A father contacted the Ombudsman to complain that the Child Support Services Division (CSSD) had levied and emptied his bank account just days after he had made a large payment through wage garnishment. The Ombudsman learned that CSSD had provided the complainant with written notice of the enforcement action and that the actions taken by CSSD to levy the complainant’s bank account were in accordance with Alaska law. However, because the complainant contended that the bank levy had created an extreme hardship for him, CSSD put a hold on the levied funds and agreed to work with the complainant to potentially return some or all of the funds, if the complainant could prove that this created a hardship for him through the Administrative Review process. The Ombudsman relayed this information to the complainant and closed the complaint. The Ombudsman learned from CSSD within a couple days that the entire amount of bank levy funds received by the agency had been returned to the complainant and that the complainant’s request for a hardship to modify his ongoing wage withholding order was granted. (A2015-0458)
