Federal and state laws give child support agencies the option of using "administrative enforcement" actions to collect overdue child support. Administrative enforcement allows the child support agency to act without going to court. In Wisconsin, these actions are based on the child support lien. In most cases, a lien is automatically created when the payer owes $500 or more in past-due support on his or her court case.
A child support lien is a hold placed on property (such as land and cars) until past-due child support is paid. (The past-due support amount for a child support lien does not include unpaid birth costs or fees.) These liens may be recorded without a court hearing. The parent's identifying information is added to the Wisconsin Child Support Lien Docket , and the parent is notified that a lien is in effect.
Liens must be paid off (satisfied) or released before the parent can sell the property. For more information on child support liens, go to http://dcf.wisconsin.gov/cs/enforce/lien.