(A) Establishing
overpayments and accounts receivable; and
(B) Collections on accounts
receivable.
007.01
ESTABLISHING OVERPAYMENTS. Thresholds have been
established to determine whether or not to create an accounts receivable
against a certified or non-certified household. The thresholds are determined
by how the error was determined and whether or not the household is certified
at the time the overpayment is discovered. Accounts receivable are established
for:
(1) All overpayments determined by
Quality Control;
(2) Certified
households when the cumulative amount of the overpayment is $25 or
more;
(3) Non-certified households
when the cumulative amount of the overpayment is $125 or more; and
(4) The amount of the threshold for each type
of household is applied at the time the overpayments are calculated.
007.01(A)
TYPES OF
OVERPAYMENTS. There are three types of overpayments:
(i) Administrative Error Overpayment: Any
overpayment caused by the Department's action or failure to take
action;
(ii) Inadvertent Household
Error Overpayment: Any overpayment caused by a household's misunderstanding or
unintended error; and
(iii)
Intentional Program Violation Overpayment: Any overpayment caused by an
Intentional Program Violation as adjudicated by:
(1) A disqualification hearing;
(2) A court of appropriate jurisdiction;
or
(3) A household's signing of a
waiver of the individual's right to a disqualification
hearing.
007.01(B)
CRITERIA FOR
ESTABLISHING ADMINISTRATIVE ERROR OVERPAYMENTS. An overpayment
will be established against any household that received an overpayment due to
an Administrative Error within the last 12 months before the month of
discovery. Instances of Administrative Error include, but are not limited to:
(i) Income, resources, or deductions which
were computed incorrectly or otherwise caused an incorrect benefit
amount;
(ii) Action that was not
taken timely based on information known to the agency or reported by the
household;
(iii) When incorrect
policy or procedure was applied; or
(iv) When duplicate benefits were issued in
error.
007.01(C)
CRITERIA FOR ESTABLISHING INADVERTENT HOUSEHOLD ERROR
OVERPAYMENTS. An overpayment will be established against any
household that received an overpayment due to an Inadvertent Household Error
within the last 12 months before the month of discovery. Action may be taken on
an overpayment for which more than 12 months have elapsed; however, action
cannot be taken on overpayments for which more than six years have elapsed
between the month an overpayment occurred and the month the overpayment was
discovered. The following are the most common overpayment situations caused by
inadvertent household errors:
(i) Household
misunderstanding or an unintended error resulting in the household either
reporting incorrect information or failing to report information or changes;
or
(ii) Household receiving
continued benefits pending a fair hearing and the agency's decision was
upheld.
007.01(D)
CRITERIA FOR ESTABLISHING INTENTIONAL PROGRAM VIOLATION
OVERPAYMENTS. Potential Intentional Program Violations will be
reported to the Special Investigations Unit of the Department. Until a
determination of an Intentional Program Violation has been made, the Accounts
Receivable is processed as an Inadvertent Household Error.
007.01(D)(i)
OVERPAYMENT
PROCESSING PROCEDURES. In situations where a potential Intentional
Program Violation may have occurred, overpayments are calculated back to the
month the alleged Intentional Program Violation occurred up to six years from
the date of discovery. If the alleged Intentional Program Violation was caused
by the household's failure to report information timely, the overpayment will
be calculated beginning with the month the change would have been effective if
it had been reported in a timely manner. The first month of the overpayment
cannot be more than two months after the change occurred.
007.01(E)
TRAFFICKED
BENEFITS. Overpayment amounts of trafficked benefits will be
established based on reports from Food and Nutrition Service, Office of
Inspector General or the Department of Health and Human Services Special
Investigations Unit. Overpayments based upon trafficking or attempted
trafficking of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits will be
established using the individual's admission, the adjudication, or the evidence
of trafficking which may include evidence obtained from social media
sites.
007.01(F)
SITUATIONS WHEN OVERPAYMENTS ARE NOT ESTABLISHED. An
overpayment is not established when:
(i) The
agency failed to ensure that the household signed the application
form;
(ii) A categorically eligible
or an Expanded Resource Program eligible household has been overpaid benefits
and there has been no change in the net income and/or household size;
(iii) The household is receiving benefits and
the accumulated months of Inadvertent Household Error and/or Administrative
Error overpayments total less than $25 and Quality Control or the Special
Investigations Unit did not discover the error; or
(iv) The household is not receiving benefits
and the accumulated months of Inadvertent Household Error and/or Administrative
Error overpayments total less than $125 and Quality Control or the Special
Investigations Unit did not discover the error.
007.02
COLLECTING ACCOUNTS
RECEIVABLE. The following policies and procedures apply to
collection accounts receivables.
007.02(A)
CRITERIA FOR INITIATING COLLECTION ACTION ON INADVERTENT HOUSEHOLD
AND ADMINISTRATIVE ERROR ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE. Action will be taken
to initiate collection on all types of overpayments. Collection on accounts
receivable will be done through recoupment from the household's benefit or by
other collection actions.
007.02(B)
CRITERIA FOR INITIATING COLLECTION ACTION ON INTENTIONAL PROGRAM
VIOLATION ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE. Intentional program violation
overpayments are handled as inadvertent household error accounts receivable for
collection purposes until a household member is found to have committed an
intentional program violation through a disqualification hearing, in a court of
appropriate jurisdiction or if the individual has signed a waiver to an
administrative disqualification hearing.
