Tax Board Now Tackles Deadbeat Parents

About 200,000 hard-to-reach deadbeat parents in Los Angeles and five other counties last week began receiving the most serious threats so far aimed at jolting them into paying child support.

A letter sent by the state Franchise Tax Board heralds a new state pilot program that pursues delinquent child support with the same vigor--and automation--as delinquent taxes.

If the parents don’t pay in full within 10 days, the state threatens to:

* Attach their bank accounts and paychecks.

* Put a lien on any property they own, which might harm their ability to secure loans.

* Seize or sell such property.

Counties in the pilot program are Los Angeles, Ventura, Solano, Fresno, Santa Clara and Nevada.

Currently, 2 million parents owe a total of $3 billion to single-parent families, and the figure grows daily, state officials said.

Based on results of a successful test this year in Los Angeles County, they estimate they may retrieve $14 million during the first year of the project. It may cost almost that much to run the six-county pilot program, but officials say the true saving would come from a reduction in welfare rolls.

If all non-custodial parents paid what they owe, the state’s welfare caseload could be cut in half, said State Controller Gray Davis. Officials will propose expanding the program statewide in a year.

Single parents received an average of $1,150 from the test program in Los Angeles.

Susan Molaf, 39, and her two children--18 and 16--received $4,000.

“I was thrilled and shocked,” she said. In more than a year of fighting her ex-husband over child support, she said, “This is the first time the children have received what is owed them.”

Molaf, who lives “paycheck to paycheck,” said she used the money for bills and college expenses for her older child.

The father, David Underberger, 40, of Canoga Park, said it was a case of overkill.

“What does delinquent mean?” he asked. “I paid child support every month for 10 years. The one time I have a legitimate problem (he said he was unemployed for six months) I get nailed to the cross.”

He said Molaf also owed him an equal amount of money for unpaid medical bills and that after he was forced to pay the $4,000, he successfully pursued the debt in civil court. He now receives $50 a month from her, he said.

“So what we’ve done is tied up the courts and wasted more of the taxpayers’ dollars.”

Officials levied his checking account without listening to his side of the story, he said. “Now this is on my credit report. It’s not fair. It should never have gone that far to begin with.

“You want to know how I feel about the system? I think it stinks.”

The program is not expected to be popular with non-custodial parents, the majority of whom are fathers.

“There’s no question some people are upset with this program,” Davis said. But, he added, “when you bring a child into this world you are responsible to provide love and financial support. We can’t make you provide love, but we can make you pay the bill.”