to her. She called me back today and has changed my address, cut SK out of the picture and set me up for Direct Deposit! I am so thrilled at that. I sent my first letter on 7/17 so I will follow up again to see what the response is to let me out of my contract. I am satisfied for now so hopefully, this will work for now. Thank you all so much for your input and I will keep you posted.
Gina, make sure to include a Termination of Power of Attorney in the previous post's comments. So they dont have the ability to change it back.
I thought you all should know. I got this from Sherri on another post:
Ok guys this is Sherri and I have a update. Channel 9 news in the state of Oklahoma is sending a consumer watch person named Amanda Taylor to my house tomorrow. She will be here at 2:30 tomorrow. I spoke with her on the phone and she is hoping that we can get some attention brought to this. I am hoping maybe that we can even bring some national attention to this. Keep your fingers crossed. I will update as soon as the interview is over tomorrow.
The latest from Sherri's ordeal with RJBA:
Hello all this is Sherri. Okay here goes. I spoke with some lady at RJBA this morning. I let her do her bs on what they are claiming to have done on my case. NOTHING! I then proceeded to tell her that I had sent them a certified letter and that I had a reporter coming to my home about their company and my case. Well really quick she told me to hang on a minute. About two minutes later some rude guy got on the phone. He proceeded to tell me he didn't care if I had the president himself at my house I would not be let out of my contract. To which I kinda laughed. He didn't like when I told him that they were a bunch of scam artists and hung up on me. The reporter came to my house at 2:30 as planned. She is the nicest person I could have hoped to get involved in this. She asked what I ultimately wanted out of this. I told her I didn't just want help for myself but for everyone else, all of you who are going through the same thing. I want some national attention brought to this as well. She has assured me that she is looking into all of this and had already pulled their BBB reports and was shocked. The story is supose to air in about two weeks. She is having the legal department look at copies of all my Agreement for Services I signed with Support Kids. She says she will find someone to listen to us. I will not give up. I have sent a letter to President Obama and several Represenatives in Oklahoma and the Oklahoma Attorney General. I will scream till someone listens. I think we may have an angel in Amanda Taylor from Channel 9 news in Oklahoma. Only time will tell but I am hopeful. I hope this might give some hope to everyone.
I would love to report some great news! I was contacted by an employee from the State of Florida and she changed my address and hand delivered my Direct Deposit form to that department. Money came in to the State and the next night the money was in my checking account! I just checked the website for SK and my case has been closed! It says they have notified the State of same. I am sure it is because of all the attention and work you all have been doing. I just came in at the right time. So for now, seems my issues are resolved - so now let's all just pray the the child support continues to come in! Thank you all for all your help and encouragement! Good luck to the rest of you.
Hello all.... just wanted to post some good news as well. RJB finally sent me my case cancellation letter. I am no longer dealing with this mess :) I will keep up with your postings and offer any suggestions that come my way. Good luck to you all!
Awesome news!! Im so happy for you. See, there is hope y'all!
I am having the same trouble as Gina was in Florida, although in Broward County. Even with the signed and notarized revocation they refuse to change my address. They want to see something in writing from Support Kids. I do not understand why I can authorize someone to do something that I can't authorize for myself. I'm waiting for the supervisor to call me back. Currently I am missing 10 payments since this all began. Florida insists that payments are made every week and are still being sent to Support Kids in TX, RBJA insists that they haven't received anything except four payments that have been forwarded to me. RBJA tried to tell me that it was because the non-custodial parent was not paying timely, totally ignoring that the checks come through the state. If anyone has any additional advice, Im ready to hear it. I have printed out the complaint form for the DA in NH and I am ready to mail it off in the morning.
I also received an email from RJBA informing me that my account history is now available online. I promptly logged on and printed the information. The payment history starts from two years ago when I first signed up with Support Kids. It also includes my ex's addresss and place of employment that I did not have before. Now I can go over my records, the State records, and the history and start figuring out how much they actually collected that I haven't received. I think it will take all night.
No kidding April that is fantastic, that you got all that info. Hopefully everyone else will get it too.
I dont know if you saw the previous post, the state of FL no longer sends physical checks.
Florida law has changed and now requires us to send support payments electronically.
Choose Direct Deposit or Debit Card
You can choose how to get your child support payments.
Print the Child Support Payment Options form: (English) (Spanish)
Fill in the form, sign and date it
Mail it to the address listed on the form
If you do not make a choice, you will be sent a debit card. We no longer send paper checks.
