Bill Collectors Hunt Deadbeat Dads

Peggy MacMillan’s ex-husband hasn’t paid a cent of the $35,000 in child support he owes for his 10-year-old son, but she can’t count on financially strapped Massachusetts to help her.

So she and hundreds of other parents are looking to a new breed of debt collector: professionals who hunt down the deadbeats--fathers in 92% of the cases--and firmly urge them to pay up.

The private collection agencies gained considerable clout this winter by forming a network, the Child Support Collection Assn., that enables them to track deadbeat dads from state to state. The network has 29 affiliates.

Nearly half the women in America who should be receiving child support aren’t. Such fathers owed $19 billion at the end of 1989, according to the most recent statistics from the Census Bureau.

Debt collectors, once regarded with scorn, say the new line of business is improving their image. It’s their chance to do good--and make a bundle doing it.

“We’re so confident in our ability to collect, our fee is based only on our success,” said Bill Lodge, president of Hoit, Winston & Carter of Norwood, which is tracing MacMillan’s former husband.

Lodge and other members of the network charge a percentage what they are able to collect. Their cut ranges from 20% to 33% and sometimes includes a $25 application fee.

“For me, getting a percentage is better than nothing,” said MacMillan, 38.

Association members say they use professional, often secret methods to find delinquent parents and persuade them to pay. Collectors will negotiate payment plans if the parent truly can’t afford the court-ordered amount.

Knowing little more than a name, Social Security number and perhaps the man’s favorite magazine, the agency starts hunting. It is not uncommon for Lodge to find a debtor by examining lists of customers’ names bought from companies such as Sports Illustrated and Domino’s Pizza.

Jim Jones, president of Child Support Services, which has 350 active cases, said once the father is found, his staff of seven goes right for the heartstrings. The child’s name is mentioned repeatedly.

“We want those children to be on his mind,” Jones said.

Charles Drake, the Texan who came up with the idea for the nationwide network, takes it one step further.

“I can make his life literally a nightmare, like he’s been doing to his own children,” Drake said. He said he doesn’t hesitate to call deadbeats in bars, at work, or in the middle of the night. “I am not only a thorn in their side, but probably their worst nightmare.”

Drake’s business, Children’s Support Services, is handling about 1,400 cases and expects to collect $1.5 million this year.

The product of a divorced couple who watched his mother become a “part-time bill collector,” Drake views child support as much more than an overdue bill.

“This isn’t a credit card debt or a car loan,” he said. “This is their kids.”