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When anyone enters the casino, they want to win. And once they win, they want to take their winnings home or spend it all at the casino! However, in the state of Iowa, if you win at the casino and have an unpaid debt, they will take your winnings to pay the debt owed.According to the Des Moines Register, the state of Iowa will collect the unpaid debts such as child support or court debt in the form of gambling wins. The casinos and racetracks are working with the state to help settle these debts.
The casinos must check if the winners at their establishments owe any state debts before they award any jackpot worth $1,200 or more. If the winner does owe a debt, then the casino must deduct the debt from the amount of cash won.
So far, the state of Iowa has collected over $5 million in unpaid debts from almost 4,000 gamblers. This amount has been collected in just two years. The state also has another law that is similar to the casino one, which sees lottery, prizes of over $100 taken to pay off debts.
Iowa is not the only state to take this type of action. Seven other states in the US also use their type of law to collect unpaid debts. These states include: New Jersey, West Virginia, Mississippi, New
Mexico, Louisiana, Indiana and Colorado.
The state of Illinois is also working to pass a similar law but they are not getting any help from the casino. Joel Judd is a former congressman in the state of Colorado and he wrote the law for child support and he stated: “These people are taking their kids’ money and they are throwing it in a slot machine.”
Hopefully, more states will be able to create similar laws so single parents will be able to collect the money they are owed as well as have other debts paid in full.
2012-06-08
