29.502—Definitions.
For purposes of this subpart—
Additional charges means interest,
penalties, and/or administrative costs owed on a
debt.
Administrative offset, as defined in
31 U.S.C. 3701(a)(1), means withholding funds
payable by the United States to, or held by the
United States for, a person to satisfy a debt the
person owes the United States.
Agency means:
(1)
An Executive agency as defined in section
105 of title 5, United States Code, including the
U.S. Postal Service and the U.S. Postal Rate
Commission;
(3)
An agency or court in the judicial branch,
including a court as defined in section 610 of
title 28, United States Code, the District Court
for the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Judicial
Panel on Multidistrict Litigation;
(4)
An agency of the legislative branch,
including the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of
Representatives; and
Annuitant means a retired
participant, former spouse, spouse, widow(er),
child or other beneficiary receiving recurring
Federal Benefit Payments.
Annuity means the monthly benefit
(including a retirement salary under the Judges
Plan) of indefinite duration payable to an
annuitant.
Anticipated expenses means
expenditures which are expected to occur and for
which the debtor can provide documentation of the
estimated cost.
Beneficiary means an individual
designated by a participant, or by the terms of
the Judges Plan, Police Officers and Firefighters
Plan, or Teachers Plan, who is or may become
entitled to a benefit under those plans.
Change of position for the worse
means an individual would be left in a worse
financial position after recovery of the
overpayment than prior to the receipt of the
overpayment because the individual reasonably
relied on the amount of the overpayment to his or
her detriment. For example, an individual has
“changed position for the worse” if he or she made
expenditures or assumed new liabilities that he or
she would not have otherwise done, and he or she
is unable to withdraw from the commitment without
incurring significant financial loss.
Compromise means accepting less than
payment in full in satisfaction of a debt.
Consent means the debtor has agreed
in writing to administrative offset of one or more
Federal Benefit Payments after receiving notice of
the available rights under 31 U.S.C. 3716 and this
subpart; to Federal salary offset after receiving
notice of the available rights under 5 U.S.C. 5514
and 31 CFR part 5; and to judgment offset under
section 124 of Public Law 97-276, 96 Stat.
1195-1196.
Credit bureau has the same meaning
as the definition of “consumer reporting agency”
provided in 31 U.S.C. 3701(a)(3).
Creditor agency means the agency to
which a debt is owed.
Debt has the same meaning as the
definition of “debt” provided in 31 U.S.C.
3701(b)(1), and includes an overpayment of Federal
Benefit Payments.
Debtor means a person who owes a
debt or from whom a debt is to be recovered,
including an annuitant.
Delinquent means delinquent as
defined in 31 CFR 900.2(b).
Department means the Secretary of
the Treasury or a designee authorized to exercise
the Secretary's authority with respect to Federal
Benefit Payments under the Act.
FCCS means the Federal Claims
Collection Standards ( parts 900-904 of Title 31,
Code of Federal Regulations).
Liquid asset means cash or other
property readily convertible into cash with little
or no loss of value.
Lump-sum credit means:
(1)
Under the Judges Plan, the Police Officers
and Firefighters Plan, and the Teachers Plan, the
unrefunded amount consisting of—
(iii)
Such interest as authorized by statute to
be included in the payment of refunds of
retirement contributions; and
(2)
Under the Judges Plan, “lump-sum credit for
survivor annuity” is defined in section
11-1561(10) of the D.C. Code.
Offset means to withhold the amount
of a debt, or a portion of that amount, from one
or more payments due the debtor. Offset also means
the amount withheld in this manner.
Ordinary and necessary living
expenses means such expenses as rent, mortgage
payments, utilities, maintenance, food (including
expenses for dining out), clothing, insurance
(life, health, and accident), taxes, installment
payments, medical expenses, reasonable expenses
for recreation and vacations, expenses for support
of a dependent when the debtor holds primary or
joint legal responsibility for such support, and
other miscellaneous expenses that the debtor can
establish as being ordinary and necessary.
Overpayment or overpayment
debt means a payment of one or more Federal
Benefit Payments to an individual in the absence
of entitlement or in excess of the amount to which
an individual is properly entitled.
Participant means an individual who
is or may become eligible to receive a benefit
under the Police Officers and Firefighters Plan or
Teachers Plan based on credit for service accrued
as of June 30, 1997, or under the Judges Plan, or
whose beneficiaries may be eligible to receive any
such benefit.
Refund means the payment of a
lump-sum credit to an individual who meets all
requirements for payment and files an application
for it.
Relinquish a valuable right means
the individual has relinquished a valuable
privilege, claim, entitlement, or benefit having
monetary worth because of the overpayment or
because of notice that such a payment would be
made.
Repayment schedule means the amount
of each payment and the number of payments to be
made to liquidate the debt as determined by the
Department or the Benefits Administrator.
Salary offset means any offset
authorized by 5 U.S.C. 5514 and 31 U.S.C.
3716.
Substantially all, as used in §
29.524, means that a debtor's income is less than
or equal to his or her ordinary and necessary
expenses plus a reasonable monthly allowance for
unexpected or emergency expenses and does not
allow for the deduction of a reasonable monthly
installment payment to recover the debt.
Voluntary repayment agreement means
an agreement wherein the debtor makes installment
payments to repay an overpayment debt in
accordance with a repayment schedule agreed to by
the Benefits Administrator or the Department.
Waiver means a decision not to
recover all or part of an overpayment debt owed to
the Retirement Funds under authority of sections
11021(3) or 11251(c)(2)(B) of the Act.