§ 171-I — Enforcement of child support and combined child and spousal support arrears

§ 171-i. Enforcement of child support and combined child and spousal\nsupport arrears. 1. The commissioner, on behalf of the department, shall\nenter into a written agreement with the commissioner of the office of\ntemporary and disability assistance, on behalf of the office of\ntemporary and disability assistance, which shall set forth the\nprocedures for the department to collect child support and combined\nchild and spousal support arrears.\n 2. Such agreement shall include:\n (a) the criteria for determining cases subject to referral to the\ndepartment for enforcement which shall not include cases for which\npayments are being received by the support collection unit as a result\nof an income execution issued pursuant to section five thousand two\nhundred forty-one of the civil practice law and rules, and shall not\ninclude cases in which the obligor has not accumulated support arrears\nequivalent to or greater than four months, but shall include cases which\nmeet any of the following criteria:\n (i) cases in which the obligor has accumulated support arrears\nequivalent to or greater than four months; or\n (ii) cases with support arrears, notwithstanding the amount of such\narrears, selected by the support collection unit for referral consistent\nwith this section, in consultation with the department and the office of\ntemporary and disability assistance;\n (b) the procedures and criteria under which the office of temporary\nand disability assistance and the department shall identify cases to be\nreferred to the department for enforcement;\n (c) the procedure under which the office of temporary and disability\nassistance shall notify and update the commissioner of an obligor's\nliability for support arrears;\n (d) the procedures by which the department and the office of temporary\nand disability assistance shall coordinate their support enforcement\nactivities;\n (e) the procedures by which the department notifies the office of\ntemporary and disability assistance of monies collected and remits such\nmonies to the office of temporary and disability assistance or their\nfiscal agent for distribution to the appropriate support collection\nunits;\n (f) the procedure under which the commissioner shall be notified by\nthe office of temporary and disability assistance that an obligor has\nsatisfied his or her support arrears;\n (g) the procedure under which the department and the office of\ntemporary and disability assistance shall provide notification to the\nother or to the support collection unit of the office of temporary and\ndisability assistance of any information with regard to an obligor's\naddress, income, or employment, or identification of assets which may be\nsubject to enforcement by such support collection unit or by the\ndepartment;\n (h) the procedure for the publicizing of sanctions for nonpayment of\nsupport, including enforcement of support arrears by the department; and\n (i) such other matters as the parties to such agreement shall deem\nnecessary to carry out the provisions of this section.\n 3. The office of temporary and disability assistance shall send a\nnotice by first class mail to the last known address or such other place\nwhere a support obligor is likely to receive notice, no later than\nthirty days prior to the date the office of temporary and disability\nassistance notifies the commissioner of such obligor's liability for\nsupport arrears. Such notice shall provide:\n (a) that such obligor can avoid notification by the office of\ntemporary and disability assistance to the commissioner by fully\nsatisfying the support arrears or by complying with such other\nrequirements as is provided for in paragraph (d) of subdivision fifteen\nof section one hundred eleven-b of the social services law; and\n (b) the address and telephone number of the support collection unit\nwhich such obligor may contact to request information or to arrange for\npayment of the support arrears.\n 4. Upon receipt of notification from the office of temporary and\ndisability assistance of an obligor's eligibility for enforcement of\nsupport arrears by the department, the commissioner or his or her agent\nis authorized to initiate enforcement of such arrears. When such\nnotification is made to the commissioner, the department shall be deemed\nto have obtained a judgment against such obligor for the full amount of\nthe support arrears stated in such notice and any subsequent arrears\nwhich may become due. The department may enforce the judgment thereby\nobtained with like effect and in the same manner prescribed by this\nchapter for the collection of tax assessment eligible to be docketed\nunder this chapter as a warrant, except that any payment made by the\nsupport obligor to the department to satisfy support arrears shall be\npaid over by the department to the office of temporary and disability\nassistance or its fiscal agent for distribution to the appropriate\nsupport collection unit. Where the sum collected by the department\nexceeds the amount of the support arrears, and the support obligator\nalso has a liability in respect of any tax, fee or other imposition\nimposed by or pursuant to the authority of this chapter or any other law\nif such tax, fee or other imposition is administered by the\ncommissioner, the department may credit such excess against such\nliability.\n 5. (a) For purposes of the confidentiality provisions of this chapter,\nenforcement activities undertaken by the department pursuant to this\nsection shall be considered to be court actions or proceedings under\nthis chapter.\n (b) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in the\nconfidentiality provisions of this chapter, the department may furnish\nthe office of temporary and disability assistance or the support\ncollection unit with the information described in paragraph (g) of\nsubdivision two of this section regarding a support obligor whose case\nhas been referred to the commissioner for enforcement pursuant to this\nsection. The office of temporary and disability assistance or the\nsupport collection unit, as applicable, may redisclose such information\nonly to the extent necessary to secure the collection of support arrears\nfrom such obligor.\n 6. Activities to enforce support arrears undertaken by the department\npursuant to this section shall not in any way limit, restrict or impair\nthe office of temporary and disability assistance from exercising its\nauthority to enforce support arrears under applicable laws; provided,\nhowever, that the department and the office of temporary and disability\nassistance shall coordinate their support enforcement activities in a\nway designed to minimize duplication of effort and maximize collection\nof support arrears.\n 7. If, following referral of an obligor's case to the commissioner,\nsuch obligor commences an administrative or quasi-judicial proceeding or\nany civil proceeding against the department or the commissioner\nchallenging such referral, then the office of temporary and disability\nassistance and the commissioner of the office of temporary and\ndisability assistance shall be substituted as respondents or defendants\nin such proceeding, as the case may be. The department shall be bound by\nany decision in such proceeding which is no longer subject to\nadministrative or quasi-judicial review. Neither the department nor the\ncommissioner shall be liable for any damages sustained by reason of such\nreferral.\n 8. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, a payment of\nsupport arrears made to the department pursuant to the provisions of\nthis section shall be deemed to be a payment of such arrears to the\noffice of temporary and disability assistance or its fiscal agent.\n