Computer glitch leads to mistake in county collection notices

Tens of thousands of Iowans are getting warnings in the mail saying they have to pay their debts before they’ll be allowed to renew vehicle registrations. The problem is — the warnings are wrong. One county leader says the company that sends the notices out had a computer problem.Polk County Treasurer Mary Maloney says the computer glitch triggered the incorrect warnings to be sent to 37-thousand Iowans in 80 counties. Maloney says the notices say people owe child support, court fees or state taxes and can’t renew their registrations until they are paid up. She says the company is sending out corrected statements.Until those corrections are mailed out, Maloney says it will likely mean many thousands of phone calls from confused, sometimes-angry people will be placed to county treasurer’s offices across Iowa.Maloney says the computer problem effected about 20-percent of all mailings sent out in Iowa by Allied Document Solutions. She says the amounts shown as due on the notices are correct — only the notices about debts owed are wrong.