ENFORCEMENT OF SUPPORT OBLIGATION

CS 803P-2 Electronic Reporting of Liens to Court, Enforcement, Intergovernmental, Satisfaction of Judgment-Lien

04/00 Revised 09/03/24 Training Completed 09/17/24 Last Reviewed 09/29/25

Utah Code 26B-9-205, 206, 208, 209, 214, 215, 216 78B-5-201, 202 81-7-102

Introduction

Each week the Office of Recovery Services (ORS) electronically files judgment-liens with the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) on all qualified IVDS, Foster Care or Youth Correction cases (including intergovernmental). The judgment-liens are filed through the AOC’s computer system, which is known as CORIS (Courts Information System) in the county in which the respondent resides. For more information on electronic reporting of liens, refer to CS 803P Electronic Reporting of Liens to Court, Definitions, Criteria and General Information.

Judicial judgments for specified time periods and amounts that are obtained by the assigned Assistant Attorney General (AAG) or by a private attorney are filed with the courts through the judicial process.

Judgments for support cases were manually sent to the courts prior to July 7, 2003. These types of judgments must be manually satisfied. For more information and procedures on retained support judgments, refer to subsection Judgments for Retained Support Cases below.

Satisfaction procedures for each of these processes (electronic, judicial or manual) are not the same and contain different steps. For more information and a list of these procedures, refer to the appropriate subsection below.

If a judgment is taken by ORS, a private attorney or another agency cannot satisfy the judgment. In most cases, ORS does not satisfy a judgment taken by a private attorney or another agency. For more information, refer to subsection Other Judicial Satisfactions below.

Forms Overview

1. Current Balance Letter. When a noncustodial parent (NCP) or title company, etc., requests a document or information in writing about the balance due on a case, generate the Current Balance Letter, which indicates the current balance amount for all of the NCP/respondent’s child support cases. If this letter is requested by a third party, remove the participant’s address and replace it with the address of the third party prior to printing. This letter includes the option for reporting that current child and/or spousal support is still due.

2. Order: Satisfaction of Award. Generated by the agent to satisfy a Judgment and Order for Child Support, a Failure to Withhold/Remit, or a Lien filed with the court after the amount has been satisfied.

Enforcement of Liens

Once a lien has been electronically reported, ORS may pursue an enforcement action that involves a judicial court action (unless the NCP is involved in an active bankruptcy), such as executing upon the NCP’s tangible personal property (e.g., a car or a boat). For more information, refer to CS 827P Execution on Personal Property: General. The Administrative Office of the Court (AOC) lien number is the same as the ORS case number, but is not the same as the civil number on file with the court if one exists.

If a request is made for a document or information in writing about the balance due on a case, generate the Current Balance Letter. This letter states the current balance amount for all of the NCP’s child support cases. The obligation cannot be considered completely “satisfied” until all of the children have legally emancipated. If this letter is requested by a third party, remove the participant’s address prior to printing.

A title company that wishes to unencumber property against a lien that has been electronically reported must pay off the entire lien balance and all judicial judgments to get clear title to the property.

Intergovernmental Liens

ORS electronically files liens on incoming intergovernmental cases according to the NCP’s zip code on ORSIS.

Utah gives full faith and credit to a lien that originated in another state without any additional requirement of judicial notice or hearing prior to the enforcement action, if the individual or IV-D agency properly filed the lien with the clerk of court where the property is located. If ORS has filed an intergovernmental lien and now want to take enforcement action that involves a court action against the lien, consult with the assigned Assistant Attorney General (AAG).

Electronically Reported Liens and Judgments

An electronically reported lien is considered “satisfied” only when the total arrears debt balance reaches zero. “Satisfactions” are transmitted to the AOC every Tuesday night when all qualifying debts for an NCP on a case have ended or the NCP does not have any active case debts. “Satisfactions” occur when the amended lien amount is zero ($0.00) and ended and/or all qualifying debts for an NCP on a case have ended.

If a request is made for a satisfaction but a lien was not previously satisfied ORSIS, offer the Current Balance Letter, providing the case balance as of a specific date. Title companies that are attempting to unencumber property against which a lien has been electronically reported, must pay off the entire lien balance and all judicial judgments in order to obtain an Order: Satisfaction of Award form. The worker may send Current Balance Letter showing the case has a zero balance if the title company wants proof of the case balance. The Current Balance Letter is not expected to clear title to the property.

Interest Waiver Requirements on Non-IV-A Cases

The Non-IV-A CP must agree to waive the interest on a judicial judgment before it may be satisfied (see CS 085P Interest for additional information).

To satisfy a judicial judgment:

1. Contact the assigned AAG and request a Judicial Satisfaction Order which contains the interest waiver language.

2. Contact the CP and get his/her signature on the interest waiver portion of the satisfaction. The CP must agree to waive the interest. If s/he:

a. Signs the waiver – Send a referral packet to the AAG to satisfy the judicial judgment.

b. Does not sign the waiver – The CP must collect the interest on his/her own and the judgment cannot be satisfied until ORS receives authorization from the CP.

