Or. Admin. Code § 137-055-4560 - Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies

(1) The Department of Justice may enter into agreements with consumer reporting agencies as defined in ORS 25.650 to disclose information under section (2) of this rule. Under these agreements, the Department will provide such agencies with the names of obligors who owe support and will indicate the specific amount each obligor owes. Under these agreements, the Department will provide such information:

(a) Whether or not the agency has requested information on any specific obligor; and

(b) On a recurring or periodic basis.

(2) Before issuing a periodic report to a consumer reporting agency with information on any obligor, the Department will provide the obligor with advance notice of the intent to report the obligor's support balance to the consumer reporting agencies. The notice will be sent to the obligor's last known addresses. The notice must:

(a) Indicate the balance to be reported to the consumer reporting agencies;

(b) Advise that the current balance will be reported to the consumer reporting agencies on a recurring basis without sending further notice to the obligor;

(c) Advise of the obligor's right to contest the action within 30 calendar days of the date of the notice.

(d) Explain the process for contesting and advise that objections must be in writing on the form provided with the notice;

(e) Advise that the only reasons for contesting credit reporting are:

(A) The obligor is not the person who owes the support balance shown on the case record;

(B) The support balance indicated in the notice is incorrect; or

(C) The arrears are a result of past support created in an order under ORS 25.515 or ORS 109.155(4) or by an upward modification of an order.

(3) If the obligor does not contest the action within the allowed 30-day period, the Department will release the information to the consumer reporting agencies.

(4) If the obligor contests the balance indicated in the notice the administrator will conduct an administrative review on the case and mail the results of the review to the parties.

(5) Once the administrative review is complete, the Department will release the information to the consumer reporting agencies except as specified in section (12) of this rule.

(6) Parties may contest the administrator's review and determination as provided in ORS 183.484.

(7) If the obligee or child attending school, contests the balance in the notice, the obligee or child attending school, may initiate an arrears establishment request pursuant to OAR 137-055-3240.

(8) If a court or agency of appropriate jurisdiction determines the balance owing is other than previously reported, the Department will update the consumer reporting agencies with the court's or agency's findings within 10 days after receiving a copy of the final order.

(9) If at any time an obligor contacts the administrator in writing to state that the information that has been reported to the consumer reporting agency is incorrect, the administrator must, within 30 days of receiving notification of the dispute:

(a) Provide notice to the consumer reporting agency and the parties that the information is being disputed;

(b) Conduct an administrative review of the case; and

(c) Provide the results of the review to the parties and the consumer reporting agency.

(10) Notwithstanding section (9), the administrator will not conduct an administrative review of the reported information more than once in any calendar year, unless an obligor presents new supporting documentation, to the administrator, that information reported to the consumer reporting agency is incorrect.

(11) When consumer reporting agencies ask the Department for information regarding the balance an obligor owes on a support case, the Department may provide available information after complying with the requirements of sections (1) through (8) of this rule. The Department will not charge the requesting agency a fee for this information.

(12) The Department may refer to the consumer reporting agencies, the name and support balance of all obligors who meet the criteria of sections (1) or (11) of this rule unless:

(a) The obligor pays the support balance in full; or

(b) The obligor is found to not be the person who owes the child support balance indicated by the case record.

(13) When the Department has made a report to a consumer reporting agency under section (1) of this rule, the Department will promptly notify the consumer reporting agency when the case record shows that the obligor no longer owes past due support.

Notes

Or. Admin. Code § 137-055-4560

AFS 79-1985(Temp), f. & ef. 12-26-85; AFS 22-1986, f. & ef. 3-4-86; AFS 12-1989, f. 3-27-89, cert. ef. 4-1-89, Renumbered from 461-035-0051; AFS 66-1989, f. 11-28-89, cert. ef. 12-1-89, Renumbered from 461-035-0670; AFS 11-1990, f. 3-27-90, cert. ef. 4-1-90; AFS 25-1990, f. 11-21-90, cert. ef. 12-1-90; AFS 7-1996, f. 2-22-96, cert. ef. 4-1-96; AFS 23-1997, f. 12-29-97, cert. ef. 1-1-98; AFS 18-2000, f. & cert. ef. 7-12-00; AFS 32-2000, f. 11-29-00, cert. ef. 12-1-00, Renumbered from 461-195-0230; AFS 15-2002, f. 10-30-02, ef. 11-1-02; SSP 15-2003, f. 6-25-03, cert. ef. 6-30-03; DOJ 6-2003(Temp), f. 6-25-03, cert. ef. 7-1-03 thru 12-28-03, Renumbered from 461-200-4560; DOJ 10-2003, f. 9-29-03, cert. ef. 10-1-03, Renumbered from 461-200-4560; DOJ 12-2004, f. & cert. ef. 10-1-04; DOJ 9-2005, f. & cert. ef. 10-3-05; DOJ 1-2006, f & cert. ef. 1-3-06; DOJ 6-2008, f. & cert. ef. 4-1-08; DOJ 13-2017, amend filed 12/29/2017, effective 1/1/2018; DOJ 20-2018, amend filed 09/04/2018, effective 9/5/2018; DOJ 38-2020, minor correction filed 02/05/2020, effective 2/5/2020; DOJ 2-2023, amend filed 02/28/2023, effective 3/3/2023

Statutory/Other Authority: 42 USC § 666(a)(7) & ORS 180.345

Statutes/Other Implemented: ORS 25.650