Current through Reg. 49, No. 38; September 20, 2024
(a)
The Arrears Payment Incentive Program is a voluntary program administered by
the Office of the Attorney General (OAG), a Title IV-D agency, to promote
payment by obligors who are delinquent in satisfying child support arrearages
assigned to the Title IV-D agency under Texas Family Code §
RSA
231.104(a). The program is
established pursuant to Texas Family Code §
RSA
231.124. The program provides a credit for
every dollar amount paid by the obligor on interest and arrearage balances
during each month of the obligor's voluntary enrollment in the program.
Participation by an obligor in the program does not prohibit the OAG from
pursuing any other collection method authorized by law.
(b) The following criteria must be met for an
obligor to be eligible to participate in the program:
(1) There must be a final Texas child support
order in the obligor's case;
(2)
The obligor must have and maintain a current address on record with the
OAG;
(3) There must be at least
$500 in both state-owned arrears (the child support obligation assigned to the
state under Texas Family Code §
RSA
231.104(a) that accrued
during any month the obligee received TANF/AFDC public assistance benefits),
and unrecovered assistance (the amount of money paid in the form of public
assistance under the Title IV-A program that has not yet been recovered from
collections applied to state-owned arrears for the case);
(4) the child support obligation must not be
payable to the Department of Family and Protective Services;
(5) the obligor must not have a pending
bankruptcy case;
(6) the obligor's
case must not be one in which the OAG is providing intergovernmental services
under Texas Family Code Chapter 159; and
(7) the obligor must not be currently
incarcerated.
(c) The
following conditions apply to an obligor's continued participation in the
program:
(1) to receive program matching
payment credits reducing state-owned arrears, an obligor must pay the current
support obligations for the month in full, including medical and dental
support, if any, plus make a payment toward the child support arrears
balance;
(2) an obligor must make
at least one qualifying arrearage payment within any 180-day period for
continued participation in the program. Failure by an obligor to make at least
one qualifying arrearage payment within any 180-day period may result in the
OAG removing the obligor from the program;
(3) payments must be voluntarily paid by the
obligor or by the obligor's employer through income withholding; and
(4) if an obligor enrolled in the program
seeks federal bankruptcy protection, the obligor will no longer be eligible to
receive program matching payment credits and will be removed from the program
while the bankruptcy proceeding is pending.
(d) The following procedures apply to
enrollment in the program:
(1) the OAG will
make the Texas Attorney General, Child Support Division's Arrears Payment
Incentive Program Application (Form 1575) available on its website;
(2) if an obligor has multiple cases and
wants each case enrolled in the program, the obligor will need to apply to the
program for each case;
(3) the
obligor may apply for initial enrollment in the program, regardless of whether
the obligor is currently making payments on the case;
(4) if the obligor is removed from the
program, there will be a six-month waiting period to be eligible to re-apply;
and
(5) an obligor may be
immediately eligible for re-enrollment if a lump sum payment equaling at least
three full months of support obligations, including any periodic court-ordered
arrears payments, is paid through the Texas Child Support State Disbursement
Unit.
(e) The following
terms apply to the financial incentives to be offered under the program:
(1) if the obligor pays all current support
obligations for the month, any additional amounts paid towards the child
support arrears will be matched with a dollar-for-dollar credit that will be
applied to reduce state-owned child support arrears. Program matching payment
credits will not be applied to reduce medical support or dental support
arrears. Program matching payment credits will not reduce any family-owned
arrears;
(2) an obligor is eligible
to earn program matching payment credits from the date of acceptance into the
program;
(3) program matching
payment credits automatically stop once unrecovered assistance is paid in full
or state-owned child support arrears are paid in full, whichever occurs first;
and
(4) payments received on other
cases involving the obligee may impact the portion of arrears on the obligor's
case that are eligible for program matching payment credits.
(f) The following payments are not
eligible for program matching payment credits:
(1) federal offsets;
(2) state debt setoffs;
(3) lottery intercepts;
(4) bond forfeitures;
(5) monies received as the result of child
support liens or levies; or
(6)
payments made directly to the obligee and not through the Texas Child Support
State Disbursement Unit.
