Trouble paying court debt?

You have the right to an income-based payment plan!

Are you burdened by court costs? You are not alone. About 17 million families in the US have unmet needs for food, housing, or healthcare because of a court debt. In Florida, over 700,000 people have suspended licenses because they fell behind on court debt. Prevent this from happening by knowing your rights!

NOTE: this does not apply if you are on probation. You will have to make payments based on the terms of your probation

How it Works

Florida Statute 28.246(4)(b) gives people with court debt a right to an income-based payment plan. After meeting with Community Spring, the Alachua County Clerk’s Office recently restructured their payment plan process. Your payment will be based on your total yearly income. This means no matter how high your debt is, you could be paying as low as $25 a month.

Table showing how much the monthly payments will be for different income brackets.

How to Apply

You can call or go in-person to the Clerk’s Office to apply for a new payment plan for your court debt.

The Clerk’s Office has said they will work with folks who are having trouble making payments.

If at any point you can’t make a payment, try to contact them before your payment is due and rework your payment plan.

Limitations

Again, this does not apply if you’re on probation - you’ll have to make payments based on the terms of your probation.

The Clerk’s office does not currently allow this payment plan for civil traffic debt.

The Clerk’s office won’t go lower than $25/month, even if you’re on a fixed income or your income is very low.

Payment plans are per case. The Clerk’s Office will not combine debt from multiple cases onto one payment plan.

Share your experience!

This is a new process, so if you set up a payment plan let us know how well it worked (or didn’t work) for you!

info@csgnv.org
352-358-1794