Residents outraged after government hires collection agency

Brownstown, IN (WAVE) - A local government says it wants its money and its not afraid to turn to a collection agency to get it. Problem is, a lot of taxpayers said they never knew they owed these unpaid bills. And now they think they're being penalized for what they see as the government's mistake.

So neighbors turned to WAVE 3 Troubleshooter Eric Flack for help.

Jackson County is small town living with one big problem.

"I was shocked to learn we had almost $1,000,000 in unpaid child support docket fees," said Jackson County Clerk of Court Amanda Lowery.

Lowery said shortly after she took office in January, a state audit uncovered 3,800 residents with $978,000 in unpaid child support docket fees dating back 12 years. Lowery said the charges were assessed to pay for processing child support payments.

So she hired Eagle Accounts Group, a collection agency from Indianapolis, to go after the county's money.

"I think the reason it's so large is because it went on for so long," said Eagle CEO Chet Klene.

The $978,000 owed in Jackson County is an extremely high number for a county of its size. Jackson's County's yearly budget for a year is just over $9,000,000.

Jay Stein and his dad Michael both got collection letters.

"My first thought was it was a scam of some sort," Michael said.

A scam, Michael thought, because county records showed he owed docket fees from 1999-2011. But Michael stopped paying child support in 2000.

"So that tells me and it should tell you that you're system is grossly flawed," he said.

Jay paid child support until 2010 and has the receipts to prove it. But he says no one ever told him about a docket fee until he got this letter from Eagle telling him he owed almost $500, including a 30% collection charge of $111.

"So my question is how can you charge somebody and not tell them that they owe you money, and then in the end turn them into a collection agency?" he said.

But Lowery said she doesn't think people can hold Jackson County responsible. Lowery said she's trying to collect unpaid bills dating back to 1999 even though Jackson County didn't start sending out notification of docket fees until 2008. But she said other people over that time have paid.

"If I can generate the funds to put back into the general fund where they should have originally been intended I think that's a great thing," she said.

Eagle Accounts Group acknowledges the main reason people owe money is they didn't know about the docket fee or thought they paid it. Still, no one gets a pass.

"We don't waive our collection fee if someone honestly didn't know," Klene said. Asked if that policy was fair, Klene said, "It seems as fair as anything. Somebody's got to pay."

Michael Stein ended up doing just that paying $78 dollars, including a collection fee, for two years worth of docket fees Stein claims he's already paid, but doesn't have the receipts to prove it.

"I went back to the courthouse and said I'll pay you your $78 but I want you to understand it's under protest," Stein said. "I think what you're doing is wrong."

So wrong in his son Jay's eyes he is refusing to pay the collection fee even though it means Eagle will soon hand his name to a credit reporting agency.

"Its not a big deal paying the money it's the principal of the thing," Jay said. "I hate to say I just think there is a lot of incompetence in our county government."

As of July 8, Jackson County had collected $53,181 in unpaid child support docket fees. And with a collection rate of only about 10% Jackson County could only wind up with $100,00-$120,000 out of this move. Lowery said with such a small budget, the money will be a help to the county, whatever they end up getting back.

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Copyright 2011 WAVE News. All rights reserved.

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