Judicial Satisfactions

Satisfy a judicial judgment only after the respondent pays the full amount or pays a negotiated discounted settlement amount in accordance with CS 700P-1 Payment in Full at 100% or Discounted Settlement. The assigned AAG may satisfy a Non-IV-A judicial judgment even if the money was not paid to ORS, provided the CP:

1. Confirms that the judgment balance has been satisfied; and,

2. Agrees to waive the interest if the NCP has not paid the interest directly to the CP. For example, the CP confirms that a private attorney or agent has collected the judgment balance. For more information on interest waivers, refer to subsection Interest Waiver Requirements on ORS Non-IV-A Cases above.

All judicial satisfactions are prepared and filed by the assigned AAG. If the order was docketed in more than one county, make sure that the assigned AAG has the necessary information to file a separate satisfaction in each county the order was docketed in.

Once the satisfaction has been filed with the appropriate court(s), the assigned AAG will make a case narrative documenting the satisfaction and close the referral.

Other Judicial Satisfactions

ORS does not satisfy judgments taken by private attorneys or agencies in favor of the CP unless the judgment was a non-IV-A judgment and assigned to the state when the CP received IV-A assistance. If the assigned debt is paid in full while the CP is receiving IV-A assistance, ORS will satisfy the judgment. If the debt was permanently assigned and has not been paid in full when the CP goes off cash assistance, because the judgment may still be assigned, ORS will satisfy the judgment after it is paid in full, unless the unreimbursed assistance (URA) reaches zero first. If the debt was temporarily assigned and has not been paid in full when the CP goes off cash assistance, the judgment is considered conditionally assigned if there is still a URA balance. This means that ORS will apply any intercepted federal tax refunds to the judgment balance until it is paid in full or the URA reaches zero. If the judgment is paid in full before the URA reaches zero, ORS will satisfy the judgment.

ORS does not satisfy judgments taken by other entities on debts that are totally non-IV-A.

For more information, refer to CS 505P Assignment of Support Rights, CS 600P Unreimbursed Assistance (URA), and CS 070P Private Agents in Non-IV-A Cases/Protocol for Dealing with Private Attorneys.

Procedures – Satisfying a Judgment

To satisfy a judgment, complete the following steps:

1. Generate and complete the Order: Satisfaction of Award Letter and update the obligation in ORSIS. If the order was previously docketed, update ORSIS accordingly.

2. Document all actions taken on the case in the case narratives.

NOTE: The credit bureau is automatically notified that the judgment has been satisfied when the information is added to ORSIS.

Special Circumstances

If one of the following occur, follow the steps listed below.

· If a satisfaction request is made and the lien was previously satisfied in ORSIS;

· If a satisfaction is needed on a judicial judgment previously filed manually;

· If the judgment was withdrawn but should have been satisfied; or,

· If a lien satisfaction is needed and the case is closed.

1. Verify that the judgment has been paid in full, waived, or otherwise settled by negotiation by taking the following steps:

a. Confirm that ORSIS had been previously updated appropriately;

b. Verify that an ORSIS event has been recorded in the narratives with a zero balance; and,

c. Send an email to team 38 with “Lien Satisfaction” in the subject line and the following information in the body of the email:

i. The participant’s name;

ii. ORS case number; and,

iii. A brief description of the request.

2. Once an email has been sent, team 38 will review the information and complete the following:

a. Verify the lien was satisfied appropriately;

b. Verify the ORSIS code was transmitted to the AOC;

c. Review Courts Xchange for the lien status to verify the lien was not satisfied;

d. Generate the Order: Satisfaction of Award form using the information on ORSIS. The form can be used to satisfy a:

i. Judgment and Order for child support;

ii. Judgment and Order: Retained Child Support;

iii. Judgment and Order on a Failure to Withhold/Remit case against an employer; and,

iv. Judgment – Lien.

NOTE: Generate a separate satisfaction in each county if the order was docketed in more than one county.

e.Create a letter, addressed to the court, using the following template:

“To whom it may concern:

On (date) the Office of Recovery Services (ORS) filed an electronic child support lien against (participant’s name) in the amount of (total). On (date) our office electronically transmitted a “System Satisfy” transaction. However, the “System Satisfy” transaction was not processed by the Administrative Office of the Courts.

ORS is unable to electronically satisfy the same lien twice. Please update your records to reflect that this lien has been satisfied.

Thank you for your help with this matter.”

NOTE: Generate a separate letter in each county if the order was docketed in more than one county.

f. Send the original documents to the appropriate clerk of the court and one copy to the Central Imaging Unit (CIU) for imaging to the case file.

NOTE: If a lien was reported to the courts in error and it was later “satisfied” instead of withdrawn, contact the Business Advocate Unit. The Business Advocate Unit will have the court manually withdraw the satisfaction, if appropriate. This will ensure the court records accurately reflect a withdrawn lien instead of a satisfied lien.

Judgments for Retained Support Cases

If an administrative sum-certain judgment for retained support is issued by ORS and docketed with the district court clerk’s office, it must be satisfied when the obligation is paid in full. The judgment must be satisfied in each court where it was abstracted.

The creation of a docket row on ORSIS is evidence that a satisfaction had been generated. Since a return copy of the satisfaction is not received from the court, there is not a copy of the satisfaction in Content Manager. If the respondent questions whether a satisfaction was docketed with the court, research the court files for the docket date of the satisfaction and notify the respondent of the docket date. If a satisfaction is not on record with the court, but the child support case records show that one was completed, generate a new satisfaction and send a copy to the respondent.