007.02(C)
INITIATING COLLECTIONS
OF ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE. For households currently receiving
benefits, recoupment occurs automatically through a monthly benefit reduction
beginning the first month possible considering ten day notice of adverse
action. Benefits are not recouped from any prorated month. In cases where a
household was found guilty of an intentional program violation or has signed a
waiver to a disqualification hearing, collection will be initiated the first
month possible. Households not currently certified receive monthly billing
statements. If the accounts receivable becomes delinquent, repayment is
undertaken through other collection actions.
007.02(C)(i)
BENEFIT REDUCTION
FOR INADVERTENT HOUSEHOLD ERROR OR ADMINISTRATIVE ERROR ACCOUNTS
RECEIVABLE. The amount of the inadvertent household error or
administrative error benefit reduction is the greater of ten percent of the
household's monthly benefit or $10 unless the household agrees to a higher
amount.
007.02(C)(ii)
BENEFIT REDUCTION FOR INTENTIONAL PROGRAM VIOLATION ACCOUNTS
RECEIVABLE. The amount of the monthly benefit reduction for
intentional program violation is the greater of 20% or $20 unless the household
agrees to a higher amount.
007.02(C)(iii)
OTHER COLLECTION
ACTIONS. In addition to benefit reduction for participating
households, the following may also be used to repay overpayments:
(a) Cash payments either through installment
payments or lump sum amounts;
(b)
Treasury Offset Program;
(c) Offset
of restored benefits;
(d) Public
service if authorized by a court;
(i) Small claims court; or
(j) Unemployment Compensation Benefits
intercept.
007.02(C)(iii)(1)
ADDITIONAL COLLECTION METHODS. If the household's
benefit is reduced, no other involuntary collection methods will be used unless
the source of the payment is irregular and unexpected such as a state tax
refund or lottery winnings offset.
007.02(C)(iii)(2)
VOLUNTARY
PAYMENTS. The household has the option to voluntarily enter into
an agreement to repay the accounts receivable through an additional repayment
method even though monthly Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits
are being recouped.
007.03
ESTABLISHING
DELINQUENCY. An accounts receivable becomes delinquent when:
(1) There is no active recoupment;
(2) No collections have been received within
210 days from the date of the initial demand letter or post fair hearing
notice;
(3) The accounts receivable
has not been paid by the due date and a satisfactory payment arrangement has
not been made. The due date is the date on the initial written notification or
demand letter or post fair hearing notice-30 days from the mail date.Accounts
Receivable remain delinquent until payment is received in full, a satisfactory
payment agreement is negotiated or an allotment reduction is invoked;
or
(4) An accounts receivable
payment arrangement has been established but a scheduled payment has not been
made by the due date. The due date is the date of the missed payment.
007.03(A)
ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE
DELINQUENCY. The accounts receivable will remain delinquent until:
(i) Payment is received in full;
(ii) An allotment reduction is
invoked;
(iii) The repayment
schedule is resumed or renegotiated;
(iv) A good faith effort is determined;
or
(v) The accounts receivable is
compromised due to hardship.
007.03(B)
ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLES
NOT CONSIDERED DELINQUENT. Accounts Receivables will not be
considered delinquent in the following situations:
(i) Another accounts receivable for the same
household is currently being paid either through an installment agreement or
benefit reduction and collection on the accounts receivable is anticipated to
begin once the prior overpayment is settled;
(ii) Collection is being coordinated through
the court system and the Department has limited control over the collection
action; or
(iii) The accounts
receivable is awaiting a fair hearing decision.
007.04
ACTION TAKEN ON DELINQUENT
ACCOUNTS. All accounts receivables that are legally enforceable
and delinquent are submitted to the Treasury Offset Program as well as to other
programs or agencies for further collection actions. Debtors will receive
notice of impending referral to Treasury Offset Program.
007.04(A)
SUSPENDED COLLECTION ON
ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE. An administrative error, inadvertent
household error or intentional program violation accounts receivable will be
suspended in the following situations:
(1)
The household is nonparticipating;
(2) Delinquency of the accounts receivable
has been established;
(3) At least
one demand letter has been sent; and
(4) At least three billing statements have
been sent to the household.
007.04(A)(i)
TREASURY OFFSET
PROGRAM ON SUSPENDED ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLES. Suspended accounts
receivables will still be subject to Treasury Offset Program collection and
automatic recoupment if the responsible party becomes eligible for
benefits.
007.04(B)
TERMINATED COLLECTION ON ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLES. An
administrative error, inadvertent household error, or intentional program
violation accounts receivable will be terminated and written off in the
following situations:
(i) The accounts
receivable has been in suspended status for three or more years with no active
collection;
(ii) All adult
household members have died;
(iii)
The accounts receivable balance is $25.00 or less and there are no accounts
receivables existing that would result in an aggregate of accounts receivables
to be greater than $25.00 and the accounts receivable has been delinquent for
90 days or more; or
(iv) The
household cannot be located.
007.04(C)
COMPROMISING AN
ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE. An administrative error, inadvertent
household error, or intentional program violation accounts receivable will be
compromised in the following situations:
(i)
The Department will compromise an accounts receivable or a portion of an
accounts receivable if it is reasonably determined that a household's economic
circumstances dictate that the accounts receivable will not be paid in three
years; or
(ii) The full amount of an
accounts receivable, including any compromised amount, will be used to offset
benefits.
007.05
CHANGE IN HOUSEHOLD
COMPOSITION. Collection action will be taken against any or all of
the adult household members at the time the overpayment occurred. If a change
in household composition occurs, the accounts receivable may be collected from
any household which contains an original adult member of the household which
received the overpayment. Offsetting the amount of the accounts receivable may
also be done against restored benefits owed to any household which contains an
adult member of the original household at the time the overpayment occurred.
The amount collected will never exceed the amount of the accounts
receivable.