The Parent Trap

A CBS 2 News Special Assignment

The Department of Motor Vehicles has sent out thousands of driver's license cancellation notices to parents who have back child support.

CBS 2 News' Troubleshooter Judd McIlvain says he has received many complaints from parents who say they are paying their child support, but their driver's licenses are still being taken away.

Special Assignment: The Parent Trap, aired Friday, May 30 at 11 p.m.

Bernie Hernandez is the father of a child who lives with his ex-wife. He has back child support payments he owes from when he was unemployed. But for years now he has been paying the district attorney offices in two different counties. Hernandez's attorney says all they want to see is a single figure showing how much he owes.

But the L.A. County district attorney's child support office can't tell them exactly what he owes. To make matters worse, while Hernandez was trying to get answers from their computers, they took his driver's license away - even thought he was paying. Now he can't work his job as a mechanic because he doesn't have a driver's license.

"They need to start communicating with one another, because people's lives are getting ruined because of the inadequacies of the district attorneys," says Bernie Hernandez.

And Bernie Hernandez isn't alone.

Van and Kathy Patton have two children. Van has been making child support payments on his daughter, who has been living with his ex-wife for 10 years. He has never missed a payment. All of the sudden they started getting letters from the L.A. County district attorney's office saying they owe over $100,000. They are also notified that Patton's driver's license and passport will be taken away. Patton is an aerospace engineer and his work requires that he travel often.

"When you call them they say you have a credit of zero, and everything is fine. Then the next thing I know is I get [a statement] in the mail that says I owe $108,233.34," Patton said.

They have even received seven statements from the district attorney's office - each one had a different figure that they allegedly owe. Just like Bernie Hernandez, the Patton family couldn't get an answer from the L.A. County child support. So they came to CBS 2 News' Troubleshooter Judd McIlvain for help.

McIlvain set up an appointment with the district attorneys at the child support office, and invited both Bernie Hernandez and the Pattons along. They all met with Deputy District Attorney Dennis Snap, who called the overbillings a mistake.

"Our office clearly made a human error in inputting the terms of the court orders. Rather than putting in 1996, they typed in 1986. It was clearly a mistake," Snap said.

But it was far more than a simple mistake for Bernie Hernandez and the Pattons, who bombarded Snap with other complaints.

"I have always been told that a representative will be assigned to the case and will contact me, I have never been contacted," Van Patton said.

"One of your computers says we owe $400, another says we owe $200, another one says we have a $1000 credit and another says we owe $108,000," Kathy Patton argued. "How do I know that I don't get a call and my husband is in prison because that computer didn't have zero? We're at a loss. We don't have that kind of money to correct your error."

The deputy district attorney apologized for some of the problems, but then suggested that the Pattons had ignored the billing statements.

"I have ignored nothing," Van Patton replied. "The first thing we got we don't even have because we threw it out, because we thought it was a credit card [application]."

"That may well have been the notice we sent," said Deputy Snap.

"No, we never got a notice!" yelled Kathy Patton. "I will show you a copy of it with the blanks filled in on it! We never received a copy from you!"

Deputy Snap asked to get some water, and returned with an armed guard. Troubleshooter McIlvain asked the deputy why it was necessary to go out and get a man with a gun and badge, but Snap wouldn't comment. So with the guard overshadowing the preceedings, the parents continued to demand accountability. The meeting went down hill, and it became clear that speaking with the deputy wasn't resolving the problems.

Judd McIlvain asked the deputy district attorney in charge of all child support to come down and talk with the parents. Deputy Wayne Doss did, and he assured them all the problems would be corrected. And he gave them his private number to call him if that didn't happen.

Judd McIlvain reports that Bernie Hernandez will now get his driver's license back, and Van Patton will not lose his. If you get a notice of revocation for back child support from the Department of Motor Vehicles, you have 100 days to work it out with your district attorney's office. It's important to visit them in-person, though, because the L.A. County office says it is overwhelmed by cases.

Compiled by Erik Nelson , Channel 2000 Staff Writer