Lesson 6: Direct Deposits and Holds

Impact of a Hold on Direct Deposit

Warrant hold is the process whereby state payments issued to payees indebted to the state are held by the Comptroller's office until the debt is satisfied.

When a payee is placed on hold, that payee's direct deposit instructions are temporarily suspended and all payments are produced in the form of a state warrant. In general, payroll payments are not held; an exception would be a child support hold from the Office of the Attorney General. The warrants are held at the Comptroller's office.

The law allows a state agency to place a hold in TINS against anyone with an outstanding debt owed to the agency.

PYWRNT Screen for Holds

  PYWRNT.1XXXXXXXXX6                                             08/05/11   
                             PAYEE PAYMENT INFORMATION                    
                                                                           
  PAYEE NUMBER: 1XXXXXXXXX6                       
     MAIL CODE: ALL    DIST. TYPE: DIRECT DEPOSIT   HOLD STATUS: ON  HOLD
    PAYEE NAME: SAILING SHIPS INTERNATIONAL INC                   
                                                                         
   PAYMENT   DOCUMENT   ISSUE    AGCY             PMNT       PAYMENT    
   NUMBER    NUMBER      DATE     NO.  FUND   FY  DIST  CAT  AMOUNT     
  ---------  --------  --------   ---  -----  --  ----  ---  --------- 
  123456722  90123456  08/01/11   900  00123  11  DH     2   500.00
  
  191011122  99876543  07/15/11   900  00123  11  DH     2   250.00
  
  2131415    90102030  07/10/11   900  00123  11  DD     2   100.00 
    
                                                                     
  PF3=QUIT, PF4=MENU,  PF8=FRWD , PF11=BOT

The above screen shot illustrates two payments placed on hold.

Payment distribution type codes

In the above Payee Payment Information (PYWRNT) screen shot, the payment distribution type (PMNT DIST) field displays a code of DH for a direct deposit payment on hold. Under normal conditions, you would see a payment distribution type code of DD, indicating direct deposit is the active payment distribution type.

Direct deposit vs. warrant payment numbers

The PAYMENT NUMBER field on the above PYWRNT screen reflects another difference between a direct deposit payment and a warrant:

• A direct deposit payment number has seven digits
• A warrant number has nine digits

When a hold is released

After the payee's debt has been satisfied and the HOLD removed in the system by the hold source agency, the payee's direct deposit instructions go back into effect. This process is done automatically by TINS.

Note: Payments on hold are issued as a state warrant. The payments are not reissued for direct deposit purposes once the hold is removed. The warrants are released for distribution as applicable.

Once a held payment is released, it is returned to the issuing agency for distribution to the payee.

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