Direct Deposit - Payments are automatically put into your checking or savings account
Florida Debit MasterCard® - You will receive a debit card. Payments are automatically put on your card. There are no fees except for cash withdrawals from ATMs. With the card you can:
Use at thousands of locations
Get cash and make purchases
Call 1-877-567-1768 to answer your debit card questions
Get balance and account information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at www.EPPICard.com*
* This site does not belong to the Department of Revenue
http://dor.myflorida.com/dor/childsupport/payment.html#receive
just submit the form on the page. No words needed, attach a copy of the revocation of power of atty.
Let me know how that works out.
Thanks for responding so quickly. I sent them the direct deposit form, the change of address, and the revocation, so they have it all. Was there something I missed?
Thanks for keeping us posted. I would sure like to know where in the heck all the money is going too. RJBA has been a nightmare!
I am also experiencing problems with sk/rjba so called contract. Not sure where to start but... I did sign the contract with supportkids, they collected their fees (of course) then nothing till now -exactly one year this month. It stated on my State dcs website that 339.00 had been direct deposited to a bank in Texas. How can RJBA collect this money when I have not recieved any information that they were doing so.We called the number (thanks Terri), and they said they had it and would be mailing out. 2 weeks ago!
My biggest concern is IF we get this check and cash it does that bind us to RJBA?
In the mean time we have sent notice of change of address and changed of direct deposit to our personal account. I also have sent out the R-POA. I guess it might be a long process.
Hi I am a new reader of your blog. I signed a contract with SupportKids and I haven't received much at all. In total since I signed my contract I've only received $81 after all their fees. They are crunks and should be called "Support Ourselves", anyways, I would like to know what steps I will need to take to have my case closed. Am I stuck with them for the next 10+ years? I know my case hasn't been transferred so it's probably still with ParentFinancial/SK. Any advice will help greatly. I currently stay in the state of Ohio.
I tried for 7 years to cancel without luck. If they havent received anything for a year I think is the only way you can cancel.
If you didnt sign on with RJBA, they cant take your money. Is your case thru the DA? What State do you live in? I did a change of address thru the calgov site and have been getting my money ever since. I live in Cali. First, I did a termination letter to RJBA then I made the change. Not all of the cases were transferred, only the ones they were getting money from. I hear there is another company in the mix, Parent Financial. Do you have proof money went to another account? You will get no answers from SK or RJBA. Its a mess but if your case is thru the DA, there is hope. You might get some answers thru all of my posts. Many people have responded and they all have input.
I just checked my case status about a week ago and it said my case is now under review to see what impact they have on the State's collection in child support. I haven't tried to cancel my contact so I wonder what this means?
Just anoter way of stalling. They have no idea what they are doing these days. Have you gotten any money? They could be thinking about transferring your account to RJBA. You never know with them because you get no answers.
RJBA is not in bed with Support Kids and never has been. They were asked to help out a client that was defaulting on a loan and going out of business. If all the parents sat back and reflected on their lives; perhaps they would stop blaming the collection agent for the situation they are in. You all seem to believe that these collection companies work for free? If the government was doing the job,(a job that exists because people either can’t keep their legs together and/or are not grown up enough to take any responsibility for their actions),then NONE of you would have contacted Support Kids to begin with!!!! For the most part, you all act and sound like victims here and the truth is you all decided to have children that for the most part you, and your partner couldn’t/wouldn’t take care of and now instead of looking in the mirror you blame everyone else. If I had your contract in hand, I would tear it up, tell you where to go and laugh at you when you called back crying because all you have is a government agency that is doing nothing to help. The only real tragedy here is the innocent children! They are the true victims here. They are being raised by you people; crying and lying about your plight in life and not once realizing that "you" are the problem. Like everything else the government does for its people, I hope you ALL have government agencies work for you and you ALL get exactly what you each deserve.....AGAIN, the only victims here are the innocent children!
And make no mistake here, Parent Financial is nothing but another name for Support Kids!
