The Lien Registry provides information about parents who owe past-due child support. When a parent is listed on the Lien Registry, a lien is automatically created against some of the parent's real property and against his or her titled personal property.
Search Lien Registry
For the best results do NOT use Internet Explorer to Search Lien Registry. Select another browser such as Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, or Firefox.
What does it mean when a person is on the Lien Registry?
- The parent owes past-due support of any amount – there is not a threshold for the Lien Registry. Even if the parent is making payments toward the past-due support he or she will be on the Lien Registry until the past-due amount is paid in full.
- Real or titled personal property that belongs to the person is subject to a lien. Certain property such as the person’s homestead is exempt from the lien under state law.
Information for Partners
Under state law, Child Support must maintain the Lien Registry. The Lien Registry provides information about parents who owe past-due child support on cases receiving Full Child Support services. The Lien Registry may be searched by anyone who is considering doing business with an individual who may owe past-due support. This includes:
- Lenders such as banks and credit unions
- Car dealerships
- Title companies
The Lien Registry is updated every Thursday. The authority for the Lien Registry and information about when Child Support is required to subordinate its lien is found in state law. Child Support liens do not expire. A parent is removed from the Lien Registry when his or her past-due support is paid in full.
Use the Transmittal when submitting a payment for the parent listed on the Lien Registry. Contact Child Support for the payoff amount or with any questions.
Lien Registry Search Tips
Searching by last name only provides the most thorough results.
Use an asterisk (*) to replace one or more unknown letters in the last name. For Example:
- sm*th will result in smith and smyth
- ben* will result in bender, bennett, and benson
When using an (*) all fields except the last name must be blank.
If the last name is subject to different spellings (such as Peterson, Petersen, Pederson) broaden your search by using (*) or various spellings.
If the first name has common nicknames (such as Bill for William, or Jim for James), broaden your search by using the common nicknames.
If an (*) is not used, search results will be displayed only if all information provided is an exact match for the information on the Lien Registry.
Do not use hyphens, apostrophes, or spaces. Capitalization is not necessary.
- Example – smithjones instead of Smith-Jones
- Redfox instead of Red Fox