Check 'Em Out and Warning Signs

Hiring a private child support agency is an important decision - and you want to make sure that the agency you choose is going to be able to perform the services that you need to recover the money that is owed to you. The information that MAFIA provides to you here is designed to make you a better informed consumer as well as point out some of the more common warning signs that we have seen in reviewing some of the private agency web sites and talking with clients of those agencies.

Check 'Em Out

If the agency is a member of a professional organization - contact that organization to ensure that the agency is a member in good standing and how long the agency has been a member of that organization. You can find out what the two primary private child support agency organizations are all about by visiting their web sites:

American Collectors Association

If the agency is incorporated, check with the Secretary of State in the state that they are incorporated. You are wanting to discover two primary things:

Are they in "good standing" with the state they are incorporated in?
Who are the officers of the corporation?

Check with the Secretary of State - or other state agency that may keep these records - to see if there have been any UCC filings made against the agency. A UCC filing is a Uniform Commercial Code filing that lists all of the companies and individuals that may have liens against the assets of the agency or corporation. The more UCC filings that have been made against the agency, the higher their debt load is, which means that the agency may not be able to invest a lot of money into proceeding with your case. Company or agency profits are being used to pay debts and are not being re-invested back into the company or agency.

Check with the Better Business Bureau to see if the agency has any complaints filed against it. Remember though that if the agency is not a member of the BBB - that is not an indication that the agency is not a good, honest and ethical agency.

Check with the Attorney General's Office of Consumer Affairs to see if there have been any consumer complaints filed against the agency. Ask for copies of those complaints and review them carefully. Also inquire if there are any unresolved complaints against the agency.

Check with the Clerk of the Court in the county that the agency is located to determine if any law suits have been filed against the agency. Also check to see if any judgments have been filed against the agency. This is public information - and you may be able to obtain this information over the telephone in some counties. MAFIA does post information about law suits that it has discovered against private agencies.

If you have any doubts about the agency - especially if the agency is relatively new in business (less than 3 years) - ask for business references. The type of references you would be interested in include a banking reference. As the agency to provide you with a letter of reference from their bank. Do not waste your time asking for Client References - obviously the agency is only going to provide you with the names of people that are happy with the services that the agency has provided to them.

If possible - visit the offices of the agency. See the people that you are dealing with. If you can't visit the offices personally, at least verify their address using either the Internet or by calling Directory Assistance.

WARNING SIGNS - or How to avoid being overly impressed...

MAFIA has visited many of the web sites of private agencies and made calls to many of them to determine what they are all about. Here are some of the things that we have found that we believe you should be warned about in advance - just so you won't be overly impressed.

"Lawyers on staff" This isn't going to do you much good unless you or the non-paying parent actually resides in either the county that the agency is located in - or that state. A lawyer that is licensed to practice law in, for example Texas, can not do anything for you if you live in Washington and the non-paying parent is living in Florida.

"Our collectors / supervisors are ACA Certified" The ACA (American Collectors Association) does not have any type of certification program for child support collectors. The only certification program offered by the ACA is for consumer collections - which is vastly different from child support collections.

"We are successful because we know how to work the system" What this means is that the agency probably has contacts in the public agency that are willing to do their work for them - at taxpayer expense - and the agency will charge you a fee for using that contact. In other words - the agency is doing little to earn the money that they are charging you.

"We are highly respected by public agencies" This doesn't do you much good - unless the agency is using the services of the public agency in the efforts to collect money for you at taxpayer expense and charging you a fee. See the next Warning.

"Public agencies cooperate with us because we are reputable" This won't help you get any money - unless the agency has contacts in the public agency who are doing the work that the private agency is charging you for. A private agency does not need to have the public agency cooperate with them. All private agencies are required by law to do their own work. This type of statement is made only to impress people - and really means nothing.

The agency has the word "International" in it's name. Don't be impressed with this one. Only one private agency (Child Support Intervention) is actively engaged in international child support collections. Having that word in the name of the agency does not mean that the agency is, in fact, international in scope.

"We are the oldest private agency" We have seen this claim from three or four different agencies. Who do you believe? What difference does it make? The actual age of an agency has no bearing on its ability to be successful for its clients.

"Largest private agency" Don't be impressed with this one either. Large does not mean "good".

"Read our client testimonials" Don't be too impressed with this instruction. Every agency will have available clients who will say good things about it. No agency is going to give you the names or testimonials of people who were not satisfied with the services provided. To get those names you have to contact the Attorney General's Office of Consumer Affairs. (See the section above.)

"State of the art computer systems" Doesn't really mean too much. This doesn't tell you how effective the agency is.

"We have access to comprehensive data bases" OK - this does help the agency in tracking down people - but most agencies have access to various data bases. A data base is only as good as the number of times that the non-paying parent does something to get listed in any of the available data bases. Nice to know that the agency has this - but really doesn't prove anything.

"We have access to confidential data bases" Don't be overly impressed by this claim either. Virtually every data base is confidential - which means that information can only be obtained by qualified individuals and companies. Every private child support collection agency has permissible access to these data bases.

The agency sends you fancy information about the agency. If you are impressed by full color brochures and booklets - stop and think about this: It costs a lot of money to produce and print those fancy information packages. That means one of two things: The agency is putting a lot of money into its marketing program which could possibly be better placed in providing client services - or the agency is charging a higher application or contingency fee - which means that you are paying a lot of money just to be impressed. Look beyond the fancy stuff - and see what the agency is actually able to do for you.

The agency's marketing representatives continually contact you attempting to convince you to sign up for their services. This means that the agency wants clients real bad - and it also means that the agency is probably charging a higher application fee. This means that the agency has a "higher overhead" and is paying people simply to get new clients - instead of investing that money into its collection program. You really don't need to pay extra money for the privilege of being sold.

The agency advertises heavily on the Internet and through television and radio advertising. This is one of the concepts of advertising - it creates "name recognition". It does not mean that the agency is any better than other agencies who do not engage in this type of advertising. It also means that the agency is most likely charging higher fees - which means that you are paying for the privilege of being a client of the agency. The more money that an agency spends on advertising means that the agency is not able to reinvest its profits into its collection program.

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