Listen here you fucking idiot, (excuse my French but it was for lack of a better term to describe someone as idiotic as yourself) who hides behind an Anonymous comment…How dare you come onto MY blog and judge the parents who are dealing with the crooks that are stealing their child support. Had you read all of the posts AND comments you would be educated on the subject at hand. For the most part, the majority of us do not rely on the money we get for child support to exist in this world nor to feed our children. That doesn’t make what they are doing (SK, RJBA or Parental Financial) right. To take 34% of someone’s child support “until death do us part or the company goes out of business and sells the contract to the highest bidder” is bullshit. I don’t know if you have ever fathered children but you cant support anyone on $200 a month anyway, let alone 2 boys. When two people make a child, things don’t always end happily ever after. Are you aware of that? For you to say “the only real tragedy here is the innocent children! They are the true victims here. They are being raised by you people; crying and lying about your plight in life and not once realizing that "you" are the problem.” Makes me sick and wish I could say this to you face to face. I work in Hospice and I raised two boys that became men. That is/was my PLIGHT in life. Only a moron that doesn’t pay child support himself or who hasn’t actually fathered a child would say something as ignorant as that to anyone. My son, who is in the Navy fighting for our country (which includes people like you) would beg to differ with your opinion of his mother. In the future rather than hiding behind an Anonymous comment, be a man and give a return address. Im sure I am not the only parent that has something to say to someone like you. And if by chance you are a woman, shame on ya!! If I were you, Id watch my karma. Unless OR until you have walked a mile in any of our shoes, you have NO RIGHT to pass judgement.
Hi Lori, ... there is no excuse for your "French"! Vulgarity is nothing but the sign of a weak mind! This being said, if the truth hurts then so be it! If you do not like it, remove the post or your blog! You expect people to work for you for free? Do you work for free or do you expect compensation for your efforts? The contracts entered into to go after parents that do not pay for their children clearly call for a fee to be paid and the only reason you are with them is because you can’t get the government to do it for you for free. And if they did they would be using MY tax dollars to do so. You are right that the children are the victims here! Instead of blaming everyone else look in the mirror. I am a parent, raising my children to be responsible members of society. I have meet many ignorant people, both men & women like the ones in your posts, and one thing is sure, you all act like you are a victim and deserve a hand out. You state I have no right to pass judgment, yet from the post I have read, it seems that you have this right? Perhaps you should move to another country and find out just how many rights you really have! You don’t! And for the record, read your blog....you are nothing but F**King idiot and I am glad I am not f**king you.
Poor Mr/Ms Anonymous. I actually feel sorry for you. If all you have to do is wait around day after day to see when you can post on my blog as Anonymous, who's watching your kids? Its pretty pathetic and you might want to get a life. If you have something to say that people want to hear, set up your own blog. Dont come to mine and waste my time. If Vulgarity is nothing but the sign of a weak mind! You better read your last comment. Now thats calling the kettle black. Anyone that hides behind an Anonymous comment has no respect from me. You can talk the talk but cant walk the walk. Hey, lets do lunch!!
Lori, I truly apologize for letting myself be baited into using the same language as you… it was very small of me. With that being said, please do not flatter yourself as I am not hanging around waiting for your blog to be updated, just happens to be I tripped on this and thought perhaps you/your people could use another perspective. As for the who is watching my kids, I provide for my family and my wife is a stay at home mother. This is by design as when we married and had children it was a commitment we made both to each other and the children we have. I have seen both side of the fence and I do not believe people in your situation are “bad” people. My point was and is that many present and believe they are victims and there are many…way too many that are not. They are the problem! The other point was the collection agent, the government DID NOT help you in your time of need and outside, 3rd party help was asked for. The fee charged by these 3rd parties is an operating expense for all the tools needed to help locate and then get the “bad” parents to pay for their children. I would ask you this, if the government isn’t taking the tax dollars from the citizens that actually work in this country to help secure the monies due to custodial parents that non- custodial parents are not paying, who do you suggest should be doing it for free? Would you get up every morning and leave your home and children to work 40 hours a week for nothing?
They have paid themselves over $20,000 dollars on my case alone. That money is for collecting a check from the DA and cutting me another check minus 34%. I ask you, how much should a service like that cost? I could send my youngest son to a University for 1 year with that money. Our complaint isnt about paying a fee, yes they should be paid something, but $20,000 dollars is a ridiculous amount. Can you think of any service you have hired out that you would agree to paying that amount? There needs to be an end. I dont sit around waiting for a check from the government. I work for a living. Like Ive stated before, the money I get for child support wouldnt pay for groceries for a month at my house so the tax dollars would ALSO be mine. Im not ignorant nor unfair. I raised 2 men and I did a great job. If you dont work for SK or RJBA, what is your main concern with this whole situation? Why do you feel the need to bash the single parents fighting for a cause that doesnt even concern you Mr. Anonymous? We dont need people bad mouthing any of us. I set up this blog as a resource, because I had something to say. I suggest if you have such a strong concern over the mistreatment of SK, you set up your own website. Dont come here and vent your anger on people you dont know for a cause that doesnt pertain to you. Thats misplaced anger. You need to find the source of your true feelings and deal with them in a professional setting. My blog is not the place. Step away from the computer and spend time with your wife and family. Let us fight our battle. Your input hasnt helped anyone.
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