Complaint Review: Genesee County Friend Of The Court

I read a posting on this site from a "Pam" in grand Junction, Michigan, and I wanted to post my own because it is extremely similar and I am hoping that enough of us complain, maybe the governor will make the appropriate changes to keep this from happening to many others!

On October 5, the State of Michigan took every penny that was in my joint checking account. My husband has been out of work since December, and the money in the account was my most recent paycheck and child support payment for my own two children from my ex-husband. All told, over $1,198.00 was taken, which was every cent we had. My husband does owe back support, but since he has been out of work, I was the one sending in support payments on his behalf. At the time that they did this, I had sent in over $1,004.00 in support since December.

We thought if we kept the Friend of the Court up to snuff on our situation and at least made an effort to pay, that we would be okay and as soon as my husband got a job, payments would definately resume as normal. We notified them, in writing, of our sitution and told the custodial parent, too. We even made sure my husband got a large share of the income tax return, so he could apply that to his support. Anyway, without so much as a letter or a phone call, they took everything. When we called the State to find out what was going on, they informed us that my husband had a bench warrant out for his arrest, too. We had NO idea any of this was going to happen.

We went to the Friend of the Court VOLUNTARILY to talk to them about the situation. I had made a deal with a man from the State Enforcement agency and he agreed that my own child support should not have been used to pay my husband's debt. He agreed to give all but $264.00 back to me, and I agreed. However, before the deal was "sealed", we went to the FOC to settle the bench warrant issue first. BIG MISTAKE. The lady at the Friend of the Court rudely refused to even let me come in with my husband to talk to her about the deal I made with the state guy.

She took my husband ALONE downstairs and basically told him that if he didn't sign over ALL the money out of our account, she would not lift the bench warrant, and he would be arrested. When my husband tried to tell her that the money wasn't his and that it was every cent we had, she told him, "You're telling me a bunch of stuff that has nothing to do with your kid." So basically, my husband signed off all of MY money or else he was going to jail. Does that sound like extortion or what???

Since then, we have had to file bankruptcy. My once good name and credit is totally ruined. To save our home and to keep a roof over our kids' heads, we had to file chapter 7. I was once a customer "in good standing" at my bank for 8 years, but now I have to charge off over $950.00 worth of bank fees and returned checks. My husband is having a hard time finding a job because of a bench warrant on his record. My old bank also called around to the bank where I had my name on my company's business account, and I had to have my name removed and go through the humiliation of my bosses knowing about my bankruptcy.

Despite the reasons, bankruptcy carries a stigma all its own. It says "loser", "bad checks", and "irresponsible". Oh, and to add insult to injury, the Friend of the Court sent me a letter last week saying that the last payment I had made BEFORE they cleaned out my account had bounced, and now I owe them that payment plus a $20.00 "processing fee". Isn't that just a hoot?

I notified the State Senator's office, and they took interest in my case, but then after talking with the head of the Friend of the Court, and to the caseworker involved, they told me there was nothing they could do. The caseworker basically lied and told the Senator's office that my husband had "insisted" that they take all our money. Yeah, right. I have now contacted the Genesee County Commissioner's Office, I have yet to hear back from them.

Everyone feels for my situation and thinks what happened is wrong, but no one can seem to do anything about it. Has the Friend of the Court gotten this powerful? Is there no "checks and balances" that even the President of the United States is held to? I hope it was worth bankrupting a family over a $3,000.00 support arrearage. I'd like to think that the family unit was worth more than that. Maybe I'm just in the wrong state.

Maureen
Flint, Michigan
U.S.A.